Hum—

A six-pointed magic circle unfurls under our feet, howling purple like a storm at dusk. In a blink, the room shifts like sliding tiles.

Whoosh—

Whoosh—

Whoosh—

Welcome, everyone, to the Ghost-God Citadel!

Torches along the stone walls bloom into flame, one by one, like foxfire waking. Trollop, one of the Four Heavenly Kings, lets his flamboyant voice ripple across the halls.

Goosebumps prickle up Nana Toki’s arms like frost spikes. Disgust first, then clarity—of course it’s that idiot stirring the pot.

She says nothing. A blood-red icicle condenses in her palm and darts toward a shadowed corner like a crimson comet.

Thud.

The voice cuts clean. Hit confirmed.

Four or five seconds of silence. Nana wonders, dry and mean, if she just cracked his precious jewels. Then Trollop speaks again, breath hitching like he’s sucking cold air.

Heh-heh-heh... As expected from the woman I set my eyes on. You pierced even my exquisite concealment. Princess of the Hedon Kingdom, you do have some bite.

...

Is he all right in the head? Why does he sound so camp?

Nana turns, calm-faced, and asks her crew. Silence answers like dead air.

...

Heh. Look who’s calling weird.

Nana: ...

Save the chatter. You dragged us into this Ghost-God whatever—what’s your game?

She draws a blood-ice sword. The blade points at a dusky corner, her voice knife-flat. Talk straight, or I’m coming over to smack you.

Trollop: ...

She never plays by the rules.

He clears his throat, reins in the crazy, and speaks plain. As you see, you’re here to take back Jade Ring Long and stop His Majesty the Ghost-God’s revival. Let’s trade. I return Princess Jade Ring Long. You don’t interfere with the revival.

Dream on!

Nana hasn’t answered yet, but Lorin steps up, teeth bared, eyes burning at the shadows. You Four Heavenly Kings spread the Ghost-seed plague, grabbed power, ruined lives. We can’t just “let it go.”

Name your price, then. Trollop’s voice slides like oil. As long as you agree not to stop the revival, any condition is fine.

Nana can’t see his face, can’t read his truth. But she knows this dance: talk breaks, blades sing.

She doesn’t plan to talk.

Fine. Let’s both take a step back. We don’t want Jade Ring Long. You go stop the Ghost-God revival. Deal?

Trollop: ...

He almost lets a fragrant curse spill.

She’s nuts.

He serves the Ghost-God. Why would he stop the revival?

Her line shocks both sides like a slap. While they’re dazed by her logic assault, Nana seizes the instant. Blood-ice sword in hand, she lunges like a hunting leopard toward the two Jade Ring Longs bound to crosses.

She’s here to break a pair, not to save a world. The revival is a side quest. Whether Jade Ring Long lives? Not her concern.

Cheston!

Boom!

A black glint sweeps past her eyes. Impact slams up her blade like a hammer. Nana staggers back, breath cut, the rebound shaking her bones.

Rock sugar!

Princess!

Tch...

She slides three steps, plants her feet, and wipes the blood at her lip. Annoyance flares first, then focus—Cheston stands before her like a cliff with a sword.

She expected a hidden guard. She didn’t expect this speed. A greatsword user, moving like lightning? Why’s his agility so high?

System: ... Suggest the host recall her own axe play in similar situations.

Looks like the talks failed, Second Brother.

Cheston’s greatsword howls through the air like a windmill in a gale. His eyes never leave Nana Toki. You killed the fourth?

What, you want revenge? Nana drops the broken hilt, lips curling. Come try. After I carve you, I’ll yank that shrieking idiot out of the shadows and beat him proper.

Trollop, still lurking: ...

Stop gabbing. Move!

Yu Ang bounces forward, eagerness crackling like sparks. If you’re the best fighter among the Four Heavenly Kings, you won’t be a pushover.

Oh? One against many? Fun.

Cheston’s smile is knife-cold, a touch mocking, as if we’re gnats buzzing around his throne. He is the strongest blade under the Ghost-God. His pride is iron.

Come, then!

Cheston roars. The sound rolls like thunder over mountains. The whole citadel vibrates, echo stacked on echo.

Don’t underestimate me, bastard!

Yu Ang grits his teeth, emotions blazing, then gathers every drop of power into a single point. Full throttle.

Both fists fly.

Boom—

Two torrents collide and the air detonates. Pressure waves rampage like stampeding bulls. Tiles crack. Walls split. Flames snuff out in a heartbeat.

Good stuff. Again!

Yu Ang stands like a volcano that’s slept for centuries and finally vented. Red steam hisses off him. His aura spikes to something savage.

Front kick. Crushing punch. Bone-breaker. Inch punch. Iron mountain lean.

No frills, no flourish—stacked together, the sequence turns trickster, unpredictable, hard to guard.

They knot into melee, tight as grapple vines. And there’s no opening for Nana Toki to cut in.

Nana: ...

Weren’t we doing many versus one?

You two going fifty–fifty like this—is that helpful?

Zzzt—

Lightning snaps in. Nana lifts her eyelids, calm, and a blood-ice wall rises from the floor like winter surf, catching the bolt.

Nice, you sneaky bastard. Playing dirty now?

She drives a punch into the ice before her, eyes locked on a shadowed corner. Time to settle old scores, you and me.

Rip... rip... rip...

A Black Great Axe, crusted with blood-ice chips, slides out from the wall as Nana wrenches it free.

On the other side, Lorin and Ling’er Long sprint toward the twin Jade Ring Longs on their crosses, quick as swallows.

Which one’s real?

They kick away the kerosene-soaked wood under the crosses. Lorin stares at the two Jade Ring Longs, hands unsure. I never learned analysis magic.

You need no damned spell. Nana Toki flashes by, tossing a line over her shoulder. You’ve spent enough time with Jade Ring Long to know. Or are you clueless? Strip and check. There’s gotta be a birthmark.

Lorin: ...

Forget “clueless.” First, he needs the real Jade Ring Long. One of these is a Four Heavenly King in disguise. That’s a ticking bomb.

But stripping—

He glances at Ling’er Long, pleading. He can’t.

Who checks a woman’s identity like that?

I’ll do it. Move back.

Ling’er Long frowns and unties one Jade Ring Long. She’s my sister. Letting a man I barely know stare at her body? No.

Mm... mm...

Just as Nana Toki said—when Ling’er Long loosens the first robe, the “Jade Ring Long” snaps her eyes open. Scarlet irises fix on Ling’er Long’s arms like blades.

Bad!

Alarm slams through Ling’er Long’s chest. Instinct first, action second—she shoves. The woman flies.

Tch.

The pushed “Jade Ring Long” arcs through the air like a black swan and lands light, at a safe distance. She clicks her tongue. What a weirdo.

Elise hadn’t expected this bizarre test. Stripping to verify identity? Truly odd.

You’re the one who disguised yourself as Jade Ring Long and sowed chaos in my Marl Kingdom, one of the Four Heavenly Kings?

Ling’er Long’s gaze sharpens. Battle heat rises off her shoulders like smoke. This woman brought suffering to her country. She’ll pay every coin.

So what if I am?

Elise’s smile is sultry, honeyed like summer wine. If you have time to chat, why not look at the man who followed you?

What!

Ling’er Long whips around. Lorin is dangling in the air, his throat clamped in Jade Ring Long’s hand. The “awakened” one holds him high. A scarlet arm, thick with Ghost-God miasma, blooms from her body—glaring, taunting, wrong as blood on snow.