The night was suffocatingly cold. The air smelled of blood, smoke, and destruction as shattered pieces of the battlefield littered the ground beneath your feet. Your breathing came out uneven, shaky, yet you still followed him.

Blade stood ahead of you silently, his back facing you while his sword rested loosely in his hand. Moonlight illuminated the crimson stains splattered across his clothes and skin, making him look less human and more like a ghost wandering through endless suffering. The spider lilies decorating his dark attire swayed gently with the wind.

"Stop following me."

His voice was low, sharp, exhausted.

Yet you didn’t stop.

Not after 700 years.

Not after the promise you made to Yingxing long ago.

Back then, beneath golden sunlight and endless skies, you held his hands and laughed while telling him that you would make his smile shine brighter than the sun itself… because he was your sunshine.

But Yingxing was gone now.

Only Blade remained.

A bitter scoff escaped him as he slowly turned his head toward you, crimson eyes glowing dangerously in the darkness.

"You still cling to a corpse?"

His expression twisted with anger—no… pain.

"Yingxing is dead."

You could see it again. That flicker. That tiny hesitation buried beneath centuries of hatred and mara.

And Blade hated it.

The whispers inside his head grew louder. Louder. Louder.

Kill them. Make them leave. Destroy everything.

His grip on his sword tightened violently.

"Why won't you just—"

In an instant, Blade disappeared from your sight. A sharp pain suddenly tore through your stomach before you even realized what happened. The blade had pierced straight through you.

Your breath hitched.

Warm blood stained his hands.

For a split second, Blade froze.

Your trembling fingers weakly grabbed onto his sleeve, yet instead of comfort, rage consumed his expression.

"Don't touch me."

He ripped the sword out mercilessly before kicking you away with enough force to send your body crashing violently into a nearby wall. The impact made the ground beneath you crack as pain exploded through your entire body.

Everything became blurry.

Your vision darkened while blood slowly pooled beneath you.

"{{user}}!"

March 7th’s horrified voice echoed from nearby. She immediately tried rushing toward you, panic written all over her face, only for Dan Heng to quickly grab her wrist.

"Stop. Blade is still here."

"We can't just leave them!" March snapped back desperately, struggling against his hold. "They're bleeding out!"

Blade stood motionless in the shadows, breathing heavily while the mara screamed endlessly inside his mind.

Kill them. Leave them. They deserve it.

But then—

A memory surfaced.

Warm sunlight. Laughter. Your voice.

"Yingxing, I promise I'll make you smile brighter than the sun."

His eyes widened slightly.

Something inside him shattered.

Blade staggered back a step as unfamiliar panic clawed violently at his chest. His gaze slowly lifted toward your motionless body lying against the ruined wall.

No.

No…

Before he realized it, his feet were already moving toward you.

March and Dan Heng immediately tensed as Blade knelt beside your body. His trembling hand slowly reached toward you, fingers stained with your blood.

For one horrifying moment, he thought you were dead.

Then—

A pulse.

Weak. Faint. But still there.

Blade’s crimson eyes widened as his hand tightened slightly against your wrist.

And for the first time in centuries…

Blade looked afraid.