The ethereal line of spiritual energy hung perfectly still over Asha’s convulsing body. The Fisherman Soul gripped the bamboo pole with weathered hands. With a practiced and effortless flick of his wrist, the old man set the hook.

  There was no physical wound. The hook phased cleanly through Asha’s pale skin and plunged directly into the deepest and most heavily guarded center of her failing ash core.

  For a fraction of a second, the universe remained perfectly frozen. Then, the invisible line snapped taut with a violent force.

  The bamboo pole bent into a severe arc and was groaning under a weight that had nothing to do with physical mass. Whatever the Fisherman had hooked was fighting back with the desperate, thrashing fury of a cornered leviathan.

  A horrific, screeching sound echoed through the courtyard but it didn't travel through the air. It resonated directly within the souls of everyone present. Sovereign Morven clutched his head and his pale blue face was contorting in pain even as he remained forced to his knee by the Fisherman’s overwhelming spiritual gravity. Demon Lord Malos gritted his teeth and his black eyes wide as he witnessed the extraction.

  The Fisherman’s expression didn't change. He simply planted his ethereal straw sandals firmly against the courtyard stones and heaved backward. From Asha’s chest, something foul and abhorrent was dragged kicking and screaming into the light. It wasn't an illness. It wasn't a congenital defect of the ash core. It was a curse.

  It manifested as a writhing, parasitic mass of barbed, black chains and dripping with a sickeningly sweet, necrotic venom. The curse had been wrapped intimately around the very foundation of her soul. It was disguised perfectly and wasn’t sensed by anyone. It was a masterwork of malice. It was beyond a Sovereign-level affliction that was designed to slowly and agonizingly suffocate the girl while completely hiding its true nature from her mother's searching flames.

  The Fisherman yanked the bamboo pole high into the air. The parasitic curse was ripped entirely free from Asha’s spirit.

  As soon as the black mass was severed from its host, Asha’s back slammed back down onto the cushions. Her violent convulsions ceased instantly. The jagged, dark veins creeping up her neck dissolved into nothingness and her breathing immediately settled into an uninterrupted rhythm. She was deeply unconscious but the shadow of agonizing death had vanished.

  The Fisherman didn't pause to admire his catch. With a casual, almost dismissive swing of the pole, he whipped the writhing mass of black chains directly toward Li Yu.

  Li Yu’s eyes widened in instinctual panic. A soul curse was hurtling directly at his face. He instinctively raised his arms to block and his mind screaming that he was about to be infected by whatever had been slowly killing the Demon Lord's daughter.

  But the Fisherman Soul was a part of his own foundation. It did not hunt to poison its host; it hunted to feed. The moment the black mass collided with Li Yu, it didn't pierce his flesh. It was immediately swallowed. Li Yu stumbled backward and his breath caught in his throat. He expected agony. He expected his meridians to rot.

  Instead, he felt a sudden, explosive surge of soul power. The curse, stripped of its malevolent intent by his soul, was broken down into foundational energy. The Fisherman had prepared the catch perfectly.

  As the last remnants of the curse's energy settled into his foundation, Li Yu opened his eyes. The Fisherman Soul gave a single, satisfied nod beneath its woven straw hat. Then, the ethereal projection dissolved into mist and retreated back into Li Yu’s Ocean of Qi.

  The terrifying pressure that had pinned the two Demon Lords to the ground vanished instantly. Morven remained on his knee for a long moment and was gasping for air as if he had just breached the surface of a suffocating ocean. He looked at Li Yu with a mixture of awe, lingering terror and gratitude.

  Malos stood up slowly and was brushing the dust from his robes. He didn't look terrified. He looked like a man who had just watched the sun rise in the west.

  "I believe," Malos said with a surprisingly steady voice, "we have just witnessed a miracle."

  Li Yu took a deep and steadying breath. His mind was also rapidly processing the massive influx of energy and the immediate political reality of the situation. He stepped forward and was looking at the two Sovereigns.

  "We need to discuss this. Right now," Li Yu said to them. He pointed to the unconscious girl. "The sickness wasn't a congenital illness it would seem. It was a Soul Curse. Someone planted that inside her to slowly drain her life while making it look like her core was simply failing."

  "A curse..." Morven growled and was pulling himself up to his towering height. His shock was quickly giving way to protective rage. "A curse of that magnitude... it was crafted by a Sovereign. Or a Beast King. No ordinary cultivator could weave something that insidious."

  "Whoever did it is a problem for later," Li Yu stated pragmatically. "Right now, we have a much more immediate issue. Ignis will be back any minute. We need a story."

  Morven frowned and didn’t know what he meant. He was looking down at Asha's sleeping face. "A story? The truth is the truth, Li Yu. You saved her. You pulled the curse from her soul when all the oceans and flames in the realm failed."

  "And if I tell Ignis that, what happens?" Li Yu countered sharply. "Her decree is absolute. Whoever cures the girl gains the alliance of the House of Flame and her hand in marriage."

  Morven’s pale blue face suddenly dropped. The realization hit him like a physical blow. He had been so focused on Asha's survival that he had entirely forgotten the prize. If Li Yu claimed the cure, Li Yu claimed Ignis.

  "I don't want to marry a Demon Lord," Li Yu said bluntly and was waving a hand to dismiss the very concept. "Aside from the fact that I value a quiet life, Ignis does not view me romantically. She views me as a useful tool for her daughter. If she is forced by her own public decree to marry a human wanderer, her pride will curdle into deep resentment. It would be a very short and very lethal marriage for me. Furthermore, it would completely expose the secret I just forced you to swear an oath to protect."

  Malos nodded in agreement and his sharp mind immediately saw the optimal path forward. "The boy is correct, Morven. The truth benefits no one and endangers him greatly. There is only one logical conclusion."

  Malos pointed a long and elegant finger at the towering Lord of the Violet Deep. "You cured her, Morven. It was you that did this."

  Morven took a step back. "Me? But I did nothing! I was kneeling on the floor!"

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  "You brought the finest medical minds of the ocean," Li Yu reasoned and was stepping closer to the massive Sovereign. "You emptied your vaults. You have dedicated your entire existence for the past month to saving her. You love Ignis and you want to marry her. Taking the credit fulfills the decree perfectly. It gives Ignis a powerful, politically advantageous alliance with a man she already respects and it keeps my secret entirely safe. It is the only way everyone gets what they want."

  Morven looked between Li Yu and Malos. His broad shoulders sagged under the weight of his own honor. Morven was a man of passion and straightforward action. He fought his enemies from the front and he courted his love openly. Lying about something this monumental ran completely contrary to his nature.

  "It feels like theft," Morven muttered while looking down at his scaled hands. "I would be building my marriage on a foundation of falsehood. I am claiming a glory that belongs entirely to you, Li Yu."

  "You are claiming a target that would otherwise be painted on my back," Li Yu corrected him firmly. "You are doing me a favor, Morven. Accept it. You love her and would move the world to save Asha and you did."

  Morven stood in silence for a long moment and the crackling of the campfire filled the quiet courtyard. He looked at Asha. He thought of Ignis and the overwhelming relief she would feel when she realized her daughter was finally safe.

  Slowly, Morven nodded.

  "I will bear this lie," Morven said, his voice heavy with solemn resolve. "But the scales must be balanced, Li Yu. The contract I swore to you earlier is insufficient for the magnitude of the gift you have just given me."

  Before Li Yu could protest he pressed his forehead, his Sovereign aura flaring, though it felt incredibly tame compared to the pressure of the Fisherman.

  "I, Sovereign Morven of the Violet Deep, amend the contract!" Morven declared. "To Li Yu, who has delivered my heart from despair, I swear a Bond of Brotherhood! Not only shall I keep his secrets and do him no harm but I shall answer his call! Should he ever require aid, should he ever face an enemy he cannot overcome, he has but to speak my name and the full, crushing might of the Violet Deep shall stand beside him!"

  A second, much thicker chain of glowing blue light erupted from his forehead, intertwining with the first before sinking into Li Yu’s chest.

  Li Yu stood perfectly still and was genuinely stunned. A non disclosure agreement was one thing. But a sworn Bond of Brotherhood from a reigning Demon Lord?.

  "You didn't have to do that," Li Yu said softly but was touched by the towering man's honorable nature.

  "I did," Morven insisted. "A brother does not steal another brother's glory without paying the price in blood and loyalty."

  "A touching display of masculine bonding," Malos interrupted smoothly as his head turned toward the heavy iron doors of the courtyard. "But dry your tears, my friends. The mother approaches and she is moving very, very fast."

  Malos then took out a painted river rock and wiped away the painting on it. “Don’t ever say these things aren’t useful again, Li Yu.” Malos chuckled and tossed it to Morven. He then quickly told Morven the story to use. Once he was done Morven and Li Yu were impressed with his quick thinking.

  A split second later, the heavy ironstone doors didn't just open; they were violently blown off their hinges by a shockwave of superheated air.

  Sovereign Ignis burst into the courtyard. She had been deep in a war council with her eastern generals when she felt the sudden, violent spike of malicious energy.

  Ignis looked like an avenging goddess. Her crimson hair was a roaring inferno and the heat radiating from her instantly boiled the nearby streams of magma, sending geysers of orange light into the air.

  Her eyes immediately locked onto the bed. She saw Asha lying motionless, her eyes closed and completely unresponsive.

  "What happened?!" Ignis roared at them. The sheer panic in her voice cracking the stone beneath her boots. She lunged forward, her hands glowing with white hot healing flames, fully prepared to tear the world apart to save her child.

  Morven stepped forward and placed his massive frame smoothly between Ignis and the bed. He didn't raise his weapons but he held his ground and his newly forged lie ready on his tongue.

  "Peace, my burning star," Morven said. "She is not dead. She is sleeping."

  Ignis stopped and her flames wavered. She looked past Morven, her Sovereign senses sweeping over her daughter's body. The silence that followed was absolute.

  Ignis’s eyes widened to impossible proportions. The suffocating friction that had constantly eroded the girl's meridians was gone. The ash core was now like a glowing sun. It was perfectly stable and resting peacefully within her spiritual center.

  "The decay..." Ignis whispered as her hands trembled. The white hot flames extinguished completely. She looked up at Morven and her face was a fragile mask of desperate hope and disbelief. "It's gone. How?"

  "It was never a congenital defect, Ignis," Morven said while delivering the narrative they had just constructed. He spoke with the serious tone of a seasoned warlord. "When the affliction flared up a few moments ago, it revealed its true nature. It was a Soul Curse."

  Ignis flinched as if physically struck. "A curse? Buried beneath the ash?"

  "Yes," Malos chimed in from the side, stepping forward to lend his absolute credibility to the lie. "It was a masterwork of deception, Ignis. Designed to mimic the failing of her natural core perfectly. It surfaced to consume her."

  "But it is gone," Ignis said while stepping around Morven and dropping to her knees beside the bed. She gently stroked her daughter's hair and her tears instantly vaporized against her hot cheeks. "How did you purge a curse of that level, Morven? Your water arts would have shattered her."

  Morven took a deep breath and was swallowing his lingering guilt. He reached into his robes and pulled out the small and completely mundane rock that Malos had given him. He held it up and let it catch the light of the campfire.

  "I didn't use my arts," Morven explained. "I have carried this passive defensive artifact for centuries. I recovered it from a nameless ruin in the abyssal trenches. I never truly understood its purpose, only that it resonated with soul energy. When the curse flared just now, the artifact reacted. It shattered the curse's hold and purged it from her system. It expended its own power in the process and is now just a rock."

  Morven subtly crushed the rock in his massive grip and let the dust fall to the floor to complete the illusion of a spent artifact. Ignis stared at the dust and then looked back at Morven. The towering Lord of the Violet Deep stood before her was not boasting and not demanding his reward. He was looking down at her with relief that the girl was safe. Further adding to his charm.

  Slowly, Ignis stood up. The apocalyptic Sovereign was gone. She was just a mother whose child had finally been pulled from the edge of the abyss. She stepped forward and to the shock of everyone in the courtyard, rested her head against Morven’s massive, scaled chest.

  Morven froze completely. His arms were hovering awkwardly in the air for a second before he gently and carefully wrapped them around her.

  "You saved her," Ignis whispered as her voice was muffled against his tunic. "You saved my heart, Morven."

  "I promised you I would, Ignis," Morven replied softly while casting a quick and grateful glance over her shoulder at Li Yu and then to Malos. "I would do anything for you."

  Li Yu offered a subtle nod and was entirely content to remain in the shadows. He had gained a massive boost to his cultivation and an additional Demon Lord friend. All of this without painting a target on his own back.

  But as Ignis pulled back from the embrace and the tender moment shifted. The mother's relief had been thoroughly satisfied. Now, the Sovereign's wrath was awakening. The flames comprising her hair slowly began to ignite once more. Not with panic but with a cold, calculated fury that was infinitely more terrifying.

  "A Soul Curse," Ignis murmured. Her voice carried the promise of a coming apocalypse. "Someone walked into my palace, stood over my child's crib, and planted a parasite in her soul."

  Malos stepped forward and his expression was grim. "A curse of that magnitude requires proximity, Ignis. And it requires immense power. You are looking for a peer. They probably couldn’t do it on their own either. Most likely also relying on an artifact or some other kind of natural treasure."

  "I know," Ignis stated as eyes narrowed into slits of lethal light. "I am going to find the Sovereign or the Beast King who did this. And when I do, I will ensure their suffering makes the molten trenches of my capital look like a cool spring."