novelraw Chapter 1509 - 1508 - Restored
Chapter 1509 - 1508 - Restored
"I am telling you, we need to storm the Ruin and bring that spirit to heel!" An older man in chainmail and armor looked on as a young man was trying to convince the Immortals present to action.
It had been just under a month since Lind Frey had gone in. There had been some shifts in the Qi but the distortion did nothing else. They had confirmed he was alive also, multiple times.
Whatever killed the rest had not yet killed him.
The older man was Colonel Tor. He had been assigned, or rather forced, to take the job after he offended a general's son. The little bastard thought he was entitled to any female he came across and Tor had punished him exactly per regulations.
Of course, the rich and powerful always had their own view of laws and rules. Tor was too visible to be attacked but consigning off to the worst assignment was no problem.
Still, he smiled that at the end, he had his victory. That same spoiled brat had tried to assault a princess of a supreme power. The entire family was exterminated.
He felt no need to gloat nor draw attention but now he wished he had at least tried to get out of the current job!
Despite the multi-power alliance having vastly different values, his word was law at the Ruins. Rules and consequences mattered. It had been a clean life there.
Now, he was seeing another rich brat thinking he was the spirits' gift to the world. He was going to get a lot of people killed.
"Need I remind you that 2 Sovereign Tiers were killed with ease and at least a few thousand other cultivators never returned. The Radiant Tier that did was consumed by forces none of us understood. You wish to expose yourself to that, young Lion of Hao Peak?" An old woman, in fine crimson robes, spoke with a sneer at the brat.
Tor liked her instantly. He entertained sitting with her over some tea and fine food but his fantasy was shattered by the dark laugh of the young man. Lion of Hao Peak was a slightly derogatory term for the boy.
He was from the halls of alchemy and well backed too. Hao Peak was considered a failure from the recent events and likely the boy had been a disciple there as it was considered the elite of the elite back then.
Once the Fiend agents and infiltration was revealed, many powers fell. Almost no elders or other upper echelons escaped the falls. Yet, Tor would bet all he owned the arrogant prick that tossed his fine mane of golden hair for some damned reason had escaped all blame with precious resources few could get a hold of easily.
The pair were getting more heated with some choosing sides but Tor simply reached over to a simple stone plinth near his left side. The instant his Qi infused with it, everyone in the room was put off balance aside from his forces.
Most people would guard against attacks, illusions, and the like. Someone a long time ago came up with the artifact Tor now used. It was limited and had to be specifically guarded against, but it was sound used to disorient everything in a given radius.
While many were too proud to admit it, they did not guard against such a subtle use of sound. The main reason was because it was easy to overcome and that affecting a specific target was very difficult.
To direct sound required far too obvious shapes for an artifact to be effective. An omnidirectional wave on the other hand could take any shape at all!
It then was a simple matter to inscribe or Forge items to protect against it.
The effect in the current situation was obvious. All the fighting came to a stop as many now turned to him.
"May I remind all of you that my authority outranks everyone? I may also add that the alliance has affirmed that since the crisis started. This is not a forum for getting anyone's way. It is about trying to stop that thing before our time is up! We have one day left. Do you have all we need to collapse that Ruin?" The entire argument had been an attempt by the young man to get some benefits before the Ruin was destroyed.
They could do it, in theory, but controlling the collapse was an entirely different issue. If the spirit that spoke to them was truthful, the powers inside were far too dangerous to let run wild.
That part, considering how even Sovereign Tiers had died so easily, could well be true.
The issue was, of course, greed. Too many wanted to take a shot before the end yet time was up. Tor had a job to do.
"Colonel Tor, while you are in charge–" The little bastard was not done?! He touched a jewel embedded in his left armguard. The boy was sent flying!
His screams of pain were short lived but he was not dead. He had simply never experienced pain or discomfort like that. Most likely, he had avoided it outside his tribulations.
"Anyone else want to be an idiot?" The older woman actually winked at him but he ignored her. If they lived, there would be enough time for that.
They were about to set up the various artifacts and weapons when a shockwave shot out! Every Immortal felt their dantians stir while the lower realms fell unconscious.
Tor was a Radiant Tier but he felt all his armor react to protect him automatically. He was now the one on the receiving end of pain. It passed quickly yet he noticed something had changed.
The distortion barrier was glowing with emerald light! Further, streams of Qi were blazing across the skies!
"EVERYONE RETREAT NOW! GRAB EVERYONE YOU CAN!" Tor made an instant decision. He summoned a flying artifact that was a massive platform but it fell out of the air the instant it appeared!
Cultivators tried to fly but it was like they were mortals!
Death had come, he was sure of it but then massive boats emblazoned with a crimson crane appeared.
[BOARD THE FREY CLAN BARGES NOW!] Tor did not need to be told twice. He quickly picked up a dozen unconscious people with his aura. That worked like it should at least!
He did not care why their artifacts worked but as soon as he was aboard, he saw a miracle.
Qi flowed in visible threads as various controls were manipulated by switches and buttons. The crew were guiding them but Tor simply passed off his charges and went to get more.
He had noticed many had fled while leaving others behind. Even that arrogant brat was left in a pile across the meeting arena!
It took him 3 trips before all of them were collected. He saw more massive ships appear by the other Ruins as the hatch closed. The Frey Clan had been hiding a massive trump card but it slowly took off.
He heard something strain and the serious looks on the crew faces told him even the ship was not working the way it should be.
"Use it." A young woman suddenly spoke. She had pure black robes and bright blue eyes that held no chance of denial. She was in charge and Tor knew it. He saw an older man nod before a glowing emerald crystal appeared in his hand.
It was not a raw crystal but a refined one. The color told him where it had come from too. A slot in the panel in front of him accepted it and the change was instant.
The ship shot forward like a bolt of lightning. He noticed, however, that the crew stopped trying to control the ship. It seemed it was a desperate maneuver.
"Confirm, the Defiance Dao protects us!" The captain nodded and had the message relayed.
"What is going on out there?" Tor finally asked and she seemed surprised he was there but she was only a Shard Tier so bowed to him.
"Senior Tor, if our Founder's creations work, it is only due to the faint traces of Dao he put into them. They are only prototypes but they work. He supposedly made a better one but no improvements have come our way since he settled the Throne. I would theorize he had done something very dangerous." His pale gold eyes narrowed.
She seemed awfully sure of herself but then faint resemblances became clear to him.
"Grandchild?" She slowly nodded as she smiled.
"I am the 5th generation out but we keep his stories with us. I was born in the 1st layer long ago." She then waved her hand and a display appeared.
The streams of Qi were touching all the Ruins!
The world was straining! He could see the very air distorted by whatever level of power was being invoked!
The various domes suddenly began to lift from the ground! He thought he was seeing an illusion but dark sand flowed to fill in the gaps as the spheres were absorbed into the Ruin they had just left.
"What–?!" She only shrugged and pointed.
"We will know soon enough." He could only nod as the once vast land of Ruin domes was gone! In its place was now a shining emerald sphere but the colors were shifting.
The emerald slowly disappeared and it seemed like all the colors of Qi were there. Further, Tor felt a sharp pull on his dantian! They were easily 50 kilometers away but all of them coughed up blood.
If they had stayed, they would all be dead!
"You made the right call, Colonel Tor." The captain looked at him with gratitude but Tor was thinking of what would emerge from that light.
Just as he was about to ask where they could regroup, the light began to fade to reveal a massive entrance! It was surrounded but columns of fine ivory on both sides and the doorway was made of golden metal!
It slowly settled back onto the black sand before a fog closed in. He had seen such an effect before!
"Go faster! We need to get away from that fog now!" The captain relayed the order and their ship seemed to be responding normally.
One of the ships was not as fast as the others. It looked like it was being slowed down by something. The captain tried to raise them but then they saw it.
The fog was ensnaring it. It vanished suddenly without any fanfare or bloodshed.
"What happened?" The shock in her voice was clear. Tor could only shake his head.
"I don't know how, but that Founder of yours did something impossible. A Ruin had become an Inheritance again. I doubt it is like it was but that fog is what usually marks off a Divine Inheritance. Until it clears, no one can get close. Only death awaits." His words made the control room go deathly silent.
The ships kept flying until the fog stopped expanding.
Whatever it was Lind had done, a new Divine Inheritance was the result. When it opened, would it be an amalgam of all the Ruins combined or subsumed by the one that drew them in? Only 1 person had that answer and he was inside.