It was used by a slaughter artist centuries ago, an Archlord on a Path of blood and sword madra that had murdered anyone he came across to harvest their aura. He had eventually been stopped by a Sage…the Sage of Red Faith, in fact, though Yerin had a hard time imagining him saving anyone’s life, even by accident.

Its binding was an advanced Forger technique, filled with the will of the murderer who had left it behind. Yerin had tried to activate it herself, but her compatibility with the sword was pitiful. The only reason she was able to use her master’s sword was her long history with it, and her familiarity with its power.

Ruby could use the technique just fine, but she couldn’t survive doing it.

Until now.

Her copy of Yerin’s Diamond Veins had finally progressed far enough, her body was solid, and the spirit well had strengthened her madra.

Scarlet madra Forged in lines over Ruby’s sword, weaving itself strand by strand, growing in power and intensity.

A Striker technique from Yan Shoumei pierced Ruby’s chest, but she didn’t falter.

Yerin, however, was starting to shake. As Crusher pushed against the technique in her sword, it put more and more pressure on her spirit. Any second, she would lose control of the field.

Ruby’s technique finished Forging.

The lines snapped into the shape of a clawed hand bigger than Yan Shoumei’s entire body, and the claw swept down with an Archlord’s power.

As with all the bindings in these weapons, Netherclaw’s technique would be more powerful when Yerin was an actual Archlady, but it was still a devastating blow. The claw hit Yan Shoumei like one of Crusher’s own strikes, crashing through her diamond-shaped madra shield and landing on her skin.

Her resistance to madra was enough to prevent the strike from shredding her to ribbons.

But blood still sprayed from her body in three lines as the claws sliced through her skin. Her body tumbled back, and her Ruler technique broke.

Ruby dashed after her in an instant, and though Shoumei reacted quickly, she was pinned to the ground with Netherclaw.

Before her Remnant could rise, she dissolved into white light and vanished.

Just as Yerin gave out. She released the Frozen Blade technique, heaving for breath, holding her sword out in case Crusher could still resist.

But to her relief, the monstrous Blood Shadow disappeared at the same instant.

The Sages had speculated that the match would be over when the sacred artist was defeated, but ultimately it was up to Northstrider to determine what counted as defeat. Yerin sagged with relief as the Ninecloud Soul declared her victory.

That made one fight each. One to go.

Yerin knew better than to rely on the same opening tactic again, but now that they were certain Ruby wouldn’t be able to keep fighting after Yerin’s defeat, the Blood Shadow had to take on the riskier role.

They started in similar positions, with Ruby in front and Yerin behind, but this time Ruby attacked.

As expected, Crusher defended.

They didn’t know what Yan Shoumei’s Archlord weapon was, nor all her prizes from the previous round, but they knew she had more in store. She had played carefully the entire tournament, keeping her cards secret, but now she had no choice.

So no one was surprised when she took a weapon from her soulspace, but Yerin was somewhat surprised to see it was a bow.

Archers weren’t exactly rare, but they weren’t common either. You could use a Striker technique with any weapon, and a sword was still useful up close.

But Yerin knew better than to underestimate any Archlord weapon, especially when sword and blood aura began flowing to the bow from all over in the arena, condensing into a red-white light.

It was more complex than a simple arrow, reminding Yerin of Mercy’s bow when she layered many techniques into one, but Yerin didn’t care to find out what it did.

Ruby had already clashed with Crusher, but instead of using the time to activate her own Archlord binding, Yerin took the opening to dash right by.

Crusher tossed Ruby aside, but not quickly enough to stop Yerin from closing the gap with Yan Shoumei.

Her sword rang.

The Endless Sword technique rippled through the dense sword aura, which Shoumei had already begun gathering to herself.

Since it was under the control of her Ruler technique, the Endless Sword didn’t have as much impact as Yerin had hoped. She’d hoped it would cause the mass of aura to explode and tear Shoumei in half.

But it still opened up bleeding wounds all over Shoumei’s body, and her spirit trembled. Yerin would have finished her off, but her spirit warned her in time to spin her around and send as much madra as possible into her Steelborn Iron body.

Crusher’s fist slammed down onto her upraised sword.

Yan Shoumei had named her Blood Shadow well.

Yerin was crushed down, cracking the ground beneath her feet, and her entire body screamed under the impact.

But she only had to endure it for a moment as Ruby dashed back into the fray, red hair streaming behind her.

Her own sword rang.

Dozens of wounds cut Shoumei all over her body, cutting her more deeply this time. She cried out in pain, and the Archlord technique pulsed, ready to escape her control.

Crusher swiped back at Ruby, but with its other hand it struck Yerin’s sword again.

It felt like her bones would break under the impact, and it was all she could do to endure.

Then Yan Shoumei released her bowstring.

A lance of dense silver-and-red aura lanced out straight for Yerin, and there was nothing she could do. She still hadn’t recovered from Crusher’s last blow, and he loomed over her, prepared to land another.

Until something hit him from the side.

Ruby tackled Crusher, staggering him just enough to knock him into the path of Yan Shoumei’s Ruler technique.

A full Archlord using the weapon would have launched the technique faster and with more focus, but Yan Shoumei had enough trouble controlling its power at all.

Both Blood Shadows fell in front of the technique.

Needles erupted from their bodies, shredding them from the inside out.

The aura controlled the blood inside them, sharpening it and bursting through their skin. Ruby was annihilated in an instant, and Yerin felt her scraps return; without Northstrider’s restoration after the battle, it would take her weeks and specialized resources to recover.

But Yerin was untouched. Ruby had succeeded.

Mostly.

Clumps of Crusher oozed together, forming into a massive lump. She could already see hair growing on what looked like a limb.

But Crusher wasn’t her target.

Yerin looked to Yan Shoumei, who had dropped the bow and raised both her hands into claws. She was covered in wounds, her face was torn beyond recognizing, and she shook as though she could barely stand. From head to toe, she was soaked in blood.

Pain erupted all over Yerin’s body as her own flesh turned against her, seized by Yan Shoumei’s own Ruler technique. She’d burned soulfire for this, as it affected Yerin quickly, making her muscles twitch and her heart convulse.

But Yerin didn’t need to move her body.

Aura echoed from the black sword that had fallen at Yan Shoumei’s feet. The Endless Sword rang out, opening the Redmoon artist’s throat.

From his viewing platform, Reigan Shen let out a disappointed tsk.

It seemed that everyone who owned a powerful weapon fell to the same mistake: relying on it. Yan Shoumei had so many other options, but she was blinded by the power of her Blood Shadow and of her bow.