Yall have no idea how long I've been waiting to finally get to this battle lol. Thanks for reading and commenting and don't forget to vote!

BOOOOOOM

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!

BOOOOOOM

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!

BOOOOOOM

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!

The pounding beats of an ancient drum filled the air as Lineir settled in a cushy chair in the Baraaz Clan's viewing box. Though they were far away from the actual duel, their position was already considered quite privileged and indeed it was only because Jian Baraaz was secretly watching over them that the current generation Patriach who Lineir saw for the first time today, was willing to stay so close. 

"So that's it huh...Deep Loss Cliff?" Lineir murmured to Aileen who was sitting beside him. She nodded. She was too deeply engrossed in the cheers of the hundreds of thousands of spectating demons so Muareen, who was sitting on her other side, leaned over her and answered Lineir.

"Yep. Deep Loss Cliff is a fateful place. There's an old story which explains its name, do you want to hear it?" She said with a mischievous smile on her face. Without waiting for Lineir to agree she started explaining.

"A long time ago, there was said to be a paragon of our race. His name was Yun-Chi. Today you will see him on the viewing screen. After all, he was granted the title of Three Step King and he is the one who will be fighting that human today." She began to tell the story and Lineir stiffened. The Three Step King. 

"Why do we need to take so much caution if it's just King level fighters. Aren't there plenty of Kings in the Hells who could protect us from their fight?" Lineir asked wonderingly. "Is it just because there's a lot of juniors who can't protect themselves from the shockwaves?"

"Oh? You don't know much about the Three Step King do you? While it is true that there are many Kings, amongst Kings, he is the strongest in this generation. Since he studies the Dao of the Blade and has THAT bloodline he is considered  by Lord Tang to be the number one King under the Heavens." She said and Lineir shivered. That unreliable senior is going up against the number one King of the Hells? I hope he can still fight like he did back at the first Hellhole. Sit tight Senior, I have reinforcements if you can give me an opportunity! But why did you come down here in the first place?

"But I still haven't explained why this place is called Deep Loss Cliff. Anyways, once upon a time, the Three Step King actually lost his way in the pursuit of the Dao for the first time. Can you guess what it was over?" She said winking, and Lineir replied without missing a beat.

"Was it a woman?"

"Yep! But that's not the strangest part. Back then...it was said that for some reason he fell in love with a human woman! Isn't that crazy?" Muareen was excited now that this had turned into a love story and rapidly continued to talk without bothering to see if Lineir was still interested. "So he tried to court her, but she wouldn't have him. She was enamored with another expert in the Dao of the blade. And can you guess who that was? The very man who came down to the Hells recently, the human's Bladelord!" 

Lineir was aghast. They actually have THAT kind of history together?? Did that unreliable senior come down here just to resolve matters with his old love rival? Is that why I'm risking my life?

"So...who got the girl in the end?" Lineir asked. Muareen grinned.

"Well it was said that in the end blood is thicker than water and the human woman chose the Bladelord. After that, the Three Step King gave up all thoughts of things except the sword. It wasn't that much later that he became the publicly acknowledged number one King in the Hells." She ended the story there but Lineir was internally struggling to remain composed. Someone actually chose that unreliable senior as their Dao Partner? HAHAHAH I've never seen him traveling with a woman. Yea right...no way. Not even if she had horrible brain damage.

"I know right? Crazy story huh? If only I could be fought over by two peak experts like that..." Muareen sighed dreamily and Cang Shuifeng who was sitting on her other side suddenly started listening intently. He had petitioned Jian Baraaz to let him sit in their box and naturally the old demon had not disagreed. After all their families had some relations and if his descendant were to attract one of the top geniuses of the younger generation over it definitely would not be his clan suffering a loss!

"Ah Daoist sister Muareen...why do you-" Cang Shuifeng was evidently about to say something when suddenly Aileen shushed him.

"Shush Brother Cang, he's here!" She said reaching a hand out over Muareen to stop Cang Shuifeng who could only give up.

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!

The crowd grew wild from hundreds of other spectator boxes at varying distance from the action. The majority were farther away than the Baraaz clan, though some were nearby, and a few were actually even closer. Evidently those clans were either overconfident, or had a powerful ancestor to watch over their younger generation. After all, even the shockwaves of such an intense battle would open the eyes of the juniors. Perhaps they might even comprehend something from feeling the aftereffects for themselves.

Deng!! Deng!! Deng!!

The entire crowd fell silent as a heavy metallic sound came and all of the enchanted viewing screens flared to life! The viewing screens were actually sheets of falling water upon which numerous layers of light Qi were refracted to project the duel. On the screen, an extremely lifelike giant picture was formed. Lineir leaned in as the faraway cliff suddenly appeared in front of his eyes.

"So it really is that senior..." Lineir mumbled incomprehensibly and Aileen glanced over his way. Does he know that human expert? Impossible, he's been training in seclusion. But why does he sound so familiar with him?

"Brother Lineir, do you know this human?" She asked quietly but Lineir was engrossed in his own thoughts and didn't hear her over the cheers. What's up with him?

Little did she know that in Lineir's head, he was preparing to leave the viewing box. It's all a matter of timing. The old demon won't stop me but I don't know, there are a lot of demons here. If any of them notice me leaving this could get ugly. Hey...doesn't Senior Bladelord look a bit...unfocused?

"Look at the human. He's completely lost it. Probably trying to conceal his terror at having to face the Three Step King." Cang Shuifeng said mockingly but Muareen shook her head.

"No...something's not right. These two were once great rivals. They were neck and neck in the past. Why does he look...so out of it?" She said and all of them craned their necks as whispers spread throughout the crowd.

"He doesn't look too good..." Aileen whispered. It was true. Lineir squinted his eyes as he noticed that while there were no overt injuries on Dahn's body, he seemed completely unfocused. His hood had been removed and his sightless eyes could be seen but he was not focusing on anything. Heavy metal chains dragged on the ground, clanging with each step but even still the dignity and majesty of an expert his level was not present. His ever-swirling distortion Qi was also absent and he seemed to be blankly staring out at nothing, as if entranced. On his back, the gleaming purple tattoos were lifeless and seemed to lack their usual mysticism as if hibernating. No one present had ever seen someone with less of a fighting aura.

Senior Bladelord...what happened to you?