Daiyu opened her eyes as the feeling of great danger washed over her. She sensed a faint aura of dark magic in the air. Cautiously, she sat up and reached for her twin daggers. Her body was extremely fatigued. Even the medium grade medicinal plants she took before bed seemed to be ineffective. Yet she forced her body to obey her will. She rolled herself into a crouch, and adjusted her eyes to the darkness in the room. She saw her husband standing next to the baby crib, facing the direction of the door to their chamber. His mouth was moving in constant recitation of defensive spells.

Daiyu slowly crept to his side, and quickly checked the condition of their child. Satisfied that the baby was fine, Daiyu turned to check on her husband. His spells were getting stronger but his face was turning pale, fast.

All of a sudden, it dawned on her. They were under attack, and her husband was locked in a soul battle with a more powerful mage. As the danger alarm rang in her head, she quickly sent her consciousness into the preserved essence inside the talisman on her arm. It bore the last spark of her patron goddess, Xiye. She drew its energy into her core, and instantly, her weakened body brimmed with divine power. Then, she heard the faint footsteps. Outside of their chamber. Five of them, more were down the hallway.

The first assailant to enter through the door had two daggers buried deep in his chest, forcing the others back into the hallway. In a swift move, she retrieved her twin daggers and deflected a rapier meant for her sternum with the left dagger while the other dagger slid into the assailant's chest, deep into his heart. Daiyu dodged low as the second rapier passed over her head. She sliced the leg of the attacker before thrusting her dagger under his chin. He was dead before he hit the floor. The other two cloaked figures hesitated at the brutality of the woman. Their indecision proved costly as their dead bodies hit the ground in thuds.

She removed the hooded cloak on one of the dead bodies and grunted in disgust, "Yamas."

Affiliates of the Yama god, Yanwang. Worshippers who would blindly follow their patron god, even till death. Same as the followers of other crooked deities.

Raising her head, she saw a number of cloaked figures heading her way. When they caught sight of her, they snarled and ran towards her. Filled with the power of Xiye, Daiyu launched herself forward in a lightning speed. As she reached the first figure who had a rapier aimed for her heart, she twisted and slashed his throat before puncturing the heart of the next with the other dagger. She moved with incredible grace as the assailants dropped dead, one after the other. She continued tracing the dark energy as more Yamas died by the edges of her daggers.

A few yards from her, she saw the dark mage. Staff in hand, red glows in eyes. The mage had to die, and fast, or they could be dead before long. The dark sorcerer could see her now. His protective shield of dark energy flared brighter, taunting the retired assassin. Daiyu called on more magical essence. Her veins throbbed achingly while her daggers glowed brightly. Yet she made no move to attack the sorcerer. She stared at the smirking mage with dead pan eyes, anticipating what was about to happen. Along with her husband, she had been in similar situations before, and they had deviced a way for such circumstances.

Abruptly, but as expected, the mage cut his soul attack on An, and faced Daiyu. Confident of his protective shield, the dark mage slowly recited a high-level attack spell. Dark flames began to form in his hand. His eyes on Daiyu, daring her to attack him. Daiyu knew the dark flame of destruction was fatal when fully formed, yet she waited.

As the mage was about to cast the spell, an energy wave hit his protective barrier, causing him a mild disruption. It lasted for a second, but it was enough for Daiyu's lightning speed to get her inside the protective barricade. Like a ghost, she plunged the twin blades into the mage's throat. Before the mage could understand what was happening, he was already dead.

Daiyu looked around and realized they had to leave the place before others arrived. If they hadn't already arrived. Returning the way she had come, she saw the hallway charred with fire, and the silent screams of dying men found her ears. Her husband, An, stood there, leaning on the door frame. He was panting hard while blood dripped from his body. Before him were countless dead bodies. Apart from the men she slew with her daggers, dozens other men lay smouldering on the floor outside their chamber.

Then, she almost screamed in shock when she saw it. The lifeless body of a savant of the Yama god. She gaped at her husband, wondering how he had managed to kill a savant and disrupt the mage's shield at the same time. A savant with the imbued power of the Yama god! An was a powerful mage, no doubt. However, a savant was still a level above him. She didn't know how he did it, but she knew why.

Their precious child.

Their ultimate treasure, sleeping in his crib inside the chamber. Both of them would die before anything would happen to him. A nod of appreciation escaped her before making her way to him. He was an unbreakable barrier between them and the chamber. Despite having difficulty staying upright, he had prevented the killers from getting to their son.

Noticing more cloaked figures were coming at him from the right side of the hallway, Daiyu sprang into action with her twin daggers. In the blink of an eye, their lifeless bodies littered the floor of the hallway. Gradually, her husband sagged down the door frame, holding the side of his stomach. An stared at his wife as she raised her head, loose hair hanging like a golden cloak over her shoulders. He tried to speak, but his voice was dry and weak. She placed her hands on the wound and called on the healing power of Xiye, the fallen sun goddess. They had to hurry up. The presence of the savant meant a stellar of Yanwang was close by.

"Gods, Daiyu. Stop... or you'll injure yourself... more."

"No, no, no. Why is the bleeding not stopping?" Daiyu asked in panic.

An looked at his wife and wiped the tears off her cheeks. They never asked for all this, but it was the situation they found themselves. There were treasures all over the earth, but some treasures would even have the gods after the owner's life. Just like theirs. And with their patron god already dead in the immortal wars, their fate was sealed. Even if the treasure became lost, they would never know peace until they were dead too. Most of their lives they'd been running and hiding, only for affiliates of enemy gods to find them. Time and time again. They had been escaping, but now, he sensed the shadow of death over them.

An sighed inwardly as he gave his wife an assured smile, "Daiyu, the weapon... was touched by Yanwang. It'll take... a little more time... to heal."

We can't get more time. Daiyu thought in her mind. She quickly checked her pouch and put some herbal leaves in her mouth, chewing desperately. She placed them on the wound and wrapped it well. She was finishing when a stellar of the Yama god, suddenly, appeared behind her. A massive axe raised to deliver a killing blow. With what remained of his depleted strength, An pushed Daiyu out of the way with one hand, raising the other to perform the forbidden, high-level spell, the Bloodcaller.

Although it drained the life-essence of An, the deadly strength and agility of the stellar was instantly reduced to a crawl. It gave Daiyu the opportunity to roll out of the path of the descending axe. Still, the axe ripped the right side of her stomach. She screamed in anger and agony as she delivered a thousand cut to the defenseless stellar. She took his axe and sent his head rolling down the hallway.

After the death of the stellar, blood streamed down the corner of An's mouth as his spirit began to fade. The price he paid for the mortal spell. He raised his head to look at his wife, "Set... the ring of the... Vanishing World. Our... son."

Daiyu staggered inside, holding the side of her stomach with one hand, and used the other to drag her husband. After barricading the door with the emergency spell, she checked her wound and grimaced. It wasn't healing either. She willed her mind and focused on the task at hand. The prepared items were brought out from their hidden places and she began setting up the teleportation circle. She could hear more silent footsteps as she finished drawing up the circle. She put their son in the hands of her dying husband who planted a kiss on him with teary eyes.

An bade their child farewell and gave him back to his mother, "Hurry... up, Daiyu."

Daiyu couldn't stop crying as she slowly put the baby inside the circle. From her holding bag, she removed the ancient treasure. A dark-red crystal which had caused them many restless days and sleepless nights. The godstone. She placed it on their child's heart and hoped the spell worked in return. Daiyu activated the ring and smiled broadly when the runes and symbols flared into life.

Few seconds later, the circle exploded in a blinding light just as another stellar of Yanwang broke through the defensive spells of the oak door. The stellar flared in rage as he stared at the empty magical circle beside the dying mage and the assassin. There was no earthly magical spell that could undo the Vanishing World. It was an ultimate spell. They were too late. They had failed.