novelraw Chapter 1280 - 1279 - Watchers
Chapter 1280 - 1279 - Watchers
Phantom Peak was not totally isolated. It was part of a small set of peaks that were relatively barren. They did make a good launching point for the roost of various beasts, however, so they were a natural defense for Annabelle.
It helped that they respected both Kora and Lind's requests. He had not used his True Lord status even, just being a Divine Dragon was enough!
Thus, Annabelle had lived in relative peace for 500 years.
The tradeoff, however, was that the other peaks were then not as well defended from subtle infiltration.
Ethry and the 2 emerald dragons with her had routed most of the spies in the area. Some were simply spies just keeping an eye on an important figure. Not all spies were bad either as they sometimes relayed information to the Frey Clan from ally power.
A select few, however, had been found to be at the order of their new enemy.
The Illusion Immortal lived up to his name as figures had seamlessly blended into craggy fissures along the gray mountain peaks. There was snow and ice on a few but nothing inhospitable to Immortals.
They thought themselves safe as they saw their contemporaries exposed and either expelled or killed by the 3 dragons.
Currently, a handful of figures were trying to gauge the new arrivals as yet another ship arrived bearing the coat of arms of the Frey Clan.
"That makes 5 ships total. About 20 individuals with support staff. Mostly women too, but the men aside from that one dragon are unimportant figures. Relay that to the next link." A man so slim he seemed ready to float away was using a pair of glasses to look at Phantom Peak.
They only worked while the mists were thin. Once they went back up, even his master's peak grade 7 artifact was useless.
A Law Grade artifact had not gotten much of anything either which shocked him, but it was also easier to trace the fluctuations even through illusion arrays.
Thus, they stuck to grade 7.
"What are they doing? The Frey Clan has not made any major moves but the people arriving all seem to be from the founding family or close to it." A woman suddenly sat up from what seemed like a smooth stone ledge.
Despite being behind a powerful illusion formation, she wore clothes that let her blend into the rocks around them with ease. It was not the result of any formation or weaving, just pure camouflage.
"It cannot be a coincidence that the ultimatum was given only days ago. The master was right, she is going to defy him. They will regret resisting our Sovereign." The man spoke without looking but the woman frowned at him.
Both of them were wearing pale gray wraps around their heads. His robes were also close to the same color as the stone around them.
Everything about them was to blend in but they felt supremely safe behind their Master's formations.
"Do you think he will send the Trio?" She asked a question that finally made him look away. His eyes were 2 different colors but it was due to one of them being an artifact!
It was almost alive as it narrowed its pale blue iris at her. His other dark eye also narrowed.
"They are close to facing their tribulation. It might be dangerous to send them as they could trigger it here. That would violate so many treaties that acquiring the aether child woman would be moot." She nodded but thought it still likely.
The Trio was a simple name given to 3 mysterious individuals that worked for their Master. Whenever they acted, they moved as one. It was almost spooky how coordinated they were.
It would be a bit of overkill to send them but the amount of power gathering may require it. Speed was also essential which was their forte.
She was about to suggest a few alternatives when the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She immediately rolled away but a crack was heard by her followed by the shattering of stone and squelch of flesh!
She extended her aura and was shocked to see her companion was split in half! His soul was ensnared by a glowing tendril connected to a parallel shape she realized was a whip!
A darker version she recognized as solidified elemental power was struck into the mountain where she had been sitting!
A woman in a white battle dress was smiling ear to ear as she looked down at her.
"Not bad! You have a higher sense of danger than your companion did. Your other friends were not too annoying either!" The woman had pale violet eyes with short green hair. Her skin was well tanned but had a healthy glow.
The woman threw a handful of daggers that whistled just barely as they sliced through the air. The blades did not refract light and were hard to track. At that range, they should kill the whip wielder.
The woman did not even wait to see if they hit as she summoned a jade crystal she wanted to crush to call for reinforcements. Whatever gave them away should not affect the others nearby!
The jade shattered and she waited for a confirmation pulse from an artifact in her ring, yet nothing came!
The clink of metal on stone yanked her vision to another shocking sight! There were 3 more elemental whips deflecting her daggers with ease! Further, she could not feel the Law and Intent mixed in!
What kind of insane power was that for a conjured weapon?!
"Shoti, stop playing with your food and capture or kill her already." A new voice came from directly behind her. She tensed her arm and a blade shredded out of her sleeve as she struck back but the clang of metal on metal was followed by her blade shattering into pieces!
Blood flowed as her arm was shredded by the weapon breaking.
The 2 long swords were held by a beautiful woman with cold amber eyes looking at her from white streaked hair but very young looking.
Fear actually filled her as that woman needed no introduction.
"Life and Death Immortal!" The woman flipped into the air in an attempt to escape and wondered why her backup was taking so long! It was only when her center of gravity suddenly shifted that she realized she had lost a leg as well!
Blood flowed like a fountain until she popped a healing pill into her mouth. The pill was a peak Law Grade version she loathed using but she could not afford to be maimed now!
"Little Fey, you should not be so mean as to interfere. These are the last ones so why can't I have some fun?" The teasing tone did not fool her. The woman wielding the whips had to be woman Shoti Frey!
Why were they able to get so close without being noticed?!
She looked towards the nearest hiding spot and the blood fled her face. A bloody splotch covered the mountain peak. She also saw others and realized they had been wiped out!
"Sister Shoti, you waste too much time. Ethry will be here soon since we finished up the other peaks." A demoness appeared from a tear in space the woman barely felt! What kind of spatial skill did that take?!
None of them were peak Radiant Tier aside from Life and Death Immortal. Just how severely had they underestimated the skill of these women?!
The roar of 3 dragons drew her eyes up to see the prismatic and 2 emerald dragons were flying over. They were clearly a bit tired but she realized she was all alone.
She then summoned a black jade stone but 4 whips suddenly encircled her as a 5th snatched the jade stone away. Life and Death Immortal severed the Qi from the stone and it crumbled to dust!
"I am sick of those damned beacon stones. I am going to get a bath. Please deal with her, Mama Shoti." Life and Death Immortal then made a tear in space before vanishing.
The woman saw her companion's soul was dispersing! What was going on?! Their souls should be marked and protected from Radiant Tier attacks!
"You look confused? While your Master may be decent at illusion arrays, whatever weaver he employed is a pathetic weakling. It is not even my beloved husband's work that is breaking down the engravings on your souls." It was only then the woman noticed the whips had sigils glowing on them!
The marks on her soul were breaking down just by being held by the whips!
"Master–what have you done?" She mumbled as the world was fading to black. It was only now that she realized how badly they had underestimated their target and her resources. Rumors and stories did not do them justice!
The connection to the world was about to shatter when the world came roaring back.
[That is quite enough. I will take this one.] The women all snapped to attention as the dragons bowed their heads deeply. The woman slowly looked up and saw just 2 emerald orbs staring at her in the sky.
Space then shifted and she was dropped on a stone floor somewhere. She felt sick! How long had it been since being moved through teleportation had affected her?!
"Welcome to my home, Elise Nova. The only reason you are alive is that I received a request to spare your life. I do not think you will thank me for it though." She looked up and saw a man with tanned skin, crimson robes, and violently emerald hair trailing down his back.
Lind Frey himself! She was about to ask questions when a very familiar aura washed over her.
"Well, I knew you escaped to the 4th layer but I am so glad you are still alive, Elise." A figure swayed into the room but it was wrong. The deformed demoness had been replaced by a powerful figure.
Demonic wings unfurled as hooves clopped on the stone floor. Small horns and a tail fleshed out the Akashic Bloodline Physique, but it should not look like that!
"Shadow Stealer Immortal, how?!" A light laugh left the demoness as her ochre artifact eye and bright pink eye narrowed at her.
"Oh I go by Evie now. I owe you and your Master quite a bit for the pain you put me through and I promise you will beg me for death before I am done." Elise suddenly wanted to go back to the terrifying wives of Lind Frey as he simply looked on coldly.
"Do not go too far, but get what we need. Time is not on their side." He then vanished from the room. Elise was all alone with Evie and the smile on the demoness' face told her all she needed to know.
"Wai–" Pain lanced through her body and it took a long time to realize she was screaming. Regret filled her but more than that, fear.
She feared her Master had targeted someone he never should have. Despite being a Sovereign Tier, she realized the depth of the Frey Clan was far more than they realized!