Zhao Rui stood amidst crystalline debris, the Rahu Bow humming with primordial hunger in his grip. His meridians screamed from channeling every last wisp of qi into the artifact, its crescent arc coalescing into an arrow of pure annihilation. Across the ravaged throne hall, Hua Yang Zhenjun staggered - a broken monarch clutching his ruptured chest where dragonbone claws had torn through transcendent flesh.
"Now." The word left Zhao Rui's lips as both judgment and release.
The Rahu Arrow tore through reality, trailing cosmic afterimages that burned retinas. Hua Yang turned just as the projectile found its mark - not his heart, but the fractured golden core glowing through his ribcage.
"NO!" The True Monarch's roar shook loose stalactites. His remaining hand clutched at the void-black shaft protruding from his sternum, fingers sizzling where they touched its event horizon edge. "You... gutter rat... dare?!"
Dun Che whooped from behind a shattered pillar, his ursine form trembling with adrenaline. "Brother! His treasures!"
The Dragon King's Golden Blood amphora tumbled from Hua Yang's spatial pouch, its cracks weeping liquid sunlight. Beside it, the Ten Thousand Laws Soul-Stealing Tome lay open to a page depicting the True Monarch's current agonized expression.
Zhao Rui collapsed to one knee, the Rahu Bow disintegrating into shadow motes. "Finish him."
Flight of the Wounded God
Hua Yang's remaining eye dilated as Dun Che's Soulflare Barrage lit the chamber. The fox demon's attack struck true - not to kill, but to propel.
"Clever... vermin..." Blood bubbled between the True Monarch's teeth as he rode the concussive wave through collapsing corridors. His golden core spat sparks like a dying star, each step leaving smoldering footprints in jade tiles.
Zhao Rui gave chase through halls becoming liquid memory - walls melting into seawater, dragonbone reliefs screaming their final curses. The Tome at his belt pulsed with stolen knowledge, its pages now illustrating Hua Yang's escape routes in real time.
"West corridor!" Zhao Rui barked. "He's heading for the Moonwell!"
Dun Che's claws scraped molten stone as he pivoted. "The healing springs? But that's—"
"A trap." Zhao Rui's smile held no humor. "His meridians are crystallizing. Only the Moonwell's waters can—"
The explosion came before he finished.
Monarch's Last Deception
The Moonwell chamber imploded in a geyser of steam and stolen divinity. Hua Yang stood at its epicenter, naked torso gleaming with embedded dragon scales - a grotesque mosaic of man and vanquished leviathan.
"Fools!" His voice echoed from multiple throats - the Dragon King's bass rumble layered over his own ruined rasp. "You think victory lies in... trinkets?"
Dun Che skidded to a halt. "Brother... his eyes..."
Zhao Rui saw. Where Hua Yang's remaining eye should have been, the Dragon King's slit-pupiled gaze now burned. The Golden Blood swirling in the Moonwell's waters was rewriting him at the molecular level - transcendence through blasphemous fusion.
The Rahu Bow reformed in Zhao Rui's grip, its string singing a dirge. "Last chance, Zhenjun. Surrender the—"
Hua Yang's laughter cracked the chamber floor. "We are beyond chances, thief."
His mutated hand plunged into the Moonwell. The resulting shockwave hurled both pursuers through three petrified walls.
Eclipse
Zhao Rui awoke to the taste of liquid jade and blood. The Ten Thousand Laws Tome lay open nearby, its pages illustrating their defeat in vivid brushstrokes.
Dun Che's groan came from beneath a collapsed archway. "Did we...?"
"No." Zhao Rui stared at the sky visible through shattered domes - or what should have been sky. The waters above swirled in a maelstrom centered around Hua Yang's ascending form. "He's become the storm."
The True Monarch's hybrid silhouette dominated the seascape - part man, part dragon, all-consuming void. His remaining human hand clutched the Golden Blood vial like a scepter, its contents now blackened with stolen essence.
"Brother..." Dun Che limped closer, fur matted with essence leaks. "The bow..."
Zhao Rui hefted the Rahu Bow, its hunger now a dull ache. "One shot left."
"At what cost?"
The Tome's pages answered, their new illustrations showing Zhao Rui's hands crumbling to ash.
Rebirth Through Sacrifice
The shot rang across dying realms.
Hua Yang turned too late. The Rahu Arrow pierced his dragon-eye, its event horizon edge unraveling the stolen divinity sustaining him. For three heartbeats, reality held its breath.
Then - implosion.
The Dragon King's final roar shook oceans as his stolen essence returned to the depths. Hua Yang's human form emerged from the collapsing vortex - broken, mortal, diminished.
"N-no..." The once-proud monarch crawled through mud and shattered jade. "This... cannot..."
Zhao Rui stood over him, the Rahu Bow disintegrating up to his elbows. "You forgot one truth, Zhenjun."
Dun Che placed the Golden Blood vial against Hua Yang's trembling lips. "Dragons always collect their debts."
The last thing Hua Yang tasted was his own stolen divinity - bitter and burning.
Epilogue: Whispers of Ascension
"Will it be enough?" Dun Che stared at the Tome now bound in dragonhide.
Zhao Rui flexed his new hand - flesh woven from Golden Blood and vengeance. "For now."
Above them, the maelstrom cleared to reveal unfamiliar stars. Somewhere in the lightless depths, a reborn leviathan stirred.
The game had changed.