Reborn as the Last van Ambrose

The standoff continued for several long moments, with Xùyán pinned by the dark spear while Grim struggled against the corruption's growing influence.

The enlarged fox paced impatiently, its predatory instincts demanding immediate action.

"You can't fight what you are forever," Xùyán said through gritted teeth, the draining spear making speech difficult. "The dark mana doesn't just give power. It reveals the truth about a person. And the truth is that you're a killer, just like me."

"I'm nothing like you," Grim replied, though his voice lacked conviction.

"Aren't you?" Xùyán pressed, sensing weakness in his opponent's resolve. "How many have you killed to reach this point? How many obstacles have you removed without a second thought?"

The words hit home, bringing memories back of killing people in the arena, slaughtering elves, and even framing a family for treason.

The dark mana fed on these memories, using them to erode his resistance.

"That was different," Grim said, though the distinction seemed increasingly meaningless.

"Was it?" Xùyán continued with malicious persistence. "Or were you just better at justifying necessary violence? At least I'm honest about what I am."

The fox's mental voice joined the assault on Grim's resolve. "He's right. You've killed before, and you'll kill again. Why pretend otherwise?"

"Stop talking," Grim ordered, but he wasn't sure if he was addressing Xùyán or his own thoughts.

"Oh, I have plenty more to say," Xùyán replied with vicious satisfaction. "Let me tell you about your father, the great Rowan van Ambrose. The man who abandoned his family when they needed him most."

The words sent a spike of rage through Grim's consciousness that the dark mana eagerly amplified. "Shut your mouth now!"

"Haha." Xùyán laughed, the sound harsh and grating. "He found it convenient to disappear when House Ambrose fell from grace. Left his children to face the consequences while he hid in whatever hole cowards crawl into."

"You're lying," Grim said, but uncertainty crept into his voice.

"Am I? Ask your precious fox spirit allies about their intelligence networks. They know where he is. They've always known." Xùyán's grin was cruel and knowing. "Your father chose his own safety over his family's survival. What does that make you, the son of a coward?"

The rage that erupted in response was beyond anything Grim had ever experienced. The dark mana seized on his emotional turmoil, flooding his body with corruption that overwhelmed his rational mind entirely.

"Shut up," he snarled, drawing Echo with movements that were too fast and too violent for conscious control.

The fox, sensing its master's emotional state, abandoned all pretense of restraint. It leaped forward with a roar that shook the trees, its claws extended and wreathed in dark energy.

But instead of targeting Xùyán directly, Grim drew his blade and pointed it directly at him. "Aurora Flash!" he called out.

The blinding light erupted with unusual intensity, enhanced by the dark mana's influence.

Xùyán screamed as the aurora energy seared his retinas, leaving him temporarily blinded and completely vulnerable.

In that moment of helplessness, Grim struck fast and precise. Echo flashed twice in rapid succession, and Xùyán's ears fell to the ground, severed cleanly at their base. Blood streamed down his face as he gasped in shock and pain.

"My ears," Xùyán whispered in horror. For a fox spirit, the ears were not just organs of hearing but symbols of spiritual connection to their ancestral power. Losing them was a mutilation that went beyond physical damage.

"Consider that payment for your lies about my father," Grim said coldly.

The fox, now fully synchronized with its master's emotional state, positioned itself opposite Grim with Xùyán between them. Its eyes glowed with the same corrupted light that filled Grim's gaze.

"Now," Grim continued, "let's finish this properly."

He sheathed Echo with deliberate care, almost as if he was enjoying what was about to come.

The dark mana around him began to shift and change, mixing with his aurora techniques in ways that surprised him.

"Aurora Flash: Sundering Slash," Grim whispered, but as he drew his blade in the lightning-fast technique, the corruption twisted the familiar power into something else entirely.

Instead of the normal aurora light, dark energy mixed with the flash, creating waves of corrupted mana.

The technique became something new and terrible—not Aurora Flash, but its opposite: a wave of dark aurora mana that consumed light rather than creating it. My Virtual Library Empire (M V L E M P Y R) appreciates your readership at the source.

The corrupted energy slashed through Xùyán's torso diagonally, the dark aurora cutting from his right shoulder to his left hip so cleanly. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen.

Then Xùyán's upper body began to slide away from his lower half, the cut so clean that it took several seconds for his brain to register what had occurred.

"Impossible," he whispered as his consciousness began to fade. "That technique... it doesn't exist."

"It does now," Grim replied with cold satisfaction, watching as his enemy's life drained away.

But even as Xùyán died, the dark mana demanded more. The fox prowled closer to the separated pieces of the corpse, its predatory instincts urging Grim to desecrate the body further, to feed the corruption with additional violence.

Grim stood over the remains, feeling the dark power coursing through him. Every instinct screamed at him to give in completely, to embrace the strength that came from abandoning all moral restraints.

The fox's mental voice whispered encouragement: "This is what real power feels like. This is what you were meant to become."

From the circle of observers, shocked silence greeted the brutal execution. Even the elders, accustomed to political violence, seemed stunned by the clinical cruelty Grim had displayed.

"Blood magic," Elder Zhìhuì whispered to his colleagues. "He controlled Xùyán's own body against him. That's not human magic."

Elder Qīngfēng added fearfully. "What happens when he masters abilities we don't understand?"

Elder Míngzhì's expression showed grim satisfaction despite the circumstances. "This proves everything I've warned about. Humans with power become monsters given enough pressure."

"Enough," Húwáng said firmly, his royal authority cutting through the murmured discussions. The Fox King stepped forward, his eight tails still crackling with residual blue flames from his own battle. "What's done is done. Xùyán chose his path when he embraced corruption."

"But the human's methods—" Elder Míngzhì began.

"Were effective," Húwáng interrupted with finality. "He eliminated a threat to our realm using whatever tools were necessary. Isn't that what we wanted from our guardian?"

Princess Ruxi took a step forward, her face showing a mixture of concern and fear. "Grim?"

The sound of her voice penetrated the dark mana's influence just enough for rational thought to reassert itself.

Grim looked down at his hands, still stained with Xùyán's blood, and felt a wave of revulsion at what he had become.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," he said quietly, though whether he was addressing Ruxi or himself remained unclear.

The fox, denied its complete victory over Grim's consciousness, began to shrink back to its original size.

The dark mana receded partially, though its influence remained strong enough to color every thought and emotion.

"Is it over?" Elder Míngzhì asked with obvious concern, his gaze moving between Grim and the fox.

"For now," Húxiān replied with careful neutrality. "Though I suspect the real challenges are just beginning."

As the immediate threat ended, the true cost of Grim's victory became clear.

He had won the battle and eliminated a dangerous enemy, but in doing so, he had fed the very corruption he was supposed to be containing.

The fox companion now sat beside its master with the patient loyalty of a predator waiting for its next opportunity to hunt.

As Grim sat there he saw a book covered in blood sitting in the middle of the stones.