novelraw Chapter 1054 - 1053 - The Broken Lines
Chapter 1054 - 1053 - The Broken Lines
The Divine Ruin had vanished.
That fact could not be denied or thought to be some complicated trick by some sect or kingdom. There was also the one report that all agreed on.
Before it disappeared, a single streak of light shot to the north east. It had gone into the depths of the open wilds that no power held officially.
So all the previous forces that fought each other over the Ruin went insane. Some accused the high and supreme powers of trying to hoard the Ruin's legacies for themselves. The premise being an agent had made their way inside and successfully captured the treasures before collapsing the Ruin.
The accused, of course, did not take such things lying down. They did not ally themselves together but simply crushed any idiots still within reach to put an end to the fight.
Blood flowed like rivers in all directions as chaos was unleashed for months.
Eventually, they simply ran out of people to kill or capture. Righteous or wicked did not seem to matter as both were brutal. The one that stood out the most was the Heavenly Maiden Sect.
Their War Maiden went missing the day the Ruin vanished and they went on a rampage that reminded all how terrifying their power truly was.
Crescent City became a warzone long ago but the final nail in the coffin was that rampage. The Fionan Empire was not happy but knew it was not solely their fault.
Truthfully, they too had been irritated at the stalemate and subsequent chaos. They expelled all forces within their borders but the city was lost.
It was not the only city to fall.
At least 7 cities of various sizes were wiped out or at least severely damaged. The loss of life was horrendous.
Lind came back to within the various battlefields and his hand was dripping blood as his knuckles cracked.
His aura was able to reach many places and all he found was death.
It had only been a little over a year since he left the Ruin but maybe a decade or more within it. Yet, it seemed as if Hell had been unleashed in all directions.
It was too coordinated. The fall of the cities and the reach of the reports on the others was too fast.
The Gates still stood but rubble surrounded them. Unlike Kun City, no beasts came to claim their old homes. It was damned suspicious but could also be just how rare the Starhide Wolves were.
There were no longer any semblance of battle lines, just hell. Trees were obliterated and bodies were flung everywhere.
No one collected the dead, which was just wrong all on its own. Why did no one even come for their rings or storage treasures? Why were they simply left when all cultivators knew the danger of leaving such nutritious food for beasts?
"Papa?" Jur took his bleeding hand and rubbed it against her soft fur on top of her head. He broke free from his rage before smiling down at her.
"Sorry, it is just worse than I imagined." Nana and Chu were guarding them but War Maiden Katara was still oblivious as her aura was still too weak.
"Any Maidens?" He nodded which made her face darken with anger. He did not need an order before heading off in a direction. Jur was already used to the horrors of war so hiding the horrific battleground from her was pointless.
He did carry her though and held her to his chest to keep her feeling safe.
They spent weeks crossing blood soaked earth and shattered forests to reclaim the corpses of dead Maidens.
The once verdant plains were blackened earth with no life at all. Immortals and Heaven Realms had devastated the land.
Lind noticed a few other robes of powers he knew or were known to him thanks to Delenn. He gathered their corpses or what he could for later.
After a few months, he could not find any more bodies. There had been a few roaming bands of fighters but they avoided them as they could not detect their group at all.
The battle lines were totally broken. There were no fixed areas any longer and it was clear the body count was the goal more than anything else.
There was only a little silver lining in that regard.
With clear signs of direct attacks and leaving as many dead as possible as the goal, it required keeping external interference out. The Fionan Empire expelling everyone was not helpful so it showed a limit!
It meant the effect was more local than he had previously believed.
There was a control node or flag somewhere much closer than he could have hoped for!
Still, it was all moot if he could not find a place to set up a relatively safe base of operations. The chaotic battle lines meant the war could escalate literally anywhere 2 or more forces met!
How could he build a base in such conditions?
He was left with heading south back to Crescent City. The rubble may be empty but it still had all the material wealth he needed to build a base.
War Maiden Katara also had some tips for how the war towers could be repurposed for their needs.
It took nearly a year to cross the warzone until the broken walls of the city came in view. At no time had he sensed a single beast on the way. The complete lack bothered him but he pushed aside as they entered the ruined city.
He had only been there a short time before but the once vibrant streets were barely visible with stone ramparts, steel struts, and some broken bodies littering the way.
They picked their way carefully to the broken fingers of the tower they wanted. It was open to the sky and all the formations were long broken.
She still touched a few panels to be safe but nothing responded that he could tell. The tower was dead.
Tainted Qi was at full power but their group was isolated from its effects thanks to his artifacts protecting them.
Only he needed none.
"Well, I can see some of the formations are salvageable but it will take some–" Katara was explaining some work they could do to make a shelter when he held up his hands. Chu also was looking around.
Something was nearby and it was not friendly!
He gave Jur to Nana and vanished from the group. Chu could tear through space but her speed was far below him. Her battle strength, however, was on par with his own!
He appeared at the lip of a broken wall in the top most reaches of the tower. He lowered his weight so as not to further damage it and also give himself away.
He expected demons with what he sensed before but a deep frown showed on his face as he saw it was humans with several chained up beings. A demon was missing an arm with a collar around his neck.
His aura was being made to flare but it was effective as he was clearly a shadow expert. Using shadows could extend his aura beyond normal and that was what he had felt before.
He quickly erected a weaving to let the Qi simply pass through.
The other prisoners were not in great shape either. One was an older man with both hands missing but his body was clearly beaten heavily as well. The way he moved, even injured, revealed him for the warrior he clearly had been.
There were 2 other humans in collars but were covered in dried blood and mud.
The group holding them wore robes of gold and black.
Lind had to think on it before exasperation left him.
"Holy Flame Sect." They were not a bad power but they had an arrogance to them. They supposedly used slavery as a punishment for criminals but Delenn admitted she did not know if that was true.
They were far from home too as they were far to the north west. Their home was in the Broken Sun empire. It was a place of war and strife. The imperial family had conquered the territory and still held that warriors were the epitome of all cultivation.
The Holy Flame Sect was one of their higher powers. Supposedly, they were not a battle maniac empire but they did value combat strength overall. It was not impossible the slavery for criminals was overlooked if abused.
Weakness was a crime in their eyes.
"Well? Did you find any?" A voice reached his ears as the demon winced in pain. Lind caught the scent of blood faintly. The arm injury was recent!
"There are signs of someone passing recently but no people." Shock flooded Lind. The demon used his remaining arm to point almost exactly their path in! He had Chu practice covering their tracks so there should have been nothing!
She was very good at it but it seemed the demon possessed a powerful tracking Art!
The man holding the demon's chains slapped with his backhand at him. The demon flew backward until the collar yanked him back and slammed him into the broken street.
"Useless! I keep telling you to find us more entertainment but all you find are these useless men!" Lind's eyes narrowed darkly. The demon coughed up blood but did not retaliate. He could not anyway with that collar on.
The group began to move on but Lind marked them with a weaving. No one was aware of it since he felt no weaver among them. Artifacts to detect his particular weaving only existed in his own ring!
"It is going to be one of those kind of days." Lind mumbled under his breath and fell back to his own group. They had to be far more careful in the future but first they had to do something about that demon!