EVIL RISING AGAIN!-Chapter 13: Fracturepoint

Chapter 13: Fracturepoint

The subterranean chamber quaked with restrained energy, dimly lit by the flickering runes Tian Mo had etched into the floor. Crimson lines pulsed beneath his feet, forming a glowing formation as he stood motionless, like a sovereign awaiting a challenger.

Beside him, Anna knelt obediently, her aura faintly trembling from their last cultivation session. His Qi had begun intertwining with hers, corrupting her mortal limits and replacing them with the foundation of something far greater—and far darker.

Then the air changed.

A tear in space opened like a bleeding wound. It didn't announce itself with sound or light, only pressure. Crushing, ancient, oppressive.

She stepped through.

The Harbinger.

Clad in black ceremonial cloth that clung to her tall, lithe form, her silver hair flowed like liquid mercury. Her face was masked in pale porcelain, etched with symbols that writhed like living ink. Each step she took bled divine intent.

Tian Mo watched her calmly, arms crossed.

"So," he said, voice low, "they finally send someone worthy."

"I am not here for words," she said, her tone cold and reverberating with spiritual echo. "You've disrupted the balance. The Circle demands restoration."

"Let them demand," he replied. "But I am not here to kneel."

The formation beneath him surged, demonic Qi rising like a tide.

The Harbinger removed her mask.

Beneath it, her face was beautiful—unnaturally so—crafted by decades of divine body refinement. Her eyes, however, told a different story. Endless voids, devoid of emotion, but not of calculation.

She summoned her weapon—a glaive forged from soul essence, inscribed with suppression seals. It howled as she twirled it once, cleaving through the thick Qi that surrounded them.

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Tian Mo smirked.

The first strike came suddenly.

Their weapons met with a thunderclap. Glaive against shadow-forged gauntlets. Sparks flew. Runes shattered. The earth cracked.

Anna scrambled back as shockwaves tore through the formation's perimeter. The heat and pressure made her gasp—but Tian Mo's protective Qi enveloped her like a blanket of shadow, anchoring her in place.

"You are powerful," the Harbinger said, spinning and striking again, faster this time. "But undisciplined."

He dodged, countered, redirected.

"I'm free," he corrected. "And freedom is chaos incarnate."

The formation responded to his will, lashing out with tendrils of demonic Qi that struck at her limbs. She dodged most, but one grazed her shoulder, tearing her robes and drawing blood.

She staggered—just for a moment—but it was enough.

Tian Mo appeared before her in a blink, palm open.

"Primordial Chaos Grasp."

A pulse of energy erupted from his hand, striking her chest. The blow didn't break bone—but it bypassed it. His Qi slithered into her meridians like venomous serpents.

The Harbinger gasped as her body froze, momentarily paralyzed.

He kicked her back into the stone wall, where his shadow formations restrained her wrists and ankles with iron-like force.

She struggled, face twisted—not in fear, but fury.

"You... dare?"

"I've already dared," he said, stepping forward, his aura expanding until the walls trembled. "And now, you'll learn what it means to defy something greater than the Circle."

He placed two fingers at her abdomen.

Her body arched involuntarily.

His Qi surged again—this time slower, more precise. Instead of damaging her, it began corrupting the structure of her spiritual sea, unraveling seals she didn't know had weakened.

The Harbinger's breathing hitched.

"What... are you doing...?"

"Converting," he whispered. "Breaking you... from the inside out."

Her runes began to flicker. For the first time, fear cracked her expression. This wasn't a physical defeat—it was spiritual assimilation. He was reworking her foundation without needing her permission.

"You can kill me," she spat, trembling. "But you won't break me."

Tian Mo leaned closer, his breath brushing her ear.

"Oh, Harbinger," he murmured. "I won't need to. You'll shatter on your own... and beg to be mine."

Her body writhed in the bindings as his corrupted Qi flowed into her. Her defenses flared, but he was too deep. Every time she resisted, she weakened another part of herself.

Anna watched from the edge of the formation, silent but captivated. She could feel the connection forming between them—a tether, like the one Tian Mo had wrapped around her soul.

Eventually, the Harbinger slumped.

Her energy dipped. Her aura twisted. Her meridians, once pure and righteous, now pulsed with chaotic corruption.

Tian Mo withdrew his hand slowly.

She looked up at him, sweat trailing down her face, eyes unfocused.

"You... monster..."

"Say that again," he said softly. "But louder... for your new master."

She didn't respond.

He didn't need her to. Not yet.

He turned away. "Anna. Prepare the bindings. Tonight, she sleeps in the sanctum. Tomorrow, we begin the next phase."

Anna nodded and stepped forward.

The Harbinger didn't resist as her wrists were sealed in spiritual cuffs.

Her silence spoke volumes.

The fracture in the Circle had widened.

And Tian Mo had captured their sharpest blade.

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