Qi managed to deflect the rain of ice, but his spiritual shield splintered repeatedly as it wore down during the bombardment. It fractured into a thousand particles of light after only a few minutes, the last fragments falling away like dying stars. By that time, Qi hurried to switch tactics and yanked his sword from its sheath before swinging it upward, just-barely managing to intercept Yuen Shui's own blade. Unfortunately, he didn't know a lot about the man besides his battle prowess, so when a wave of spiritual energy surged from his weapon, Qi was too slow to react.

Frigid ice flowed swiftly over his own weapon like a miniature tsunami wave, freezing the left side of his sword into pointed spikes that looked disturbingly like the claws of a massive beast. Qi felt the ice grab hold of his left hand in that same moment, but managed to rip his right one away from the hilt right as the frost chilled its fingertips.

He noticed Zen considering intervening during that action, but quickly shook his head right before jumping backwards to dodge another attack. He needed him to keep the wind barrier up.

"You are quite fast, your highness, but I feel as if you are distracted," Yuen Shui said as he spared Zen an intrigued glance.

Qi took that chance to begin lunging forward, but stopped himself almost immediately when the invisible top of the spider they were fighting upon froze in an instant. The beast beneath their feet shuddered and hissed, making Qi stumble.

Shui didn't hesitate to press his advantage as he ran across the thick patch of ice without a single issue. Qi was just able to lift his weapon that was still frozen to his numbing left hand so that he could block, but he hadn't expected the amount of force the man would put into his attack. The ice frozen onto his weapon shattered, absorbing the slightest bit of the power from the impact before Qi took the remainder of the hit, forcing him to kneel as he lifted his right hand to help brace his sword.

It had been a mistake.

The ice that still remained frozen over his left hand seemed to sense the heat from his right one and immediately latched onto his fingers, freezing them to his sword's hilt, too.

"I applaud your effort, but it is fruitless. I also know that my brother is somehow involved in this coup. Where is he?" Shui asked as he calmly lowered his weapon to his side. He clearly didn't take Qi seriously, and he couldn't blame him. The man was an extremely high ranking general and a master of war.

I know that I cannot beat him, but I can stall him.

He could already sense Yuen Huang and Lee Shaan nearby, and he knew that they wouldn't waste any chances to further their plan.

"You think that I can't tell he's here somewhere?" the man asked as he slowly lifted his blade toward Qi's throat.

"I hold the utmost respect for his highness, but I will not have my little brother put to death for being misguided."

Misguided?

Qi narrowed his eyes on the sword now settled beneath his chin, its frigid tempered steel biting into his skin. He noticed the wind barrier slowly beginning to dissipate and bit his tongue on a reprimand. Their spider had ceased moving forward once part of its back had been frozen and he had a sword to his throat. Zen would not listen to him even if he were ordered to stand down, so he would let him make his own decisions on the situation.

As for himself...

"Lord Shui, I have done nothing to sway your brother's decision concerning this matter," he said calmly even as his heart raced in his chest as Zen finally finished tearing down his wind barrier.

He expected the palace guards that had ambushed them from the beginning to start climbing the invisible spider's legs and join the fight, but when none appeared, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"I killed them all."

Zen's voice from behind lord Shui had the ice master's eyes actually widening to match Qi's shocked ones. When the man slowly turned to the side in order to look at his new opponent while still keeping an eye on his other, Qi couldn't help the disappointment that welled within his chest.

My sweet Zen... killed them all?

Noticing his master's expression, Zen turned his blade downward as he lifted his hands and bowed respectfully.

"This servant apologizes for going against his master's wishes," he said with his head lowered, but then he slowly lifted it until their eyes met again. His were dark, yet somehow shone brightly beneath the storm-darkening sky. "But I will never spare another's life that wishes to take master Qi from my side."

He knew that he should have had a million other thoughts and concerns about what his guard had just said, but at the same time, Qi couldn't find that worry inside himself. Instead, all he could think about was one thing.

My name... sounds so wonderful on his lips.

"His highness's personal guard..." Shui said as he turned to face Zen completely, disregarding any kind of miniscule threat that Qi, himself, posed.

He couldn't blame the man. Zen was far stronger than himself, and while he might have been able to keep up with Shui's attacks for a while longer, if he'd been able to get the man's sword away from his throat quickly enough, he knew that he wouldn't have been able to win. He was still upset over the tragic loss of life Zen had caused, but that would not sway his heart in the least. He would protect his sweet guard just like Zen had protected him for so many years.

Be my sword and I shall forever be your shield.

As if hearing him, Qi felt his frozen hands slowly begin to defrost as dark flames wrapped soothingly around them. At the same time, he noticed similar tiny fires beginning to swirl around Zen's unsheathed sword.

General Shui didn't hesitate to begin attacking at that moment, obviously knowing that the longer one waited, the more chances you gave your opponent to plan their own attack.

He summoned another flurry of ice shards as he darted forward, his movements sleek and smooth like the element he controlled. His blade clashed loudly with Zen's, the impact causing a burst of ice crystals to fracture into the air from his weapon. They sparred for only a moment before Shui jumped backwards, his expression actually surprised.

He's melting general Shui's shards, as well as his crawling ice ability before they can even take proper form.

Qi watched in awe as one of Han's strongest generals struggled to disarm his Zen. His skills far exceeded his sweet guard's, which was evident each time he sent his love stumbling backwards or frantically dodging to one side, but while his ice abilities were extremely strong, they simply melted when faced with Zen's dark flames.

He quickly shook his head to clear his thoughts, then focused on protecting his love. Of course, Qi knew that just because Shui preferred to use his ability as ice, that didn't mean that he couldn't simply change back to the unfrozen version. And, as if reading his mind, the man suddenly swung a giant whip of water straight at Zen! He managed to form a shield less than a second before it was going to hit, sparing his love from any harm besides a light mist of water as droplets fractured from the weapon.

Qi thought nothing of the faint rain of water upon his guard as he continued to block each attack for their opponent, but as Shui swung his whip for the sixth time, his aim appeared slightly off. Its trajectory would make it so that it hit several feet in front of Zen...

Before Qi could figure out what the man was planning, his love was suddenly yanked forward! He passed right through the spiritual shield formed to defend him, leaving him wide open to take the hit perfectly aimed for where he'd stopped. It tore straight through his previously-damaged robe like a knife through butter, then cut through his skin with similar ease.

Qi darted forward, placing himself between Zen and the increasingly-aggressive swings of the water whip. He took two hits, one to either raised arm, before managing to erect a barrier strong enough to block them.

Zen tried to attack the man from behind the barrier using his wind abilities, but it was as if Shui could read the air currents around him, so whenever Zen made a move to slash at him with a gale, the man simply put a sheet of ice in its way to take the hit.

After seeing this several times, Qi realized that the man was barely expending any spiritual energy to deflect Zen's attacks. He also noticed something else peculiar.

It's very humid all of a sudden.

He could easily feel the moisture in the air at that very moment. His eyes narrowed as the man continued to deflect his love's spiritual blasts until, suddenly, they stopped.

Zen?

Qi wanted to immediately turn around and check on him, but the continuous bombardment of water forced him to keep his focus firmly on the man before him.

"Zen, are you alright?"

When all he got in response was a strangled gasp, Qi manifested an array of spiritual barriers, giving himself enough time to spin around and check on his sweet guard. What he saw had him immediately stumbling forward and dropping to his knees as his shaking hands reached toward his love.

Zen was grabbing at his throat as he knelt before him, clearly struggling to breathe. As he began feeding energy into his him, Qi noticed that the humidity around them was getting thicker. It even got to a point, as one of his last barriers were being slashed apart by Shui's water whip, that he felt a sudden urge to cough. Something felt off in his throat, as if he had swallowed water and was about to have a coughing fit.

Wait... water.

Leaning forward, Qi pressed his hand over Zen's mouth and quickly channeled his energy into his body. He wasn't exactly sure what he was doing, but he quickly realized that something was fighting against him from within Zen.

He wanted to scream at the man behind him to remove the water from his Zen's lungs, but his mind had to remain focused or he'd lose the tug-o-war he was desperately trying to win.

It almost felt like he was actually beginning to remove the water when his concentration was abruptly broken by Shui's whip splitting through his robe, as well as the flesh of his back. Tightening his hold on his love, Qi clenched his teeth and coughed, no longer able to hold back signs of his own growing need for air.

"I apologize to my lord, and hope that you will extend no ill will toward me in your next life," Shui said as Qi heard his footsteps slowly approaching.

He knew that it would be fruitless, but Qi couldn't help but try to erect another barrier. It, of course, was swatted away before its form could even be solidified. He instinctively hugged Zen closer, even as he felt the man begin to slip into unconsciousness.

"Please don't..." he rasped out before having to clench his aching jaw as another round of strained coughs left his lungs.

Noticing the flash of Shui's blade, Qi squeezed his eyes closed and hugged Zen closer, doing his best to shield him from the man's oncoming strike.

He expected his head to fall from his shoulders at any moment, but when he heard a surprised gasp, then the sound of the man's sword dropping to the spider's back, he hesitantly blinked one eye open.

Pitch black hands made of dark energy reached up from within the glass tarantula's invisible body, each one firmly grabbing hold of a spot higher and higher up on Shui's body. In most cases, one would clearly try to struggle out of such a terrifying situation, but Shui's expression just looked stunned and betrayed.

He made little effort to try and remove the darkness clawing at him, and instead looked around until his eyes seemed to find what they knew was there.

"Little brother..."

Shui barely finished whispering his two quiet words before his little brother lifted his right arm at the same time Lee Shaan mirrored it with his left, making their combined dark spiritual energy fluctuate, then swirl into a miniature tornado around Shui, completely blocking the man from view.

Before Qi could try to figure out what they were doing, the dark whirlwind suddenly slumped to the back of the glass tarantula, leaving nothing but air where the former general had stood. The entire spider shivered from the attack, too, and after another few moments, it slowly lowered itself until it melted back into the ground.

What is going on?

"We pulled him down into the lair we had just created," Huang said as he approached and gave Zen a few harsh smacks to the back.

As soon as his love began coughing up water Lee Shaan knelt on his other side and began feeding him dark spiritual energy.

"I wasn't expecting to see him here, but he'll be out of our way now," he added, making Qi nod as he coughed up the bit of the water in his own lungs, then grabbed Zen's seal to begin refilling it with extra light energy.

He could tell that the two curse masters were curious as to what had caused Zen's appearance to change so much, but they both bit their tongues on the questions. They had more important things to focus on. There was one thing he had to know, though...

"You didn't kill him, did you?"

Huang shook his head as he stood back up.

"No, but he shouldn't be able to get out of there without one of us letting him go. At least, that's if general Ashong is no longer around?"

Zen slowly stood with help from Qi, then replied as his master nodded.

"He's dead."

The look on the two curse master's faces as they stared at him, open-mouthed, then glanced between each other several times, was priceless.

"It's a bit of a long story, but Xisheng and Zen are now, kind of, one in the same. I'll fill you once we are done with our task at hand?" Qi said as he began channeling his inner energy to start healing his and Zen's injuries, while at the same time heading toward the palace.

Since no one else spoke in response, he figured that they all agreed with his words. They had one more huge fight ahead of them, and just sending him to a lair beneath their feet wouldn't cut it with the emperor.

It would be only kill, or be killed.