novelraw Chapter 1526 - 1525 - Death Sentence
Chapter 1526 - 1525 - Death Sentence
They had come to be called the Forsaken Lands in the Divine Realm. Legend had it that many powers thrived there until the Great One and his vile armies washed it all away under ash.
What replaced it were factions that rose to power just like other sects and kingdoms but unlike them, they were united under a single leader.
Vast stretches of land held what seemed like fields at first but were actually people! They were kept in pens and raised like animals for slaughter!
Lind would have recognized them from his time in the Law Binding yet they were on a far more horrific scale than that.
A sprawling city of dark stone lined in pale light was centered at many of the fields of people. It was a critical city, 1 of 3, that the Fiends used to keep up their supplies.
Crawling up the cultivation realms was far harder for them but consuming and refining many souls sped up the process so the demand was always sky high.
Even so, there were 7 divided fields, 1 for each major realm with smaller division for the latter realms where tier difference became massive.
Billions of Fiends lived there but it was a privilege for the young or for the very promising. Just like other cultivation powers, some Fiends showed far more promise than others and frankly anything below a Sovereign Tier was useless in the Divine Lands.
The normalcy of the city was jolting violated by the screams from taverns as Fiends 'drank' and 'ate' from people held in chains.
Those were prisoners brought from the various warfronts. They were far more robust than any farm raised resources and treated like that to further break them. They were targets for information before being consumed.
If there was a hell, it would be found in the Forsaken Lands.
In a tower at the heart of the city, a young woman and man were kneeling before a flickering pyre of flames. A dark silhouette with white eyes looked down on them.
[The ants have failed me. I will be claiming them now. The emerald dragon must be killed, completely. You will be sent to do it. Succeed, and I will elevate you far beyond becoming an Apprentice Tier.]
The distorted voice boomed in their hearts and minds but neither smiled. They understood the unspoken implication.
Fail, and they would cease existing entirely.
"How will we find him?" The young male Fiend spoke but the image pierced him. It was a logical question but one that was moot.
[He needs to overcome his body to ascend. There are limited places he can go. Destroy them.]
The pair shivered at the command. It was not impossible but while they were peak Sovereign Fiends, their full power would be limited.
"Would it not be easier to collapse the Celestial Fields?" The female Fiend spoke but was not immediately punished. The Great one raised his hand and her head snapped up.
She was impossibly beautiful like all of her race but the vile distortion would only terrify any that looked at her.
[You are willing?] In response to the question, a blazing spear appeared in her hands. It screamed into existence and the Heavens wailed but could do nothing.
A Dao Weapon made by a Fiend required them to twist an existing Dao to their will. It was a violation of the very fabric of Heaven and Earth!
There was no hesitation in her eyes and the Great One seemed pleased but paused.
[I want it for myself but if it will kill him, do it. Only as the final option, however.] His order was clear yet he glanced at the male Fiend. The tremor when the spear appeared had not been missed.
[Weak.] There was no warning before he began to scream in agony. His square jawline and broad form withered quickly to the naked eye before he turned to dust! A faint figure appeared in the flames screaming before the Great One swallowed him!
[Do not fail–] The Great One suddenly stopped and the female Fiend also felt it. Something strained her body and soul at that very moment but it passed quickly.
Something impossible had just happened! A Fiend had died but their soul had been ripped away from the race!
She did not know how she knew that, it was just there in her mind.
[IMPOSSIBLE! HOW WAS THAT DONE?! IT WAS NOT TRUE DEATH, SHE WAS RECLAIMED BY HEAVEN AND EARTH!]
The Great One's words shook her but she pretended not to hear them. In the chaos, the slip was missed or she would have joined her compatriot.
All Fiends knew from birth, they were but an extension of the Great One. They existed for him alone and only by his grace endured.
Yet, one had now escaped! It was impossible mostly because they were all born of him. To even come into existence, he had to allow a pair of Fiends to procreate!
Thus, every Fiend that ever existed only came to be at his will alone!
Now, however, a Fiend soul had escaped his grasp! The female Fiend schooled her face to calm but still felt turmoil in her own soul.
There was a way out! A way to be free!
She had ambitions like anyone else but without freedom, she had given up. Now, a new chance appeared as if a gift from the Heavens that spurned her!
After some time, the Great One turned back to her and glanced at her spear.
[Do not kill him with that. I need information. Bring his soul to me, intact! No matter the cost!]
More confirmation that something happened outside of his control!
She bowed low before a descension portal was torn open.
Normally, sending anyone below required a massive group working together to allow Sovereign Tiers to descend, but the Great One casually did it.
It only confirmed a rumor even the Fiends were unsure of.
The Great One was at the Master Tier!
It made her more cautious as she dismissed her Dao Weapon and leapt into the portal. The sensation was unlike anything she had ever felt.
Teleportation distorted the location of everything inside the array to exchange with what was on the other side. The reason lower realms did not deal with that well was because they could not compensate their senses with the sudden swap.
Tearing through space was simply condensing the distance from one point to another to zero. It was not the same as teleporting but it was far more comfortable.
Ascension pools felt like going up through mud. The lower the realm, the more resistance that had to be overcome.
Descension, on the other hand, contradicted expectations. Many thought it would be like free fall but Heaven and Earth had strict rules.
Instead of a free fall, it was like having to break through glass walls kilometers thick. The higher the realm, the greater the resistance.
Hence why large groups of cultivators usually created such things. The group would bore a hole essentially through the glass to let Immortals descend.
Master Tier Divine Realms, however, could do it with a wave of their hand. The fact that less than 30 of them existed in all of the Divine Lands spoke to how rare they were.
The female fiend felt no resistance as she fell for an indeterminate amount of time. Time did not really exist between major worlds.
Yet, the Great One clearly expedited her arrival as she appeared in a dark cavern full of ashes. It was a Fiend lair but they were all dead.
He really had killed them.
There was another possibility too. He did not want any facts to get out about the Fiend that escaped. She looked grimly at the room until she noticed something odd.
One of the piles of ash had a jade slip! She quickly snatched it up and examined it.
It was a sickening recitation of disdain for a human that worked for them. The man had not accepted eternity? Odd.
Yet, she quickly discerned whoever imprinted it was trying to sum up the loss of a Fiend to enemy forces. He or she was clearly trying to cover up something!
"Goresh Kingdom and Lynella. I will find out the truth!" The female Fiend left the now empty halls of the lair.
She doubted the local powers would appreciate the reprieve they had just been given as the Great One had ordered her to use her Dao Weapon as a last resort. He may have said to bring Lind Frey back no matter what, but destruction would resolve the issue as well.
If cornered, she would do it. The alternative was too gruesome to contemplate.
She headed out into the 4th layer of the Celestial Fields and simply let her contorted Daos guide her. The fool of man had not grasped the simple truth.
Lind Frey was an anomaly. He would stand out like a sore thumb to anyone from the Divine Lands if they sent someone down to find him.
She was about to move when her crystal shimmered suddenly.
She glanced up and frowned. More were coming. It seemed Lind Frey had been sentenced to death and whether it was Fiends or other cultivators, they were no longer waiting for him to grow stronger to deal with him!