The stench of death still clung to the air, a acrid perfume that even the biting wind couldn't fully dissipate. Arkael stood at the jagged precipice of what was once the Sky Sword Sect's main hall, the remnants of shattered pillars and calcined stone stretching out before him like broken teeth. Dust motes danced in the sparse sunlight filtering through the ragged holes in the sky, each particle a ghost of the lives extinguished here.
"A new beginning," Arkael murmured, his voice a low rumble that seemed to echo the emptiness around him. The Sky Sword Sect was no more. In its place, a foundation was laid, a foundation of ash and bone upon which the Predator Empire would rise. His empire.
Kai, a shadow of grim efficiency at his side, approached, his boots crunching softly on the debris. Hi
