When Sen had spilled all of those different cores on the ground, heâd expected it to be impressive but even he hadnât anticipated the true scope of the devastation it would create. The wall, the gate, the cultivators behind the gate, and several nearby buildings had been⊠He supposed the right description was
torn apart
. It wasnât quite on the level of what he expected more advanced nascent soul cultivators could do, but it was a frankly shocking level of destruction. For the moment, nothing was moving nearby in the sect. Sen took that opportunity to stride forward, flanked on either side by Falling Leaf and Glimmer of Night.
He crossed over the approximate spot where the gate had been and looked around. He let his spiritual sense sweep out again, having pulled it back before all the cracked cores exploded. Heâd had the intuition that all of that qi going to war in such a confined space would probably have been disconcerting as hell in his spiritual sense. It might have been enough to stun him a little. He just wasnât sure and didnât feel like this was the opportune moment to test that possibility. As his spiritual sense brought information back to him from the entire sect, he had to suppress a grimace.
Spending more than a week creeping around in the sect had given him at least a rough sense of how many people were there. His initial strike had reduced that amount by around
half
and more were dying by the minute. On the one hand, that meant that his trap had been very effective. Heâd never dreamed for a second that it would get everyone, but he had worried that the sect would have some kind of plan or countermeasures in place for something like this. They clearly didnât. On the other hand, it felt wrong to be happy that the trap was so effective. Sen shoved that thought away.
I can indulge in guilt later
, he thought.
Right now
,
I just need to finish the job
. Still, he had committed himself to one tiny mercy.
âI donât care about the qi-condensing cultivators,â he announced. âThey canât rebuild the sect. They arenât powerful enough to pose a threat. If they want to run, let them. If they fight, kill them. Everyone else dies. I intentionally excluded a few buildings from the trap. Iâd like to preserve the libraries if itâs possible. If itâs not, Iâll live with it.â
Sen had told them that before, but he suspected it wasnât a bad thing to remind them about before the real battle took hold. That seemed particularly prudent given that they were separating. Not that he was happy with that prospect. In fact, heâd been entirely and vocally against that idea. While he knew that both Falling Leaf and Glimmer of Night were capable fighters, it was entirely possible that there were some elders still alive in the sect. He wasnât eager to fight them, but he was relatively confident that he
could
fight them. He wasnât nearly so confident that the others would enjoy success against superior cultivators.
It didnât help that he couldnât get a clear feel for Glimmer of Nightâs cultivation level. It was the equivalent of core formation, but Sen couldnât pin down exactly
where
in core cultivation. He had similar trouble with Falling Leaf, but it wasnât as pronounced with her. He wondered if whatever transformation the Great Matriarch had put the spider through also helped to obscure his exact strength. While a frustration for allies, he could see a lot of utility value in potential enemies not being able to sense someoneâs strength.
For all his misgivings, heâd eventually agreed. The truth was that Falling Leaf and Glimmer of Night worked better when they could ambush opponents. With the darkness of night and rampant confusion in the sect, there would be ample opportunities for ambushes. Sen, for better or worse, had built his fighting style around direct assaults. He wasnât
above
an ambush by any stretch of the imagination, but his instincts didnât take him there. He had to plan his sneak attacks. That made trying to move as a coordinated team less than ideal for all of them. The other two could always come in behind Sen to clean up any strays he didnât kill. That would work but didnât play to their strengths. A fact that Falling Leaf and Glimmer of Night had pointed out to him. In the end, heâd relented.
âRemember what I said about the organization of this place. The centermost part of the sect is where the core members and elders live,â said Sen feeling compelled to give one last piece of unnecessary advice.
Glimmer of Night and Falling Leaf both nodded before dashing off into the darkness. Sen took several deep breaths as he watched them go. Sen knew that Falling Leaf had no qualms about what they were doing, and heâd intuited that Glimmer of Night was largely indifferent. He was fairly certain that the spider had been more concerned about testing out that web and cracked core trick than about what came after. He supposed he should be grateful that he wasnât asking them to do anything they didnât want to do. For that matter, he hadnât really asked either of them to do anything. Theyâd told him they were coming. Not that it alleviated his concerns about their safety, but heâd have to trust them. There was no other choice.
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He was about to start making his way into the sect when he felt a massive swell of qi in the distance. Sen felt a vague sense of unease that it meant the patriarch was on his way back when he felt a second swell of qi from the same direction. There was only one explanation for that. Uncle Kho had gone off to keep the patriarch busy.
No
, thought Sen.
Uncle Kho went to kill him
. He hadnât wanted Uncle Kho to get involved, but he couldnât pretend that having the patriarch off the board was anything but a massive relief.
He wasnât sure if it was that last pause that gave the other cultivator the courage to try something, but Sen heard the creak of a bowstring and the sound of an arrow cutting through the air. Heâd planned to leave that particular cultivator alone. Theyâd been hiding on top of the wall, and he was content to leave them there. Once they fired that arrow, though, theyâd taken sides. Sen reached up and caught the arrow between two fingers. It had been a clean shot. If he was a mortal, it would have taken him through the neck and severed the artery there. To be fair, though, Sen didnât think the arrow had enough power to even break his skin, let alone do any real damage.
Sen threw the arrow back where it had come from with a contemptuous flick of his wrist. He didnât even bother looking. A cry of pain was his reward for a successful throw. He activated his qinggong technique. A heartbeat later, he was standing on the wall and looming over a qi-condensing cultivator with an arrow straight through his shoulder. The cultivator stared up at him with a sweat-covered face. Sen couldnât tell if it was pain or fear causing that sweat.
Probably both
, thought Sen. The cultivator was fumbling for a jian at his waist but stopped as Sen shook his head.
I should kill him
, thought Sen. He turned and looked out at the pandemonium that gripped the rest of the sect, or at least what was left of it.
âWhatâs your name?â asked Sen, seeking any excuse to wait.
âOuter disciple Bin Enle, honored senior,â said the wounded man, his voice husky with pain.
âYouâre not an outer disciple, Bin Enle. There is no Twisted Blade Sect anymore. Not after tonight,â said Sen with a weary voice. âWhy would you fire on me? You had to know it was pointless.â
The wounded man stared at Sen in horror before he managed to choke out a few words.
âItâs my duty.â
âAnyone who tells you that itâs your duty to commit suicide against a cultivator two cultivation stages above you is a fool or a liar. Itâs not your duty. Thereâs no honor in it,â said Sen, barely even registering the other man. âI have no desire to kill you, Bin Enle. So, I will give you your life and a task. Tell others what happened here. Tell them that Judgmentâs Gale came to the Twisted Blade Sect and found it
wanting
.â
Bin Enle jerked in surprise or fear before he asked in a hushed whisper, âYou're Judgmentâs Gale?â
âI am. Now, take your life and go,â said Sen before he fixed the man in place with a glare. âTake your life, Bin Enle, and ensure that I do not live to regret this mercy.â
Sen could see how pale the man was, how frightened he was, but Bin Enle had grit inside of him. He did his best to give Sen a bow.
âIt will be as you say, honored senior.â
With that, arrow still piercing his shoulder, Bin Enle leapt from the wall to the ground outside. Sen watched the man run off into the darkness as he almost absently batted aside a handful of techniques from some would-be heroes. He answered by sending crimson blades hurtling into them. There was one cry of pained despair before several more cultivators disappeared from Senâs spiritual sense. Through it all, Sen watched the figure of Bin Enle racing away from the sect. He didnât know if the man was grateful to be alive, cursing himself as a coward, or any other of a hundred possible reactions. What mattered to Sen was that the man was leaving. He would live.
Even if no one else from the Twisted Blade Sect walked away this night, that man
would
live because Sen had allowed himself a moment of mercy. He hadnât known it, but heâd needed to do that. It was a tiny thing compared to what he was doing, but it was still a balm to him. The knowledge that he hadnât killed
everyone
. He didnât know if that would matter to anyone else, but it mattered to him. He could be cold if he needed to be but there had to be something inside of him to balance that out. Without that balance, he might go mad. Today, that balance was the life of one man he didnât know. It wasnât much, but it was
enough
. Letting cold indifference sweep over him, Sen stepped off the wall and dropped into the sect. When he landed, Sen had been left behind. Only Judgmentâs Gale remained.