The Power of Family

On the opposite side of the clearing as Ryker, Lilliana leaned with her back to the wall, sticking to it with her hands and feet like a spider.

Using a combination of force, friction, and mass manipulation spells, she clung to the canyon walls as naturally as she might stand on the ground. Her brows knit together in frustration as she slowly scanned the entirety of the clearing, using just about every reconnaissance spell she knew, but it might as well have been empty from what she was able to see.

'Hm, at least they can't sense me, either.'

She was sure that the assassin with the broken mask didn't notice her until the very moment she attacked. So long as Ryker was able to reveal them for her, they should be able to clean things up rather quickly.

Speaking of…

"Well? Any day now, loser!" she said, rolling her eyes and waiting for him to make his move.

"Okay, okay, I'm thinking!"

Ryker scratched his head, pondering how they were going to catch everyone. Two assassins were accounted for, while he saw 8 faint traces crawling their way up the canyon walls, with his sister perched well above them.

It would be great if they could just catch them all in one fell swoop, but even Lil wasn't that fast. As soon as he moved, the assassins would all probably scatter…

Just as he thought that, though, another idea came to him.

'Right, I can switch 'borrowing' whenever I want, now!'

Gripping his boomerangs tight, he flung them at the two assassins closest to Lilliana, before jumping high into the sky.

As expected, the assassins immediately exploded into action. Two of them, however, were immediately beset upon by a dark shadow, falling limply from the air.

The rest of the assassins quickly scaled the high canyon walls, with Tian Xiaofan taking the lead. Another of her squadmates went down behind her, but she ignored everything else to focus all her efforts on escape.

Someone had to bring this intel back to the sect. Ryker and his friends were a greater danger than they could possibly imagine!

Just as the top of the cliffside came into view, though, she felt a sudden spike of spiritual energy from above, causing her breath to catch in her throat.

Standing on the cliff's edge looking down on them was Ryker, with his arms crossed and that same, infuriating grin on his face.

"You… You…!"

She trailed off, her words failing her. This man… he was clearly in the peak of Soul Wandering!

"Yup, it's me!"

Ryker chuckled, drawing the black blade from his dimensional space.

As soon as he had thrown his boomerangs, he switched his 'borrowing' from Hu Long to Luo Shuchang. Since he no longer had to worry about the fleeing assassins' stealth, he didn't need the Divine Sight anymore.

The Void Crossing Steps let him easily overtake them, and from the previous occasions of him borrowing from Luo Shuchang, he knew just the technique that would keep them here.

"Falling Plum Blossoms!"

Purple sword qi filled the air as he raised his sword, dancing like glowing petals in the breeze, before streaking down in scattered bursts as he swung. The sharp sword qi sliced deep gouges into the canyon's cliff face as it descended, spraying rocks everywhere and forcing the fleeing assassins to slow their ascent and dodge.

It wasn't as impressive as when Luo Shuchang used it, and even if the technique found its mark it wouldn't be fatal, but, in this case, he only needed to stall his opponent's retreat.

Because while the assassins scrambled frantically within the falling curtain of sword qi, Lilliana was busy taking them down one by one.

Although Ryker's attack pattern seemed random, if one observed closely, there was a safe path drawn between every assassin where the sword qi didn't strike, and Lilliana weaved through these pockets of safety like a fish in water.

Soon enough, only Tian Xiaofan was left, the rest of her squad either falling out of the air or already hitting the ground.

At this point, there was no doubt that the Assassination Squad of the Great Void Sect would fall here. Tian Xiaofan clenched her fist, her skin turning fiery red as a turbid qi rose up from her body.

'To think I'd be pushed into igniting my blood essence…' she thought, her face solemn even as pulsating veins crept up her neck.

If this is where they were to fall, she would at least take one of them down with her!

As the last of her squad mates fell, she paused a moment before turning to face the dark shadow that was now right behind her. Immediately, all of her ignited blood essence rushed to her throat, her neck bulging, and a glistening, red blade dripping with blood pushed its way out of her wide open mouth.

'Die!'

This was her ultimate killing move, the Carnelian Blood Sword.

Although it was slow to activate, once it was unleashed, it would lock on to and pierce the enemy without fail. It was also laced with a deadly poison that had been cultivated in her blood since birth.

Even if she died, the technique would still go off; it could be considered the perfect sacrificial play.

However, just as she thought this, a cold hand caught her by the chin, forcing her mouth closed. She sneered, thinking it was too late to stop her, but that sneer soon turned into a grimace as a shock of energy suddenly ran through her body.

'What…? How is this possible-'

Before Tian Xiaofan could finish her thoughts, something like an electric shock coursed through her, rendering her unable to move.

Like a red-hot poker lancing through her acupuncture points, the mysterious energy quickly invaded and disrupted all the qi in her body, and not even her ignited blood essence was spared.

She watched in horror as the Carnelian Blood Sword, the killing technique she had cultivated all her life, melted away like butter on a summer day.

'... Such beautiful eyes.'

That was Tian Xiaofan's last thought before Lilliana brought a baton down sharply on her head.

Clicking her tongue like she'd just taken care of a small nuisance, Lilliana hopped up to where Ryker was standing, dropping Tian Xiaofan's limp body to the ground and shaking off her hand with a look of disgust.

"Ugh, now I got slobber all over me," she said, wiping the blood and saliva off on her robes.

Ryker, on the other hand, couldn't contain the smile that stretched across his face.

So elated was he at the sight of her… that he didn't seem to notice his sister's sour mood, running towards her with a goofy grin.

"Sis!"

Right as he was about to reach out for a hug, though, he felt a familiar foot slam into his face, as Lilliana sent him flying with a jumping roundhouse kick.

Just to be clear, this was a normal occurrence for these siblings.

Lilliana landed gracefully on her feet, putting her hands on her hips and scowling in Ryker's direction.

"You idiot! Do you know how long me and Caelus have been looking for you? And you've just been out there flirting with girls the whole time?!"

Ryker, who had landed flat on his face a few feet away, simply jumped back up to his feet like nothing happened, slapping the dust off his cheeks with an aggrieved look.

"What? Since when was I 'flirting with girls'?" he asked, knitting his brows in confusion.

"Yeah? Then who's this 'Long Meiling' C tells me you've been texting?"

"... Okay, well, that's not, like, the *only* thing I've been doing…"

Ryker scratched his head with a wry smile. Some things never changed, it seemed.

Lilliana only let out a low 'hmph', crossing her arms and directing her focus back towards the canyon below.

"Looks like your new friend's found some trouble," she said leisurely, looking in the direction Hu Long had retreated in earlier. It wasn't a huge problem, though, judging from her tone.

"Oh, for real? Guess I better go help him…"

"Hey."

Before Ryker could leap down into the canyon, he paused at his sister's call, turning just in time to catch her as she tackled him with a fierce hug.

"Glad you're okay, Ryker," Lilliana said, her muffled voice vibrating against his torso.

With how hard she was squeezing, Ryker could only imagine how worried she'd been. He returned the embrace, squeezing just as hard.

"Aw, you know I wouldn't leave you guys," he said, gently rubbing her head. Lilliana just playfully swatted his hand away after a few moments, smiling softly before moving to pick up Tian Xiaofan's unconscious body.

"Alright, enough mushy stuff," she said, fixing her hair, "I'll get these assassins tied up, you go and help what's-his-face."

She curtly shooed him away, jumping down into the canyon, below. Ryker just grinned before he, too, jumped down, wondering just what sort of 'trouble' Hu Long could've ran into.

'Hmm… Well, it shouldn't be anything big, right?'