novelraw Chapter 138 - 137 - Karma is not only the Heavens to Dispense
Chapter 138 - 137 - Karma is not only the Heavens to Dispense
"It has been too long." Shoti was getting antsy. Her instincts had begun to nudge her to striking early. Lind had gone in over half a day ago but had never come out. While they had expected things to take awhile, this was far beyond their longest estimation.
"Patience, little sister. Your job is to secure Master Frey, we will deal with the rest." Gold Tier Maidens were all around her. Only the Divine Sword Sect could summon so many on short notice compared to the Heavenly Maiden Sect.
Shoti had considered asking them for help but there had been too little facts to go on. Lady Estelle agreed there was an oddity as she had not been informed of any plan to summon a Sky Realm to resolve the folded space.
It was a large enough gap and during the contest time that she felt the need to also investigate. A day of research had pulled out too many holes for anyone to just let things unfold.
Lind had been also itching to go. Every moment delayed meant more aether children were left to possibly suffer. He had been like an automaton without really sleeping or stopping for a full day.
Their plan had been to tempt Drake with the elixirs and the real need Lind would have to understand the current circumstances to try and make an elixir for them. They had expected Lind to come out or some signal for him to bring them in.
Neither had occurred and while they technically had authority to act, Lady Estelle was only a remote leader in the Floating Isles. She had no true authority to order them into an official guard station of the Stardust Emporium.
Suddenly, the world changed.
Shoti recognized the feeling as she had felt it before. It was Lind's harmony going wild! Something had gone wrong!
She moved before her thoughts completed but then defense flared around the building at the peak of tier 1 Sky Realm! What were those doing in a World Realm guard house?!
"By the spirits! What is that?" Shoti looked towards where her sisters were pointing and saw the folded space was moving. Something was happening where they could not see and she dearly hoped Lind was not inside.
As if her worry summoned it, emerald flames began to blaze from under the street between the compound and the folded space.
"THERE!" Shoti and the Maidens moved as a hole opened to an underground hell, but the stones were not falling randomly. It was as if a path was opened by some greater power and Shoti recognized it as tears formed in her eyes.
It was not unknown for a near peak Soul Realm to be able to do what a World Realm would consider normal, but it was a steep price to be paid.
"LIND!" She shouted but he did not appear, yet many people did. They were all aether children which they had come to save. The Maidens quickly organized an escape route as the leader was screaming into her communication jade.
Shoti did not care about any of it as she could only stare into the darkness below. It was so close to the folded space border, but what was down there? Nothing should be, but apparently there was.
Her sisters were rushing forward but then something came out of the hole that was not an aether child. It looked human but the feeling it gave off was wrong. Shoti's instincts screamed to get away from it, yet she ran forward with her whip flying on instinct.
The man had black eyes and sneered at them as he simply reached out with his hands. The 2 Qi whips were about to slap him when they dispersed. It was not like greater Qi were used to deflect it, they just vanished. Shoti felt a chill up her spine as the physical whip wrapped around his arms.
A flame covered the whip that seemed to swallow the light of the world. Shoti let go of her weapon without a pause. She had honed her instincts to respond on a reflex to threats and that flame was a threat like none she had faced before.
She reached out to the shadows around her and used them as an anchor to pull her back and saw the flame consume the very stone she had been standing on when the burning whip fell. What was that flame?!
"By the spirits, what is that?" One of her sisters spoke the question they all wanted but the man did not advance. In fact he stepped back a bit from the sunlight. Was he afraid of the light? No, it was not doing anything but there was something down there he needed.
"Pull him out of there!!" Shoti yelled and 2 of her sisters slammed their hands onto the stone street. Before the man could react, he was flung up onto the level with them. He happened to graze the tier 1 Sky Realm protection as he landed.
"ROOOOAAARRRRR!!!!" An inhuman voice came from the man as the barrier seemed to burn him. Shoti did not even think as she used water to make a horizontal high pressure flow as stones were chucked into it. She had made a simple water cannon.
The stones smacked into the man and forced him back onto the formations as he began to smoke. It was not burning like normal, more like something putrid was being unleashed. The man was staring at them with those soulless black eyes but they did not stop until he finally dropped bonelessly to the ground.
The body smoldered but they did not go near it.
"Isolate that and get ready to–" Before the Maiden incharge could finish, emerald flames exploded up from out of the hole in the street.
"GO TO HELL!" It was Lind! Shoti tried to move forward but her sisters held her back. She felt tears flow as she knew the feeling of aura was far beyond any safety for Lind to be using Qi like that.
"Please, Lind, please come back to us!" She spoke the words and the pity in the sisters around her made her wish she was stronger. Why was she always so weak?! Why?!
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Moments before street collapsed:
Lind was feeling pain but he had to act at that moment or it would be too late to do anything. He had studied how World Realms worked as he was finally closing in on the peak of the Soul Realm. He knew World Realms could command the Qi in the very world around them to aid them in their arts.
Lind had no World Arts, thus he kept things simple.
The very stone around him resonated and he felt it. Every brick and mortar had been carefully assembled to withstand the weight of the people above. Lind now broke that balance. His emerald flames were burning him alive now, but he did not care.
The room began to shake so all were dropping to the ground save Lind, himself.
"BREAK!" The ceiling broke as sunlight streamed down and Lind let his power flow. It was so heavy. Each stone wanted to crash down, but he did not let it. He guided it as swiftly as he could to form a ramp that would hold the weight of people.
The very moment it was done, Lind nearly collapsed but he forced his body to keep going. The pain was getting worse but he knew it no longer mattered. All that mattered was his goal.
"GO NOW! DON'T LOOK BACK AND DON'T STOP!" Lind then made his body move. All his muscles screamed but he did not care. He looked at the gate and saw what it was. It was an incursion.
Whatever made this portal was able to control the anti-Qi as he used Qi. It was barely anchored and Lind now understood. The Ruin had that as well. The ability to convert regular Qi to anti-Qi.
"You used them! You used them as fuel for this monstrosity!" Lind turned and found Drake changed behind him. His men and women of the guard all had black eyes and Lind realized they were no longer human.
He was not even sure they were actually even the people they once were. There was a uniformity to their movements now that had not existed before.
"Interesting. You are more than we expected." The voice was like nails on a chalkboard. Human vocal cords were not meant to make that sound, yet Drake did. Lind was glad to see most of the aether children had made it but a few were killed before running up the ramp. The 6 in the cage with him were trapped on his side.
"What are you? What is all this?" Lind was trying to buy time as his allies should see the street collapsing but time was not his friend either. His body was failing. He was worried it was all about to fail when he saw a pouch with a golden emblem on the waist of one of the guards.
As if thought gave it flight, the pouch was in his hands before anyone realized it. The metal on the pouch had been magnetized in a few moments by Lind. His mark was still on the bag if weakened, thus he summoned the peak grade 3 elixirs from before and took them all.
He felt immensely better but it was only a short reprieve. His meridians were being shredded as his Eyes watched.
"You are becoming a cripple for nothing. This will not affect our plan. We did not have the success we wanted but it was useful data." Lind suddenly felt familiar Qi nearby. It was Shoti! She was fighting one of these things!
"You used innocents as ingredients for your food. You used these people and somehow are backed by someone powerful. Even if I die here, it will all come down." Lind thought that would shake the arrogance of the creatures but they only sneered at him.
"You think we care what you ants do down here? A fool found a way to connect us, however tenuously, and we are amused how easily they gave us what we needed." Lind felt sick but more time was better for his allies, he hoped.
Suddenly, the creatures were all in pain, but Drake looked up in rage.
"That whore will pay, your woman will be refined by us." Lind's eyes went white. He saw Shoti, Qing, Annabelle, and Cyntilla in the clutches of these monsters and let go whatever restraint he had left.
"GO TO HELL!" Lind unleashed all he had. His emerald flame changed. Lind understood. He understood he could do something to these creatures. His meridians were falling apart but he just needed a little longer.
He looked at the gate and touched something. Unlike any other Qi, his was not destroyed. He understood what he was touching and understood what to do. This gate must be destroyed.
"STOP! HOW ARE YOU DOING THAT?!" Drake blurred but it was too late. Lind smiled as the gate began to shake and shimmer. The anchor holding it here was already gone.
"Karma is not only Heavens to dispense. I will see you soon." Emerald light blazed all around the gate as it began to shrink and then it exploded outward. At the last moment, Lind commanded it to protect the 6 aether children.
The shock on their faces was the last image he saw as darkness closed in. He had no doubt of his death this time. Karma had not triggered the entire time but he did not care, that was evil to be vanquished. He was fine with exchanging his life to protect his loved ones.
His only regret was the pain to come for them but he could no longer think. Lind Frey fell into darkness.