novelraw Chapter 267 - 266 - Demonic Assault
Chapter 267 - 266 - Demonic Assault
Lind watched Athan vanish but felt no satisfaction. He did not want to torture the man but he did not doubt the fool would keep coming. Athan was not as bad as Altair exactly but he gave off a similar vibe to Lind.
"I wish you could have killed him." Bastion had learned the whole story from his sister about their battle and his rage at Athan was nearly as large as Sivlt. Still, the actions of Lind Frey made an impression beyond gratitude.
The elixir master had demolished the Kingdom of Altair but very few had been killed. In fact, most of the deaths came from suicide but Lind had driven them to that corner. The swift and merciless actions were clear to Bastion just then.
Despite that, the man did not seem to give in to his rage. Lind Frey was a model of control. Bastion had at least 10 years on him but Lind seemed more mature!
"Come we–" Lind was about to move on when he grabbed Bastion by the front of his robes and dove to the side. Blue fire blazed where they had been standing only a moment ago! Lind erected a quick elemental shield but it was shattered as a black spear appeared coming right at his head.
He did not panic as a bracelet flared on his left arm and his darkness font was quickly converted into shadow Qi. The spear stopped cold but Lind had no time to celebrate as more attacks came flying in.
"Demons!" Bastion's face twisted in disgust but Lind had no time for his issues. They were surrounded without his noticing and Athan was the cause. The Art he used was profound but it took focus of his Eyes to find it.
Also, he knew he would be targeted over Bastion at that moment.
Now, it was a cohesive effort to try to eliminate them both! Lind sent his elements to each of his limbs. There were artifacts there that converted his Qi to demonic Qi.
He had no time to get Bastion to coordinate and these demons were very skilled. Lind had yet to zero in on their location. He also knew they were experts at fighting soul cultivators.
"Bastion, when I act, run. Do not pick a direction now, but just go away from me. This will get…tricky." Lind had little confidence in his demonic Qi skills. He only really had 2 to study in poison and acid with Cyntilla but he took all her lessons she could teach. He combined that with observation and experience but compared to being near Gold Tier in his normal elements, the demonic elements were barely in Stone Tier.
Even so, he would work with what he had. The artifacts' limits were an issue he could not address thus far. Compared to the Soul Realm, altering his elements was far more difficult.
Blue fire flared with dark light. Violet lightning made a dome and exploded outward. Cries of pain were few but welcome as Bastion manipulated the earth to almost surf away. The Art looked interesting but Lind pushed his curiosity to the back.
"Master Frey, you surprised us. A soul cultivator using demonic Qi? Unheard of." A voice came from several directions but it was from the same person. It was female and confident. Lind frowned as it was not good.
Anger was easier to guide or predict but a calm cultivator was dangerous. They would evaluate more options of course, but calmness also indicated they were in control.
He did not respond verbally but instead caused various metal spikes to blast up out of the stone arena. More cries came but not of pain, only surprise. The numbers were more than before but some he recognized from the lightning attack.
He did not stay still as he used his own elements to shift the stone beneath him. It was not as dramatic as Bastion's maneuver but it was effective to remove the need to step anywhere.
"Again, impressive and inventive. You injured some of us despite being so weak in our Qi. Crown Prince Ryu will be happy to educate you if you have questions." Lind stopped moving. Darkmoor demons. They were from Darkmoor proper.
"Perhaps he should have educated you." Lind's words made only silence answer but a rumble from above warned them all too late. Massive bolts of white lightning crashed into the stone around Lind in various rings.
Still, Lind frowned. He did not get the result he wanted. There were a few bodies sent flying but they were not out of control. It was more like they executed Arts to save themselves. Only 2 for sure were struck but they only seemed mildly inconvenienced.
"You have improved your skills and power. You made us think you were fighting on our terms. I am impressed." Lind would like the demoness to shut up but he calmed his heart. He had Bastion leave not only to save himself from the demons but because that attack could have gotten him as well.
"Very well. Let us see how you handle me now." Lind summoned a massive glaive. It was not like the dual saber from earlier, but the feeling of pressure stunned the demons. It was clearly peak grade 3 as well but it felt stronger.
They were about to attack when they stumbled. It was not soul cultivator Qi! It was demonic Qi once more! The spear lit up with virulent green light as blue flame lined the blade. The air was severed on its slight movement and they all realized it was modifying the demonic Qi up to the peak of Iron Tier!
Lind had learned that demonic Qi presented several issues for human cultivators. Namely that at the World Realm, it disrupted the external control unless supreme finesse was used. While Lind was decent, he was not in 100% control of external Qi yet. No Iron Tier could claim so.
His talents compensated but not when he was outnumbered so badly.
"There are 12 of you. Aside from me and Bastion, is anyone else left?" Lind felt like Darkmoor demons would not attack him until the end due to their desire to fight honorably. The fact he got a small sensation of attack was not an accident.
"There are some, but they are fighting among themselves. The battle royale is almost over. We have come for only you before we fight among ourselves." The voice continued to bounce around which Lind found interesting. There was no sensation of Qi but there had to be a technique or Art behind it.
Lind smirked as he tried something he had not had much practice in. The glaive blurred in his hands as he seemed to bolt from the center. The blasted rings were nothing but Lind found his first target. A demon with bright orange hair seemed to suddenly appear and his robes held the answer.
"Interesting, I will be stopping by your refiners later." Lind was impressed. Their robes had an inscription refined into them that reproduced a displacement technique. It was what prevented Lind from zeroing in on them with the lightning.
The glaive sliced like the inevitable fall of night when the demon was whisked away by the realm. It meant he had no recourse left. The moment the demon vanished, 11 others appeared.
"Ah, I see. A composite effect. No wonder you could throw your voice." The robes were not individual protection but part of a whole. It was one way a refiner could circumvent the limits of inscriptions but making it a set.
It was costly but effective for forces like Darkmoor or even the Heavenly Maiden Sect. Similar trained disciples worked together and practiced as one for group combat. Lind was impressed but the weakness was clear.
The previous demon was one that was too slow to evade the lightning entirely so Lind found his general location.
"You live up to your legend, Master Frey." He finally put a face to the demoness but felt his blood drain. Her lavender features were familiar.
"You should be Rya Darkmoor." Surprise crossed her nearly golden eyes but the nearly black blue hair only told Lind she did not share a father with Ryu. The fact she did not call him elder brother was etiquette but he had heard of this sibling. She was the youngest child of the Queen.
She was also the only one to forsake her place in the line of succession to support Ryu despite her lack of power.
"He bragged, didn't he?" Lind nodded with a smile. The group rolled their eyes and the tension drained a bit from the group. "Idiot brother."
Lind shrugged but then moved. Despite the lessened tension, the demons were professionals. They broke into 3 groups and coordinated their attacks.
One focused on shadow and metal while the other 2 sent demon lightning and corrosive poison attacks. It made the arena fall apart under the assault but Lind's glaive fiercely sliced apart the metallic blades coming from every shadow.
The hum of metal filled the air while an elixir suddenly splashed on the ground to disperse the poison. The demons were frustrated as now that they were exposed, Lind's tactics were far more difficult to control.
The lightning never seemed to get close as it deflected to rods they could barely make out once they looked for them. Instead of anger, however, excitement filled all their faces.
Lind smiled back as he changed the elements flowing in his glaive. Dark light and shadow were forcibly mixed into the shaft which disrupted all demonic Qi in the area. It was the same if light and dark were forced together. The opposing forces caused a shockwave that made Arts and conjuring impossible for a short time.
Fear flashed on their faces as Lind seemed to become even faster. They realized he was now using soul Qi to enhance his body even more than before. The glaive was replaced by the dual saber that lit up with emerald light.
The buzz of the blades cut down all but 4 demons in less than 3 breaths. Lind was sweating and reaching his limits, but he pushed on and retracted one of the blades. Sword Qi flew in arcs as he raced towards Rya and her group.
She held 2 daggers but he did not underestimate her. Her companions had a bow, a broad sword, and finally a scythe wielder. Not exactly complimentary weapons but demons were always fierce.
Arrows laced with blue fire and acid flew at him but Lind's defenses were hardly bothered by them. They were only at mid Iron Tier strength so it was nothing to him at the moment.
His body tempering was a major tier above in practical results.
The demons tried to break his defense with their own weapon intent but Lind's own weapon glowed with a brighter intent which left them in shock. How could a single cultivator have more than one weapon intent?!
The battle should have been tilted in the demon's favor, but Lind was a monster. He seemed to have 6 limbs and 3 heads. There were no openings as his now singular saber cut them down until only Rya was left.
"You are going to lose to win here." Her words were accurate. Lind was not the last person standing but that was never his goal. He simply wanted to enjoy the fight. He finally grasped a piece of what made Ryu laugh so much when he fought at full strength.
"I have won, just the battle I wanted rather than the battle we are all in." Rya smiled and her body blurred before Lind struck the stone with his emerald blade. Qi exploded outward like a wave to catch her nearly behind him.
Lind's fist smashed outward and struck her hard in the stomach but her daggers still struck towards his chest. The expected blood did not come but Lind felt pain. They had cut his skin just barely and that was enough.
Blue flames scorched his flesh but his dantian's emerald iron rippled with power and expunged the foreign Qi from his body. Rya was shocked as Lind's dark green eyes never looked away as he brought his saber down to her skull.
Just before it hit, the saber sputtered out and they were looking into each other's eyes while smiling like fools.
"Good fight!" Rya laughed before stepping back and bowing to him. "I concede!" The realm whisked her away as Lind stumbled and fell to the ground. His body felt like it was full of lead and his dantian barely responded. The last thing he showed as he passed out was a smile on his face when darkness closed in.