The guards charged at the group, their swords shining with a black light.

"The Lord shall see you suffer!" The elder's voice boomed through the hall.

Jian Li quickly jumped to the side as a sword whistled through the air. She quickly deflected another strike from another guard before stepping forward to slash him down.

A sword grazed her arm but she continued her advance striking another guard, and slicing open his cheek.

As the battle continued, Liu crouched next to the slumped Long. She looked conflicted.

"To safety... Miss...", Long mumbled. Jian Li struggled to hear the conversation since her main focus was the battle at hand. One brief moment of distraction could be fatal.

"Watch out!"

A guard thrust his spear at Jian Li.

Hao Wu parried it with his spear, forcing it to miss its target and impale the guard behind him instead.

"I've got your back!" Chen Zhen rushed forward, catching another guard by surprise and smashing him down.

"Woah!"

A guard swung his sword at Hao Wu who was distracted by the other guards. The blade missed his head by mere inches.

Hao Wu stepped backwards and dodged another attack from a different guard. He then struck the guard with his spear, sending him flying into a nearby wall.

Without regard for his own life however, a guard stabbed Hao Wu in the stomach. He briefly fell to his knees, gasping for breath while clutching at his wound. Hao Wu gritted his teeth as he brutally ended the man's life with a single strike.

"Hao Wu!"

As valiantly as they fought, the numbers just kept increasing against them. All of them stood tall and proud despite their growing wounds.

Jian Li's mind had already entered survival mode.

"I'm fine!", Hao Wu replied confidently. He used his spear subsequently to deflect several attacks.

"You must take care of yourself first!", Chen Zhen shouted as he cut down two guards with his sword.

"I know!" Hao Wu replied as he sliced through the legs of a guard standing in front of him. He then kicked an incoming guard into the air and slammed his spear into the guard's chest, killing him instantly.

"Don't worry about me!", Hao Wu yelled back as he continued fighting.

Jian Li jumped around the battlefield, evading attacks from every direction. She noticed that most of the guards were attacking with no regard for their own life.

They would charge straight ahead without any form of defence or caution. No strategy seemed to be involved other than sacrificing their lives for a potential wound. They didn't even bother trying to find openings or weaknesses in their opponent's defences. Almost as if they just wanted to die.

She felt a sudden surge of anger when she saw how foolishly they were fighting. What were they throwing away their lives for?

Was it really worth risking everything for a chance at defeating some children like them?

Jian Li couldn't stand it anymore. She wanted to scream at them to stop this madness. But she knew that it wouldn't matter if she did. These men were dead set on dying.

If they could not win, then they would make sure everyone else died along with them.

Jian Li had seen enough.

'I haven't gotten a chance to test it yet, but there's no other way...', she thought to herself

Returning her longsword to her inner world, her eyes turned pitch black as she summoned her soul weapon into her hand.

"Hmm..?"

Jian Li leapt into action, charging at the guards with reckless abandon. Her greatsword flashed dark light as she struck down three guards with ease, cutting them apart like paper dolls.

Blood splattered everywhere as she killed more guards in quick succession. She moved so fast that she appeared to be nothing but a blur to anyone watching her fight.

Jian Li's movements became even faster as she spun through the air gracefully, moving with such fluidity that she was almost unrecognizable. A trail of blood followed her as she carved through the enemy ranks like a hot knife through butter.

Her greatsword swirled in circles, carving a path of death as she defeated one guard after another. Blood sprayed across the hall as she continued to slaughter them with brutal efficiency.

Jian Li had never fought with such ferocity before. It was as though someone had unleashed a wild beast inside her, allowing her body to act on instinct alone.

As she continued her rampage, Jian Li heard the sound of metal clashing against metal coming from behind her. She turned to see Hao Wu holding off three guards with his spear while Chen Zhen and Liu were fighting another five guards at once.

However, Hao Wu was the one having the most trouble since he still was wounded.

Jian Li stopped fighting and rushed towards Hao Wu, but she was too slow.

"Hao Wu!" Jian Li screamed out.

Hao Wu looked at her and smiled weakly. "I'm fine."

Jian Li was shocked by what she saw. His face was pale and sweaty, but he was smiling at her with confidence.

"I'll be fine," Hao Wu replied confidently. "Just give me a little more time."

She shook her head as she realized that Hao Wu was lying to her. Unfortunately for all of them, they still had to continue fighting. Not only was the flood of enemies never-ending, but they also kept getting stronger too. They couldn't afford any breaks.

Jian Li quickly lost count of how many guards she had slain by then. There were simply too many of them. As soon as one of them fell, two or three more would replace them.

None of the guards even flinched seeing their comrades slain right in front of their eyes. The battle raged on with ever-increasing ferocity.

Their bodies piled up around the hall as she continued to slash through them like a whirlwind. Even time itself seemed to move at a snail's pace as she and her friends kept fighting against overwhelming odds.

Everything was just a haze of white mist in her mind. All she could hear was the sound of her sword slicing through flesh and bone.

Jian Li simply went where her blade led her, striking down every guard that stood in her way until finally, the tall elder spoke up.

"Enough. The Lord does not need useless people like you. Begone." The elder previously wounded by Liu began shining with an ominous purple.

Gradually, the other attackers started emitting a faint purple light as well.

The elder's voice echoed throughout the chamber as he called forth dark tendrils which engulfed each of the attackers' heads. Their expressions remained unchanged as they collapsed onto the floor, dead. It all happened too fast.

Jian Li watched as the elder's eyes glowed brighter than ever while he slowly rose to his feet.

"You are all useless fools," the elder said calmly as he stared at the fallen guards. "You have chosen your fate today."

The elder walked towards Jian Li, who was still in shock from the events that just unfolded. A slight shudder ran down her spine as she took note of the strange aura surrounding him.

"You'll never get away with this," Jian Li said as she raised her greatsword in defence.