Heaven's Daughter

Chapter 22 - The Seal Cracks

"Kill those two behind the girl then kill her," ordered the leader of the group. Kairi dodged two incoming blades just in time and saw that the two men behind her had been struck down with ease. Seeing the strange scene before her, she didn't know what to make of it. She jumped to the left to avoid the first blade then raised her sword to block the second. Metal clashed loudly but not a single servant came running to the rescue. Kairi could only assume that the men in black had done something to servants. Realizing that death was close upon her, she needed to bring the assassins down as fast as she could. With a swift swing of her sword, two men went down. Another swing, another down.

"Four more," she thought as she stared at the men before her. She could tell that they were all the same level as her. It was going to be tough, she thought and charged forward. The men were fast but Kairi was faster. She quickly struck down one leaving three. The leader didn't seem faze as he easily escaped to the side and watched the fight.

"He looks like trouble," thought Kairi as she dodged an incoming attack. The duo that fought against her was far stronger than they looked. With no other choice, Kairi lifted her blade up to block the incoming attack. A strong force of energy struck down as if someone had thrown a large boulder on top of her. Her knees buckled at the strength her enemy exerted. With no time to react, the second assassin had already stabbed his sword forward. Kairi's eyes bulged at the incoming blade. With a kick, she managed to strike the opponent in front of her in the stomach but it wasn't enough. The man simply grunted and continued to exert force down on her. Kairi watched slowly as the blade of her second opponent pierce through her. A strange flow of energy erupted from the sword as it entered her body. She felt pain travel through her entire body. The strength she held to keep the blade above her head weakened and that also struck her. She fell to her knees as blood streamed from her mouth. Memories of her past flowed into her mind like a silent film. She saw herself young and poor trying to feed herself all the way up to her living as Xiao You. She was sure she was dying and wanted to laugh. The saying 'I saw my life flashed before my eyes' entered her mind. So that saying was true, she thought bitterly. The assassin yanked his sword out harshly and blood flowed from where it had struck. Kairi was teetering on the edge of unconsciousness. Her vision blurred between reality and the void of her golden core. She could see the three assassins coming together and watching her last moment. Then they would quickly disappear and she would see a large black void with the golden flower in the middle. A large dome like net made out of glowing silver thread covered the golden flower. Inside the net was a young girl who seemed to be in a deep sleep next to the golden flower. A giant hole was in the net and energy fluctuated around the net as if struggling to enter the hole. The void disappeared and was replaced again with the three assassins. Kairi couldn't understand it anymore and her mind spun. Reality and the void appeared and disappeared back and forth as if her mind couldn't decide which place it wanted to stay in. Suddenly, she felt something wrapped tightly around her neck. The void finally disappeared and she saw the eyes of the leader. He had grabbed her neck easily with one hand and held her up. She had no strength to fight back. She could only stare down at him as the oxygen in her lungs quickly faded away. At that moment, all she could think about Zhang Sheng.

"Zhang Sheng, save me!" As if her thought had been heard, a blade flashed between her and the leader. It chopped down on the leader's arm and Kairi fell to the ground with the arm still attached to her neck. The leader let out a roar and stumbled backwards while holding onto his severed limb. Kairi looked up and saw the back of a tall man dressed in all white. He held a beautiful sword that glowed with a hint of blue hue.

"It really is you this time," Kairi thought as she pulled the severed arm off of her. She didn't bother to sit up as she had no energy left in her so she laid there bleeding to death while she watched Zhang Sheng easily bring down the three assassins. Before long, he already crouched down and shoved a pill into her mouth.