Rise of The Abandoned Husband

I raced through the night, pushing my body to its limits. The message I'd received about Clara had been urgent—disturbingly so. Something about the mask we'd discovered months ago was causing trouble, and Clara was right in the middle of it.

The stars blurred above me as I leapt from tree to tree, taking the fastest route to Eldoria. My mind raced with possibilities, none of them good. That mask had always given me an uneasy feeling, but Clara had formed some kind of connection with it that I didn't understand.

By the time I reached William Vance's modest home on the outskirts of Eldoria, my instincts were screaming danger. The front door hung partially open, spilling dim light onto the pathway. No guards were visible—unusual for a merchant of William's standing.

I slowed my approach, extending my senses outward. Voices drifted from inside—tense, threatening. One was Clara's, high with fear but defiant.

"I said no! It's mine!" her voice carried clearly.

"You foolish girl," a cold, unfamiliar voice replied. "Do you have any idea what you're protecting? Hand it over before we take more drastic measures."

I slipped through the doorway silently. The scene inside made my blood run cold. Three men dressed in ice-blue robes stood in William's living room. Their cultivation auras were unmistakable—Military Marquis Realm, all of them. They surrounded Clara, who stood protectively over William's crumpled form.

"I won't ask again," the tallest of the three men said. "The mask. Now."

Clara's hands were trembling, but her stance was resolute. "My friend told me you might come. The Frostfall Sanctum wants the mask for their ritual, don't they?"

My eyes widened. The Frostfall Sanctum? They were an ancient, secretive order rumored to practice forbidden ice-based cultivation techniques. I'd heard whispers about them, but never expected to encounter them personally.

"Your friend talks too much," the man sneered. "And now you know too much. The mask will be coming with us either way."

Clara's aura flared—impressively strong. She had reached Grandmaster Realm, far beyond what I'd expected from her. But against three Military Marquis cultivators? She didn't stand a chance.

"I'd rather destroy it than give it to you," she declared.

The leader's patience snapped. He made a quick gesture, and one of his companions moved with blinding speed, aiming a strike at Clara's chest.

I stepped in, intercepting the blow with my forearm. The impact sent shockwaves through the room, shattering nearby furniture.

"Who—" the attacker started, before recognition dawned in his eyes. "Liam Knight."

"Touch her again," I said coldly, "and you'll lose that hand."

The three men exchanged glances. The leader's expression shifted from surprise to calculation.

"This doesn't concern you, Knight. Our business is with the girl and the mask."

I moved to Clara's side, checking William quickly. He was alive but unconscious, a nasty bruise forming on his temple.

"Clara," I said without taking my eyes off the intruders, "what happened?"

"They came demanding the mask," she explained, her voice steadier now that I was here. "William tried to protect me, but they..."

I placed my hand on William's forehead, sending a pulse of healing energy into him. His eyes fluttered open, confusion giving way to alarm as he registered the situation.

"Liam? Thank the heavens," he mumbled.

The leader of the trio stepped forward. "Enough delays. The mask belongs to the Frostfall Sanctum. It was stolen from our sacred vaults centuries ago."

"Lies," Clara hissed. "It chose me. It showed me things—"

"Silence!" the man snapped. "Its power is not for children to play with!"

I helped William to his feet. "Get Clara out of here," I whispered.

But Clara stood her ground. "I'm not leaving. The mask needs protection from them."

The leader's patience finally broke. "Take them all."

The three attackers moved in perfect synchronization, their movements fluid and deadly. I pushed William behind me and met their assault head-on, confident in my newly enhanced physical prowess.

The first man reached me, his palm strike aimed at my chest. I deflected it easily and countered with a punch that sent him flying across the room. The impact cracked the wall behind him.

The other two hesitated, clearly surprised by my strength.

"You're outmatched," I stated flatly. "Leave while you still can."

The leader's eyes narrowed. "You've improved since your battles in the desert, Knight. But you don't understand what you're interfering with."

He reached into his robe and withdrew a small blue crystal. Before I could react, he crushed it between his fingers. A fine blue mist erupted, swirling around his hands.

"Clara, get back!" I shouted, sensing imminent danger.

The leader thrust both palms forward. Instead of a physical attack, a wave of pale blue light rushed toward me. I raised my arms, channeling my energy to form a protective barrier.

The blue light hit my shield—and passed through it as if it wasn't there.

I felt the light enter my body, cold and invasive. It raced through my meridians like liquid ice, seeking out my energy centers. Within seconds, I felt my cultivation faltering, my meridians constricting painfully.

"What..." I gasped, dropping to one knee.

The leader smiled coldly. "The Frost Seal. Even your vaunted physical refinement can't resist it."

My limbs grew heavy, unresponsive. I tried to circulate my energy to combat the spreading numbness, but the blue light had somehow blocked my pathways.

"Liam!" Clara screamed, rushing to my side.

"Stay back," I managed to warn her, but my voice was weakening.

The second attacker seized the opportunity, lunging toward Clara. I tried to intercept him but my body refused to respond properly. My movements were sluggish, my strength fading rapidly.

"The mask," the leader demanded again. "Or watch your protector suffer."

Clara looked from me to the intruders, tears welling in her eyes. "I—I can't—"

"It's okay," I struggled to say. "Don't give them anything."

The pressure in my meridians intensified. Whatever technique they'd used was specifically designed to neutralize cultivators, bypassing physical defenses and attacking the energy system directly. I'd never encountered anything like it.

William had recovered enough to stand. He placed himself between Clara and the attackers. "You'll have to go through me first."

"Gladly," the third man sneered, stepping forward.

I forced my body to move despite the paralyzing cold spreading through my system. With tremendous effort, I grabbed the third man's ankle as he passed.

"Not... so fast," I growled.

He tried to pull free, but even with my strength diminished, my grip was unbreakable. I yanked hard, toppling him off balance.

The leader frowned. "Impressive resistance. But futile."

He made another gesture, and the blue light within me pulsed stronger. This time, I couldn't suppress a cry of pain as my meridians constricted further. My vision blurred, darkness creeping at the edges.

"Stop it!" Clara shouted. "You're killing him!"

"The mask," the leader repeated implacably.

Clara's face crumpled. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small cloth bundle. The moment it appeared, I felt a strange resonance from it—an ancient, powerful energy that somehow responded to Clara's touch.

"Clara, don't—" I tried to protest, but my voice failed me.

"I have to, Liam," she said, tears streaming down her face. "I can't watch you die."

The leader's eyes gleamed with triumph. "A wise decision, girl."

As Clara reluctantly extended her hand with the bundle, I made one final, desperate attempt. Drawing on reserves of energy I didn't know I possessed, I channeled everything into breaking through the blue light's blockade.

For a moment, I felt a crack in the technique's hold—a small fissure in the ice. But before I could exploit it, the leader sensed my resistance and reinforced the seal.

"Impressive," he murmured. "But not enough."

The pressure intensified tenfold. My consciousness wavered as my meridians threatened to collapse entirely under the strain.

"Liam!" Clara's voice seemed distant now.

I tried to speak, to warn her one last time, but my body had finally betrayed me. I collapsed to the floor, unable to move, barely able to see.

Through dimming vision, I watched the leader reach for the cloth bundle in Clara's trembling hands. William tried to intervene but was casually batted aside.

"At last," the leader said reverently, "the Frost Queen's Legacy returns to its rightful guardians."

The last thing I saw before consciousness slipped away was Clara's anguished expression and the faint glow emanating from the bundle as the Frostfall Sanctum leader began to unwrap it.

Then darkness claimed me, my meridians blocked and my body utterly incapacitated by the insidious blue light.