Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1041 - 1040 - Treasure Star

The war over the Divine Ruin had reached horrific heights. Where before chaos was only unleashed if a power got ahead and things kept relatively peaceful in between, all out war had been declared.

Several sects had been ripped apart simply from the battles between Immortals occurring nearby! Crescent City, Hawthorne City, and Irid City were breached multiple times. The respective overlords of each city responded with soldiers to try and reinforce their borders.

It made no difference.

The fever of war had claimed the area like an illness and it was spreading.

War Maiden Katara was covered in blood as she looked over the maps on her camp desk. Her war tower had been ripped apart by an unknown assailant but she had a few guesses.

The Heavenly Maiden Sect had actually tried to entreat other supreme sects to curtail the war but no one was listening anymore. The festering battles over a million years had seemingly been a slow burn to an explosion.

"Where did it all go wrong?" She had reveled in war. The bloodshed, the honor, and the feeling of victory were all to her, but now she looked at the ever shifting battle lines like they were a cancer.

She was intact only thanks to a few grade 7 pills and her subordinates getting her to safety before death could claim her. So many had died.

So many were dying as she sat there just becoming covered in dried blood. It all felt wrong to her but she could not put a finger on why. Why was it wrong?

They were threatened so they had to fight! It was clear but in that tent of white stained with red so deep it could no longer be washed out, she felt it all was meaningless. Worse, it felt insidious to her!

She felt like something was about to come to her when the tent flap was torn aside.

"War Maiden! Something is happening at the Divine Ruin!" A tired sigh left her. There was always something happening at the Divine Ruin or on the way to it. Death and destruction were the norm for them all.

"I will come–" She was about to continue when the world trembled. It was not an earthquake. It felt like the world was straining and creaking. It was about to fall apart! All her instincts were screaming at her!

She rushed out of the tent and looked to the north!

The ever present distortion was now shifting! Was it going to collapse or explode?! It was not impossible if a Ruin was still breaking down. It would be a disaster!

"Pull back! Everyone retreat! I do not care if it reveals us, everyone else will be running!" Her words were prophetic as the once enemies no longer cared to be found. Everyone was running!

Katara looked on as if entranced but turned to run when a spark caught her eye. A blazing streak of light launched to the north. The direction was too specific to be an accident.

It was the one direction no power claimed! The distorting sent out shockwaves that flattened the forest into kindling! Katara looked calmly at the wave as it approached so fast she knew even peak Crystal Tiers stood no chance of escape.

Millions died that could not run fast enough or had not understood the danger until it was far too late.

It was a slaughter!

She closed her eyes but instead of death, the wave suddenly reversed and closed in on the Ruin as space was torn open! The Void loomed over them all, an even worse fate as it would pull the realm into it!

She was already off the ground and tumbling with no chance of escape! Death seemed fickle to her that day!

She was just about to be sucked into the gaping tear when it closed up as suddenly as it appeared! She was still in midair!

She could not fly at all! The now cleared ground was yet another death waiting for her but her battle instinct finally reared its head!

"Kiss my–" She was not heard as she swung with all the intent and aura she could summon in her sword. The air split like a great hand had ripped it open.

It sped her fall at first but then the air rushed back into the vacuum and slowed her enough to spin and land at speed on the ground. It was not smooth at all!

Her arm snapped like a twig, followed but some ribs, but she tumbled until her momentum was spent as she became splayed out injured, but alive!

Breathing hurt but she felt more alive at that moment than any battle she had recently faced. It felt so clean!

Laughter began to make her ribs worse but an old demon came into her vision.

His lavender skin was riddled with scars but she recognized him.

"Lord Salem, you seem well." He cocked an eyebrow at her as he knelt down and popped a pill in her mouth. Burning pain followed but her bones and flesh knit back together. Confusion filled her face until he spoke with his harsh voice.

"Demons need to keep subjects alive at times so we had to create pills that could heal even with our demonic Qi. It hurts but gets the job done." He seemed remarkably calm but she felt it then.

A sense of kinship she could not explain.

"I think your memory is still muddled or maybe I was just too damned close to that shockwave. This war should stop. It should have stopped long ago but the keep feeding the damn–" He was about to finish when she shot upright!

"Bloodline arrays! They are meddling with our minds!" He smirked at her.and his cobalt eyes looked amused.

"So you do remember now." She nodded but then became confused until she realized how pure the air was.

"It is only temporary again, isn't it?" He nodded but then looked unsure.

"It could be the result of that Ruin leaving so I don't know how long it will last. All I know is that the forces pushing us to kill each other will go after whatever it was that came flying out of the Ruin. They need a reason to keep the war going." She nodded at him as she slowly stood up and cracked her newly healed body as she stretched.

They both knew that if they went back to their bases, the arrays would fog their minds and suppress the truth.

"I am open to suggestions." The demon shrugged as he had no answers. Their limited freedom was shrinking as they stood there.

War Maiden Katara looked up and became grim.

"I swear to Heaven and Earth not to forsake my memory. I will hold on to the truth no matter the pain. I will not yield!" The sky rumbled and Salem balked at her Oath. It was severe and powerful as pressure descended, but he dared not replicate it.

"You will die, you know that. It will drive you mad." She smiled at him and walked over to her massive sword. It had been snapped in 2 but it could be repaired.

"I am not a War Maiden for nothing. I am a survivor but I also relish battle. Heart demons were nothing to me. They were weak. Heaven will enforce the Oath and the array will try to fight. I have become a living battle ground." She felt so free at that moment as she looked north.

She put away the broken sword and looked at Salem as he bowed low to her.

"I will forget but at this moment, you are worthy to be our enemy. I wish you luck in the war to come." She nodded back at him.

"I will go after that treasure star too as I suspect what it might be. If I am wrong, I will forsake it and go look for Princess Delenn. Hopefully, we can do something about this insanity." She marched off before he could respond and he could only watch her go.

"Good luck in all your wars." He sighed as he went back towards his base. He wondered if he was a coward but he concluded he was a pragmatist. Even if he made the same or similar Oath, he would only be signing his death warrant.

Katara barely started her journey when she faced her first obstacle. The area the Ruin had been was just gone. The massive crater was ripped up by the tear into the Void as well so it made it even more of a barrier.

She sighed as she began to walk around the edge before she found pieces of people everywhere. The limbs and pieces were ripped apart randomly but she noted a few of her fellow Sisters.

She collected their rings until she felt more cultivators coming. She ignored it as they were too far but was stunned at her range. She was able to sense them so clearly at dozens of kilometers when she was used to less than 1.

"How small we have become." The Corruption was impossible to ignore but seeing the heights they once held made her realize how horrifying it was to them. Weakness had become the new normal for them all.

She took on a grim look as she moved north. She prayed to the spirits she was right as she was not sure how long she could hold on between the 2 forces that would war within her.

The war of the sects had to be stopped and she could only hope she lived long enough to find the being that held the only hope of that happening.