Du Yanze jolted awake to urgent pounding on his door, his heart racing before his mind even processed what was happening. The golden morning light streaming through the administrative complex's windows felt wrong somehow, too bright and cheerful for the dread that immediately settled in his stomach.

"Young Master!" Li Qiang's voice carried through the thick wooden door, high and strained with panic. "Young Master, you must wake up immediately! The Tribunal forces! They're here!"

Du Yanze sat up, running a hand through his disheveled hair as the reality crashed over him. The divine being was gone. Ke Yin had departed yesterday after his speech, leaving him with newfound power but also with the crushing weight of responsibility for everyone who had chosen to follow their cause.

"I'm awake," Du Yanze called back, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. His body felt strange now, still adjusting to the Paramount Sovereign cultivation level that the divine being had helped him achieve. The Mandelbrot Recursion pattern hummed quietly in his spiritual channels, a constant reminder of the price he'd paid for this power, and the infinite chances it theoretically gave him.

Li Qiang burst through the door without waiting for permission, his usually composed face pale with worry. "Young Master, the scouts report at least five World-Writ Sovereigns approaching from the south, each leading formations of Crowned Heart Realm specialists. They're moving in broad daylight, making no attempt at stealth."

Du Yanze nodded grimly as he reached for his robes. Five World-Writ Sovereigns. Even with his breakthrough, those weren't odds he felt confident about. Ke Yin had made the advanced techniques look effortless, but Du Yanze knew his own limitations. He'd spent his entire cultivation journey believing he was destined for greatness while actually being mediocre at best. The divine being's departure hadn't magically granted him competence to match his new raw power.

"Where's City Lord Feng?" Du Yanze asked, fastening his belt with hands that were steadier than he felt.

"Still recovering in the healing chambers," Li Qiang replied, wringing his hands. "The reflected technique from that Tribunal formation did serious damage to his spiritual foundation. The healers say he shouldn't be fighting for at least another week, but..."

"But he's getting ready anyway," Du Yanze finished with a tired smile.

Through the divine being’s interaction with Feng Zhaoyang, Du Yanze was able to predict the man's stubbornness. The former City Lord's conversion to Disbeliever status had stripped away his arrogance, but it had also revealed an iron core of responsibility for his people that no amount of spiritual injury could suppress.

"Young Master," Li Qiang said quietly, "perhaps we should consider evacuation? If we could get the women and children to the eastern forests..."

Du Yanze paused in the doorway, looking back at his loyal servant. "You’re right, I want you to take the women, children, and anyone else who wants to leave, and get them out of the city through the northern gate. Tell them the Young Master ordered it."

"I won't abandon you," Li Qiang said firmly. "Not now, not ever."

Du Yanze felt a complicated mix of gratitude and guilt wash over him. Li Qiang had served his family faithfully for years, watching Du Yanze's repeated humiliations and still believing in him. The least he could do was try to keep the man alive.

"Then stay close to me," Du Yanze said finally. "And if things go badly..."

"They won't," Li Qiang interrupted with more confidence than the situation warranted. "The divine being chose you for a reason, Young Master. You have power now that even the Tribunal will respect."

Du Yanze didn't have the heart to explain that having power and knowing how to use it effectively were very different things.

The scene outside the administrative complex looked like organized chaos. Feng Zhaoyang stood in the central courtyard, his face pale but determined, directing the placement of defensive formations with the help of converted guard captains. His movements were careful and deliberate, clearly favoring his injured side, but his voice carried the same authority it always had.

"Anchor the barrier formation here," he called to a group of former Lu Clan guards who were positioning resonance crystals around the courtyard's perimeter. "If we can channel their initial assault into the kill zones, we might be able to thin their numbers before they realize what we're doing."

Du Yanze approached, noting how the awakened spirits had arranged themselves throughout the defensive positions. The Stone Emperor had positioned himself at the courtyard's center like a living fortress, his massive bulk gleaming in the morning sun. The ancient oak's branches spread wide over the area, providing both cover and elevated fighting positions for the human defenders.

Little Bloom sat perched on one of the oak's lower branches, her tiny form vibrating with nervous energy. When she spotted Du Yanze, she waved enthusiastically with a branch that was barely larger than a twig.

"Divine Mister! Divine Mister!" she called out, then caught herself with the embarrassed look she always got when she remembered he wasn't actually the divine being. "I mean, Big Brother Yanze! Are you going to use your special writing to scare away the bad men?"

Du Yanze managed a smile despite the circumstances. Little Bloom's innocent enthusiasm had become one of the few bright spots in his increasingly complicated existence. The tiny sapling had taken to following the divine being around the city, asking endless questions about cultivation, writing, and why some people couldn't see how pretty the flowers were when they bloomed.

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"I'm going to try, Little Bloom," he said, walking over to pat her tiny crown of leaves. "But I want you to stay close to Papa Oak and Uncle Rocky, okay? They'll keep you safe."

"I want to help fight too!" she declared with all the fierce determination her miniature form could muster. "I've been practicing my root techniques! Watch!"

A thin tendril of root emerged from the soil near Du Yanze's feet, barely as thick as his finger but moving with impressive precision. It coiled around his ankle gently, then released and disappeared back underground.

"That's very good," Du Yanze said seriously, treating her achievement with the respect it deserved. "But the most important job in any battle is protecting the people who can't protect themselves. Can you help Papa Oak with that?"

Little Bloom's leaves rustled with pride at being given such an important responsibility. "I'll be the best protector ever! No bad men will hurt anyone while Little Bloom is watching!"

Feng Zhaoyang approached. "Young Master Du," he said with a respectful nod. "The barrier formations are in place, but I won't lie to you about our chances. Five World-Writ Sovereigns is more than our entire defensive force can handle, even with your breakhthrough."

"I know," Du Yanze replied, his gaze moving across the assembled defenders. Maybe two hundred converted humans, most of them former city guards and merchants with basic cultivation. A handful of awakened spirits whose power levels varied wildly. And one traumatized former City Lord who could barely stand upright.

Against that, the Tribunal was bringing five cultivators who could write reality directly with their Xuan Yi, backed by dozens of Crowned Heart Realm specialists trained specifically to neutralise Disbelievers.

"The formations will buy us time," Feng Zhaoyang continued, "but once they adapt to our tactics..."

"I understand," Du Yanze said. "We'll make our stand here and hope for the best."

What he didn't say was that he was already planning for failure. The Mandelbrot Recursion pattern in his spiritual channels hummed, ready to reset everything if the worst happened. It was a terrible comfort, knowing that everyone who died today could potentially be saved by rewinding time, but it was the only comfort he had.

A horn blast echoed across the city, followed by another, then another.

The warning system they'd established was announcing the Tribunal's arrival.

"They're not bothering with subtlety," Feng Zhaoyang observed grimly.

Du Yanze climbed onto the Stone Emperor's broad back to get a better view of the approaching forces. What he saw made his stomach clench with dread.

Five figures descended from the sky like vengeful gods, each one radiating spiritual pressure that made the air itself seem to thicken. Their white robes blazed with golden symbols, and their faces were hidden behind masks depicting weeping eyes—the symbol of the Tribunal's authority to judge and execute.

Behind them came their followers in perfect formation: dozens of Crowned Heart Realm cultivators, their spiritual pressure combining into an oppressive weight that pressed down on the entire city. The sky darkened as their combined Xuan Yi blocked out portions of the sun.

"Citizens of Hope City!" The voice boomed across the streets, amplified by techniques that made it audible from miles away. "You have been infected by the corruption of doubt! Submit to purification, and the merciful may yet be saved!"

The lead Tribunal member raised one hand, and golden calligraphy began forming in the air above the city. Characters the size of buildings blazed with power that made Du Yanze's eyes water: Judgment of Heaven Descends Upon the Corrupted.

The technique activated with a sound like thunder, and beams of searing light began raining down on the residential districts where the converted citizens lived. Du Yanze watched in horror as entire buildings exploded into splinters, their inhabitants given no chance to flee or surrender.

"They're not here to convert anyone back," he realized with growing dread. "They're here to exterminate us."

Feng Zhaoyang's face had gone completely white. "The formations! Activate everything now!"

The defensive barriers sprang to life around the administrative complex, but they looked pathetically small compared to the overwhelming force bearing down on them. Golden light bathed the courtyard as the Tribunal members descended like falling stars, their followers spreading out to surround the complex completely.

The first Tribunal member landed in the street just outside their barriers with enough force to crack the stone pavement.

"Feng Zhaoyang, former City Lord of Hope City, you stand accused of abandoning your divine mandate and succumbing to spiritual corruption. Your punishment is erasure from existence." The figure raised a brush loaded with golden Xuan Yi. "Any who stand with you share in this judgment."

"Wait!" Du Yanze called out, jumping down from the Stone Emperor and stepping forward. "I'm the one you want! These people only followed me because I convinced them. If you're going to execute someone, execute me!"

All five Tribunal members turned their attention to him, and the combined weight of their spiritual pressure nearly drove him to his knees. This close, he could see their eyes through the mask's openings: cold, certain, utterly without mercy.

"Du Yanze of the disgraced Du Clan," the lead figure said. "We know of you. The reports describe a Disbeliever hosting a demonic being, one who has corrupted an entire city. You represent a contamination that must be burned out completely."

The lead Tribunal member's brush moved with frightening speed: Truth Burns Away All Deception.

Du Yanze barely had time to prepare his own technique, frantically writing Stalwart Defense Against Tyranny in shaking strokes. His calligraphy was decent, but compared to the fluid perfection of his opponent's work, it looked like a child's scribbling.

The collision of techniques lit up the entire courtyard. Du Yanze's barrier held for perhaps three seconds before shattering like glass, the backlash sending him flying backward to crash into the Stone Emperor's side with bone-jarring force.

"Pathetic," the Tribunal member observed clinically. "You have the power of a World-Writ Sovereign but none of the skill. Did you think cultivation level alone would be sufficient?"

Du Yanze pushed himself upright, tasting blood and feeling at least two cracked ribs grinding against each other. The Tribunal member was already preparing another technique, golden characters forming in the air: Judgment Falls Upon the Unworthy.

Du Yanze's eyes widened as he watched the technique take shape. He tried to raise his brush, tried to channel his Xuan Yi into some kind of defense, but his spiritual channels were still reeling from the backlash of his shattered barrier. His hands shook as he attempted to write, the characters forming crooked and weak in the air.

He wasn't going to make it. He was too slow, too injured, too inexperienced.

The Tribunal member's technique was already descending, a spear of golden light that would erase him from existence just as surely as it would any other Disbeliever.

This was how he was going to die.

Not in some glorious final stand, but fumbling with a brush while being put down like a dog.