novelraw Chapter 1527 - 1526 - Trail of Death
Chapter 1527 - 1526 - Trail of Death
Lind took a few weeks to confirm his location. He was somewhere between the Wurm Labyrinth and the Echo Knife Caverns. The former was a haven for actual worms and the more draconic side of the species.
It was a confusing place for just about any race but the purely subterranean. Even Lind, with his draconic senses, would get turned around without some kind of reference.
The Echo Knife Caverns were a bit more manageable but very deadly. It was a place for nocturnal beasts. Bats, nightstalkers, and so forth were the primary residents. They were beasts that lived by sound and used it as both guide and weapon.
Echolocation was a common ability to such beasts but the caverns turned the same vibrations into attacks on any visitor to them. It was similar to the Whispering Peaks but unlike there, it was the beasts that commanded the sound to kill.
The effect was to create an endless wave of air knives that could carve up a person before they knew what happened.
Lind's scales and healing factor made him the perfect enemy in that place so he chose that direction.
The soul shifted to hardened stone and opened into massive caverns full of stalactites and stalagmites. There was no light at all but he was fine.
He moved deeper while keeping an ear out, literally, for any vibrations. The silence was totally expected as he was hiding himself but even then, he could not be absolutely silent.
Stones were ground to dust and the creatures that made their home in the dark would hear him regardless.
It was only a day later that a frown crossed his face. Even if he successfully avoided being noticed, he should have heard something.
He changed his course to see if he could locate a nest but he found something more gruesome.
Shredded corpses. It was not killing to hunt or survive, but something that was in a hurry. Something powerful too but there were no traces left.
That made Lind narrow his emerald eyes with concern. There should be traces and the fact there were none meant they had hidden them!
He then expanded his aura carefully but all he found was more corpses or barely alive lower realm creatures. They were too dull witted to help him but it made him wary.
It meant something with a mind knew any witness would give them away so they left nothing to chance.
The few beasts left would only know pain and fear. Specific memories would not be available in their current state.
He analyzed the pattern of the corpses and realized they came from the east. He slowly moved that way while trying to sense anything. All he found was a trail of death.
He did not understand why, though. There was no sign of an initial battle or ambush. It was more like whatever force entered the caverns simply chose to wipe out all the beasts once they had been seen.
There were several reasons he thought that, but the most pressing was the start. He finally found it with a decimated group of Nightshade Bats. They were demonic bats with a poison component to their alignment as well as sound attacks.
They were expert killers at a distance or up close. Yet, someone had slaughtered them with ease, even peak Sovereign Tier aether beasts! What in blazes could do that?!
He resisted reaching out to anyone. An instinct warned him not to. He moved on and left the caverns at last to emerge into an aether child power. Well lit streets and structures greeted him but silence was all he found.
There was blood and viscera everywhere. His grim visage was just the tip of the iceberg as he carefully examined the town in front of him. It was but one of many population centers but once again, he followed the pattern.
He was tracing it backwards but the power demonstrated was far above even his own!
It still left the question of why. Why was someone slaughtering so many? What possible secret could they wish to hide?
As he traveled further out, he found more massacres until they suddenly stopped. In each case, it was as if nothing could stop them, whoever they were.
It was only when he reached the Brawling Bears Sect that he found life. The name was literal as they were aether beasts that practically lived for battle. He kept his profile low but noticed the tension in the borders.
They had known about the massacres. He stopped by a few literal watering holes but only rumors existed.
They added one piece of information he had not known. It made his brow wrinkle in anger.
[Haro?] He consulted his ring spirit and he was not let down.
[The phenomenon of shooting stars would indicate a mass descension from the Divine Lands. It is not normal, Master, as it is a massive investment of resources.]
Haro's confirmation made things click into place. His damned aura had been tracked again! He had appeared in the Hollow Lands and they found him so damned quickly!
All those people died because they were hiding from discovery or simply disdained for those that lived in the Celestial Fields!
[Master, if they are from the Divine Lands, be cautious. Sovereign Tiers are far more profound save next to you. In fact, they may be very much like you.]
That revelation made Lind grasp his new situation. He was not just being hunted by Fiends as he had been warned but by cultivators that were actually on par with his half-step Dao nodes and harmony Dao.
It had been his advantage but that had now been stripped away. Further, he did not doubt for an instant that the Fiends were doing the same. Such a powerful Fiend would be hard to hide but difficult to stop.
Only a rare few Sovereign Tiers could stop them.
Lind did not dare reach out to his family. They were likely targets but for observation. If they were in danger, he would have already heard in some fashion.
He moved on until he reached the Under Lands. He needed more information but he only found more chaos.
Entire powers had been wiped out once more but all were connected to the Hollow Lands.
They had fallen to the Under Lands and traced him! He followed their paths back to their origin and finally got traces.
Humans, Elementals, and all the races! From the aether beasts he found Sylvan Rats, Azure Lightning Hawks, and even the Obsidian Shelled Tortoise!
They were powerful bloodlines but why would they waste their time coming at him? He was a Divine Progenitor Dragon! Were they suicidal?!
[Master, those beasts are likely sacrificial pawns. They are bait to draw you out for real attacks.]
Haro's warning made it clear they were covering all their bases.
Beasts could find him far more easily than others but they would only slow him down or reveal his location to those using them. It was a very bad situation he found himself in.
Against Fiends, he had struggled with the traps and other methods they employed lately but now he was facing beings from the Divine Lands itself.
They were on the same level and outnumbered him! Some might be there to help but he had no way to know!
He had to get to his destination but there was a good chance they were camping out any potential destination already.
It meant his plans were shot. Anywhere he might have planned to go to advance his cultivation was now a target.
Even just trying to lay low with an ally would not work. His Clan, the Throne, and anywhere he once held a connection would be a trap waiting to happen.
Without knowing friend from foe, he had to do something contrary to their expectations.
[Haro, where is the last place that would ever be of help to me?] Lind had several ideas but he knew he lacked knowledge of how to advance his cultivation in the current state of events.
The silence stretched but before Haro could answer, Lind came upon the now much larger forests that were once the haven of the Sovereign Tiers. It should have been flourishing and full of life but not only silence greeted him, but any Heaven Realm and above plant were just gone.
They were not burnt or shredded either. It was like they were simply wiped from existence. Spatial Art?
Anger rose in him. There was no one there that knew him only of him! There was no one anywhere that required such a level of response save for 1 reason.
They were giving a warning to all. Stand in their way or near Lind Frey, and only oblivion awaited.
No power would take him and he could not blame them one bit.
[Master, there is one place that might help you but it is incompatible with you.] Lind screwed up his face until Haro revealed the rest. His face cleared before his eyes went wide.
"Might work and no one would expect to find me there." He looked back the way he came and sighed. He would have to retrace a route that no longer existed and hope he could replicate it.
He turned back the way he came and began the long march to his last hope.