"It's just me and you. Let's finish what we started," Mo Lang said.
He punched with his clawed hand so hard that the ground shattered when I dodged the attack.
I rolled across the battlefield, picked up one of the kunai he had removed earlier, and drove it into his skull.
Mo Lang merely smirked.
Then he pulled it out.
"I am Mo Lang. I am the Demon Wolf. I am immortal."
For a brief moment, Li Ming looked shocked.
The fight resumed.
Our fists collided repeatedly.
It seemed as if Mo Lang never tired.
His claws embedded themselves into my chest muscles.
Immediately, I retaliated with a slap powerful enough to twist his neck completely around.
His head snapped back into place moments later.
Nothing seemed to work against him.
Every injury healed almost instantly.
"Aim for the left side of his chest!" May shouted.
The moment she spoke, Mo Lang picked up a kunai and threw it at her.
May tilted her head just enough to avoid the blade. It brushed against her cheek before flying past.
The confrontation reached its peak.
Mo Lang moved with incredible speed, his attacks more intense than ever before.
Every strike was met with calculated defense, leaving little room for counterattacks.
Then, suddenly—
Mo Lang's body began to fade.
His form dissolved like mist in the wind until he vanished completely.
"The path is now clear," Li Ming remarked as he rested his staff where Mo Lang had once stood.
A feeling of long-awaited resolution washed over the battlefield.
The struggle was finally over.
Or so I thought.
"You know... you could have done that earlier, Mast—"
Li Ming's staff suddenly pierced through my chest.
My eyes widened.
I stared at him in confusion as unbearable pain exploded throughout my body.
"I said there can only be one immortal," Li Ming said coldly.
Before I could react, he drove another blade into my chest.
I collapsed onto the ground.
Finally, I managed to speak.
"Master... I don't understand..."
My voice was already fading.
Li Ming began laughing strangely as he slowly circled around me.
He revealed several more kunai.
"A moment from now, exactly what happened to Mo Lang will happen to you."
A kunai plunged into my abdomen.
"Your parents... your parents... your parents..."
Another kunai struck my body.
"Like what they did to you, they should have simply accepted fate and allowed you to die with them."
Another blade pierced my flesh.
"They knew things they shouldn't have known. That is why they had to be eliminated quickly."
Another strike.
"Besides, they were all pawns."
His grin widened.
"Pawns in my game."
More kunai buried themselves into my body as he continued speaking.
"I've spent years trying to discover what spell your parents cast to keep you alive... to preserve their legacy."
"You thought all this was normal?"
"No."
"Your parents have much to answer for."
Li Ming stopped walking and stared down at me.
"I sent the Claws after them because they knew things they shouldn't."
"They summoned what they shouldn't."
"They cast a forbidden spell in their desperate attempt to keep their legacy alive."
"They tried to make you immortal."
His face twisted with rage.
"Thank goodness I intervened before they succeeded completely."
"I should be the only immortal."
"Only me."
"I cannot stand by and watch everything I built disappear."
"Never."
"That is why I have done all this."
"For decades."
"For centuries."
"Before your great-grandparents were even born, I maintained balance."
"I created both good and evil."
"I have always been the master of both sides."
"I wrote the script."
"I controlled the story."
"I shaped every event."
"Everyone has been a pawn in my game of chess against myself."
His eyes narrowed.
"Until you appeared."
"Until you came back."
"Now it is time for me to reclaim control."
"I decide what survives."
"I decide what is destroyed."
"Because I am Fate."
"I decide."
"Only I decide."
"And right now..."
He raised the final kunai.
"...your death is my decision."
The blade plunged between my eyes.
Everything faded.
I stared at the sky for a brief moment.
Then darkness consumed me.
At least...
I could finally see my parents again.
The Claws were dead.
The people who murdered them were gone.
I could finally rest.
"It's not over yet."
I recognized that voice immediately.
Mom.
Her calm voice echoed through the darkness.
Her figure slowly emerged from the shadows.
"But... I'm already dead. Maybe I'm in heaven... or hell."
"Jun, my boy. I'm sorry we never told you."
"Dad..."
"Yes, my son."
His figure appeared beside her.
"We didn't want our legacy to end."
"When we discovered Li Ming's deception, we realized we had all become pawns in his game."
"We tried our best to keep you safe."
Mother nodded.
"We spent days praying."
"We tried to make you immortal."
"Then Li Ming sent the Claws to destroy us."
I slowly approached them.
The space around us was dark.
Water stretched endlessly beneath our feet.
When I looked down, my reflection wasn't that of the current me.
It was the ten-year-old Jun.
"We need you to end this nonsense," Dad said.
"It has been centuries since Li Ming began manipulating the world."
"We aren't his only victims."
"We need you to change the fate of those still living."
"We need you to end Li Ming's control."
I lowered my head.
Then I smiled.
"Not even Fate can decide my fate."
I looked up.
"I decide who I am."
"I decide what I become."
"And I decide what I do."
Mother smiled proudly.
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
"I'm so proud of the son we raised."
Her figure slowly began fading away.
"Mom! Dad! Don't go!"
"We've always been with you," Mother said softly.
"And we always will be."
Suddenly, her body transformed into a white owl.
The owl spread its wings and flew away.
"Wei..."
I stared in shock.
Then I closed my eyes and cried.
When I opened them again, everything around me was pure white.
Then my shadow began expanding.
Darkness spread across the endless white world.
"I suppose I should speak now before I'm completely absorbed by you."
A voice echoed through the void.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"Show yourself."
"I am Yang."
"And I am Yin."
Another voice followed.
"We are the ones who answered your parents' prayers."
"We saw their sincerity."
"We knew granting their wish would help preserve balance."
"We are the forces responsible for maintaining balance within the universe."
"But that balance has been disrupted repeatedly by a force that must be stopped."
Before I could interrupt, Yin continued.
"Your current condition and state of mind accelerated your growth beyond our expectations."
"Have you ever wondered why you awakened after death?"
"Why you returned stronger and faster every time?"
Thousands of thoughts flooded my mind.
"Vanta, you are now responsible for yourself."
"You are responsible for restoring balance."
"You are no longer under our control."
"You have grown too powerful."
"You have become an embodiment of Yin itself."
"And powerful enough to absorb Yang."
"You command darkness."
"You absorb light."
"You absorb all forms of magic."
"But how is that possible?" I asked.
"None of this makes sense."
"It doesn't need to make sense right now," Yin replied.
"We created what you have become."
"But you have evolved beyond our control."
"You must discover what you truly are."
"You must learn what you can do."
"And then make the right choice."
The voices began fading.
"But for now..."
"You must return."
"Goodbye."
"Wait—!"
The world shattered around me.
I felt myself falling endlessly into darkness.
Then—
My eyes opened.
My hand had already caught Zhang Lei's descending mace.
Li Ming stood frozen in place.
He had been moments away from striking me again.
"Impossible..."
Li Ming exclaimed.