The night began quietly—too quietly. The capital was hushed, cloaked in a strange tension that clung to the air like smoke before a fire. Sheng Long had left to investigate another lead at An Li's estate, taking a small detachment of his most trusted with him. Xiao Lin remained behind at the Marshal's command center, poring over the ancient journal he recovered from his mother's old home.
He had just finished translating a passage about ancestral guardians when the alarms blared.
"Unauthorized breach—Sector Four!"
The floor shook. The walls trembled.
It wasn't just an attack. It was an invasion.
Zerg forces—larger than anything seen since the frontlines—poured into the capital. But that wasn't all. Traitors, cloaked in the uniforms of loyalists, struck from within, targeting the command center. It had been planned, coordinated with chilling precision.
Xiao Lin's instincts screamed. The pendant at his neck—Sheng Long's dragon—grew hot against his chest. The fox inside him roared.
"Protect the healer!" someone shouted. "He's their real target!"
As loyal guards clashed with enemies in the halls, a second explosion rocked the rear of the compound. A traitor broke through the defenses, eyes full of madness and blade in hand—headed straight for Xiao Lin.
Time slowed.
Xiao Lin raised his hand instinctively—and light burst forth.
A swirling storm of silver energy enveloped the hallway. His eyes glowed ruby-red, and a spectral fox form—larger than any ever recorded—unfurled behind him. Power hummed through his blood, the pendant around his neck intertwining with his own spiritual force.
The journal's words echoed in his mind:
_"A child of foxfire and flame, when the empire bleeds, shall awaken the sun within and burn the heavens to heal the world."_
Xiao Lin moved, not just with instinct, but with divine purpose. His fox form fully emerged—nine tails burning with celestial energy. He leapt into the chaos, protecting the wounded, shielding civilians, healing without pause.
Zerg screamed.
The traitors were blinded.
And then—he channeled it all into one final burst of power.
A dome of radiant light blasted across the battlefield. Every enemy within range—erased. Those left behind could only stare as the glowing fox spirit flickered, flickered—
—and then collapsed.
Xiao Lin fell, unconscious, his silvery hair fanned like a halo around him.
Sheng Long returned to a capital half-destroyed—but standing. His heart stopped when he saw the ruined battlefield. Then it broke when he found Xiao Lin unconscious at its center, his fox pendant scorched but intact.
"No… Xiao Lin—" He dropped to his knees, cradling him close, eyes wide and wet with rage and grief. "You promised to stay safe…"
The doctors tried to intervene.
Sheng Long wouldn't move.
"Not this time," he whispered fiercely, holding Xiao Lin tighter. "You're coming back to me."
He carried Xiao Lin to the medical wing himself, refusing to let go even as the medics scrambled around them. Hours passed, but Sheng Long remained, sitting silently at his side, holding his hand.
The empire was saved—by a fox spirit reborn.
But now it held its breath, waiting for him to wake.