Chapter 226: The final showdown (Part 4)
Zhao Yan stepped forward, his voice steady and resolute, his words cutting through the tense air like the edge of his blade. "Even the heavens do not want you as the ruler. Everything you have worked hard for was all for nothing!"
Pei Rong’s eyes widened, the madness in his gaze flickering and then solidifying into something sharper, darker. His breath came in ragged gasps, each one pulling at the ragged edges of his pride. His fingers twitched around the hilt of his sword, white-knuckled with rage.
"You—!" he spat, his voice raw with fury. "You dare speak to me of fate? I am the rightful ruler! I have the Jade Token—no... I had it... and I will have it again! Over my dead body will I let you take this from me!"
The crack in the Jade Token at his feet glowed faintly, almost pulsing like a heartbeat, as if the soul of the empire itself was mourning what it had been forced to endure. But Pei Rong ignored it, his entire focus locked on Zhao Yan, his expression contorting into a snarl.
"Kill them!" he roared, his voice breaking the momentary hush. "Kill them all! My reign will not end here!"
His men, those who had fought so fiercely and so long for him, hesitated for the briefest instant—caught between the crackling energy of the heavens’ disapproval and the weight of their loyalty. But loyalty won out. With renewed cries, they surged forward, weapons raised high.
Zhao Yan didn’t flinch. He raised his own sword, his eyes bright and cold in the shifting light of the torches. Deng Mi and Wei Ling fell into formation beside him, the three of them moving as one, unyielding.
Steel met steel with a scream of fury and desperation. The air seemed to thrum with the violence of it—each clash of blades sending sparks flying, each breath a gasp of life snatched from the edge of death.
Pei Rong himself threw himself into the fray, his red robes swirling around him like the fires of hell. His blade was a blur, each strike savage, each step driving him forward with the ferocity of a man who would not—could not—accept defeat.