Sisi felt an inexplicable unease creeping into her bones, though she couldn't pinpoint its source. Brushing aside the discomfort, she continued, "By the way, Akartay Headquarters called today. They want you to come in these few days."

  "Oh? Really?" Guann responded absentmindedly, swirling the amber liquid in his gss. "Did they say why?"

  "No details," Sisi shook her head, "but you should go tomorrow." Before the words fully settled, Madame Fatty chimed in with motherly insistence, "Yes, and while you're at it, reconnect with your old cssmates. It's been too long since you've had time for them."

  Guann stared bnkly at his drink, nodding out of habit rather than attention. Setting down the gss with deliberate slowness, he rose and pressed a dutiful kiss to Madame Fatty's cheek before retreating to his room. Sisi watched his departing figure, a shadow of displeasure flickering across her delicate features. "Who would've thought," Madame Fatty mused with a throaty chuckle, "the academy's most notorious troublemaker would become someone others lean on." Sisi nodded in agreement, her lips curling into a smile as memories of their shared days at Akartay surfaced like bubbles in champagne.

  Midnight's cloak had fully descended when the scene shifted to the desote stretch of Wenshang Avenue at 2 AM. A masked man moved with unnatural confidence toward a parked crimson 470S Skyrunner, his gait so assured one might mistake him for the vehicle's rightful owner. As he reached the driver's side, he produced a rectangur bck wafer from his coat, adhering it to the door before lighting a cigarette with theatrical nonchance.

  In the shadows, surveilnce teams tensed. "Requesting apprehension approval," whispered Team Alpha into their comms. Two blocks away, atop an unmarked building, Qingzi's voice crackled through the command vehicle: "All units hold position! Engage only after door breach—I want this done clean!"

  The cigarette butt hit pavement, crushed beneath a careless shoe. The bck wafer vibrated faintly, dispying a glowing green checkmark. The man smirked, fingers curling around the handle. Teams Alpha and Bravo held their breath—this was the moment.

  CRACK! The door yielded. Like specters materializing from darkness, pinclothes officers converged from all directions. But their quarry moved with preternatural speed—bowling over one officer, he darted across the street into a narrow alley. The pursuit team rounded the corner only to freeze in collective disbelief.

  "Command, this is Alpha! Suspect entered a T-shaped dead end and... vanished! I repeat, visual contact lost—" The radio transmission dissolved into static as Qingzi erupted from her seat, gripping the microphone like a stranglehold. "Vanished? From a three-walled alley? You incompetent—!" She caught herself, veins standing out on her forehead. "Search every centimeter within five blocks! Now!"

  Slumping back into her chair, Qingzi bit her vermilion lip until it whitened. This failure would haunt her—prey this elusive never made the same mistake twice. As officers combed the alley, their fshlights revealed nothing but rain puddles reflecting the indifferent moon. The walls, smooth and towering, offered no purchase. Unless their thief could fly...

  Meanwhile, on a distant isnd, Qin Hong exhaled sharply as his Prison-Kill Cage dissipated. Four mutated lions y frozen mid-snarl, their ferocity preserved like grotesque statues. Wiping sweat from his brow, he colpsed onto the grass, suddenly overwhelmed by Guann's absence. How effortlessly his mentor had commanded battles! At the time, Qin had resented those imperious directives—now he'd give anything to hear one again. The isnd's challenges no longer threatened his survival, but without guidance, progress felt impossible. Staring at the star-strewn sky, he recalled Guann's parting words: "The path forward is yours to carve."

  "Carelessness is death's overture, little warrior." A woman's voice sliced through his reverie. Qin Hong rolled mid-air, Void-Splitter Bde materializing in his grip as he nded in a combat stance. Before him stood a figure that chilled his blood—"Illiya?!"

  Adrenaline turned his arms to trembling weights as the woman smiled serenely. "Indeed." Qin Hong's bde didn't waver. "How did you—the barriers—?" "I've always been here," Illiya purred, circling like a shark. "Guann simply... discouraged premature introductions."

  The air thickened. "What do you want?"

  Two slender fingers rose in mock benediction. "Option one: join me. I'll mold you into something glorious." When Qin Hong's answering grin cked warmth, Illiya sighed dramatically. "Option two..." Her eyes hardened. "I decorate this grass with your organs."

  Four shadowdancers erupted from nothingness, bdes aimed at Qin Hong's vitals. He didn't flinch—as steel met air where his neck should've been, a spatial rift yawned beneath him. The assassins' weapons cshed in a shower of sparks as Qin Hong reappeared behind Illiya, Void-Splitter humming with sor-fre orange at her throat.

  "Move, and this ends now," he growled. Illiya's ughter was honey over poison. "Marvelous! But..." Her decapitated head hit the grass before she could finish. The shadowdancers dissolved into smoke.

  Qin Hong barely had time to sheath his bde before searing pain erupted from his abdomen—a katana's length protruded from his gut. Blood filled his mouth as he crumpled to his knees. Behind the shadowdancer who'd struck him, Illiya stepped forward, pristine as morning dew. "I did warn you," she tutted.

  Through the haze of pain, realization struck—this was no mere clone technique. The real Illiya had never engaged him directly. Gritting his teeth, he wrenched the bde free and summoned his weapon anew. Illiya clucked her tongue. Five fresh shadowdancers lunged.

  "FREEZE!" The temporal prison snapped shut around his attackers. Qin Hong dispatched them with mechanical efficiency before fixing Illiya with a blood-streaked grin. "Leave now, and I'll forget this happened."

  Illiya's answering chuckle spawned three arrows already mid-flight. Qin Hong barely froze them in time. "Your range is pathetic," she mocked. A snap of her fingers, and the night birthed endless shadowdancers—they poured into his temporal cage like ants to honey, each wave straining his limits.

  As Qin Hong's movements grew sluggish, Illiya's critique cut deeper than bdes: "You rely too much on raw power. Guann trained your body, but neglected your will." Another gash opened on his shoulder. "Tell me, have you touched those 'boring drills' since he left?"

  The truth struck like thunder—those repetitive exercises weren't physical training, but mental forging. Now, with his prison fracturing under endless assaults, understanding came too te. Bde tips encircled him like a lethal halo.

  "Final offer," Illiya intoned. Qin Hong, pale from blood loss, lifted his chin. "I'd rather... follow a clear-eyed master... than lead blind fools."

  Illiya's pupils contracted. She flicked her wrist.

  As steel pierced his chest, Guann's voice echoed: "Some doors must be opened by your own hand." In that crystalline moment, Qin Hong understood—true escape meant advancing, not retreating. A supernova ignited in his chest, and the universe answered.

  Illiya staggered back as Qin Hong's Absolute Domain unfolded—not the typical combat arena, but an endless cosmos with gaxies swirling underfoot. His wounds knit themselves as he raised two fingers. Space itself twisted, pcing Illiya amidst her own assassins.

  "Consider this my performance review for Guann," Qin Hong quipped, relocating a hail of shuriken onto their throwers. Enraged, Illiya spread her arms. "You mistake awakening for mastery! Behold true darkness—Abyssal Genesis!"

  Bck tendrils devoured the stelr ndscape, crushing Qin Hong's domain to a flickering pocket. His knees buckled under the oppressive weight—this was the chasm between their wills. As darkness swallowed him whole, his st conscious thought wasn't fear, but revetion: beyond this crucible y the next threshold... if he survived to reach it.