Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 344 - 343 - Sledgehammer to Crush an Ant

While observers had noticed the movement of ground forces across the Demon's Teeth, the skies far above had a dozen Sky Realms flying behind concealment screens.  They could only be maintained for a short time.

The aura of the Sky Realms could not be hidden but unless one looked for them, the screens were quite effective over a short distance.  By the time more detailed scans were performed, the Sky Realms had begun to unleash hell on the Conclave.

Stone shattered like glass as streets burned to liquid under the assault of acid, violet lightning, and all manner of demonic attacks.  The sun had only reached its peak when the Conclave no longer existed in the world.

The slave pens were turned into slag as the once proud fortress overlooking the port city was just a smoking hole in the ground.  The few survivors dared not poke their heads out for fear of being killed.

As if there was no mercy from the spirits, a massive array began to darken the skies.  Its power was clearly at the peak of low grade 5 when it slammed into the chaos of the once most infamous city in the 3 continents.

Ships that had tried to sail away were immediately buried by the wave of water caused by the destruction.  All who heard about it or had it relayed to them by remote observation posts were stunned.

The Shadow Sect, despite being the cause of several such massacres over the ages, was as shocked as anyone as they sent out the updates.  If it had ended there, perhaps the entire Rith continent would have simply been written off.

Sadly, the Demon Empire was far from done.

The Sky Realms that had flattened the Conclave port vanished back into the skies and no one knew where they were but even a novice knew they had barely pushed themselves for that surprise attack.

All powers scrambled to reinforce old and new formation defenses as well as allocate their own Sky Realms to the northern coast of Sarth.  The Stardust Emporium also deployed several forces to their borders but most assumed only the insane would stir that hornet's nest.

As happened over 50000 years ago, the Demon Empire was on the move.

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"We have wiped the Conclave from the world, my Empress!"  A minister was smiling wide as the jade stone in his hand finished glowing.  Resha had no reaction beyond an affirming nod.

Both the Blood Empire and its enemies would not mourn the loss of that den of vipers.  It also would announce a disturbing fact to the 3 continents in all directions.  The Blood Empire had Sky Realms to spare!

The contingent sent to the Conclave was both an effective attack and announcement of that fact.  No power, not even the Heavenly Maidens, would send a dozen Sky Realms to destroy a single city.

Cimmeria aside, no city in the world could withstand the full force attack of 12 Sky Realms.  The issue is no one could use it effectively.  It was like dropping a mountain on an insect.

The insect would die, but so would the beasts, the forest, and any villages nearby.  In other words, the method would destroy the things cultivators invading usually wanted to claim, the resources.

Empress Resha was declaring how far she was willing to go if her enemies opposed her.  She felt her ancestors were too greedy.  Resources could be found and claimed from enough places that a few sacrifices could be made.

"Were the responses as expected?"  She turned to a demoness on her left with a large black wooden table near the throne.  The woman was compiling jade slips and scrolls before turning to her empress.

"Indeed, Majesty.  The northern coasts of Sarth have been reinforced and at least 6 to 8 Sky Realms ready to guard major points of entry."  Resha smirked at their predictability.  Fools, she would not unveil her power with just the destruction of the Conclave.

"Any moves from Moebius Sect?"  She was not a fool.  The power of Moebius was on par or at least close to the other supreme powers.  She may not regard its sect master very high but the sect as a whole was deserving of it.

"It, um, is unknown, Majesty."  A sharp glare of her dark eyes made the demoness flinch.  Her leather armor seemed very thin under that glare.  A quick request was sent out but the response was the same.

The Moebius Sect was not seeming to send forces but they were unable to confirm the whereabouts of Lind Frey or key members of his elders.  No one knew where they were and no one was sure what they were up to.

Resha could not hold up her plans for too long or they would be found out.  She nodded back to her minister who solemnly used the communication jade stone.  It glowed only briefly but that was all that was needed.

Hell was about to be unleashed.

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The southern tip of Sarth was generally not of much interest to anyone.  The Qi was very thin and what few backwater powers set up there did so to claim what little power they could.  Yor, however, quietly made some moves at his daughter's request.

He had already decided to move on, but saw nothing wrong with setting up the stage for her.  He disagreed with it, but he honestly did not care about the fall out.  Mostly because he had faith in one man, a human.

At the very edge of the coasts were cliffs that water crashed into since time immemorial but it made for a good defense against both aether beasts and cultivators.  The lack of Qi was a massive detriment to anyone over the Stone Tier.

Arts and even just cultivating, would be horribly inefficient so no sane person would stay there if they had a shred of talent.  Unfortunately, it was also the perfect place to have a force lay in wait.

Just below the water line, arrays of demonic Qi began to light up.  It was impossible to sneak a large force by the supreme powers, but it was very easy to get a small band of cultivators to an area no one cared about.

The critical trade routes to precious vaults of resources were watched like hawks, but unusable areas with no Ruins or Relics were of no concern.  Resha saw only the potential of such a place if used correctly and she had.

The arrays connected and a massive natural cavern was filled with demonic Qi that bent space until a massive tear formed.  If any expert of the Iron or Gold Tier was nearby, they would feel the spatial fluctuation of a mass teleportation.

It was a one way trip but it was something that could be built as needed with far less resources than a permanent teleportation formation array.

20 Nightfall Realm demons appeared with some 100 Gold Tier Purgatory Realm demons.  It was a large army for anywhere but for the southern side of Sarth, it was a near certainty of doom.

Neither Darkmoor Kingdom or the Saint Kingdom had any idea their southern border was breached!

"Ugh, I knew it would be rough but they lied about not being dizzy!"  One of the Purgatory Realm demons looked sick but he held it in as the terrifying aura of the Nightfalls swept the cavern.

The odds of their counterparts in the Sky Realm would be there was low, but not impossible.  Still, nothing was off from what they could tell.  The men and women quickly prepared themselves before heading to the open pool of water nearby.

There was only so much air in the cavern so they had to leave quickly.

A quick dip in the salt water was chilling but hardly bothered any of them.  The Nightfall Realm demons swept all of the others up in their Qi to fly up the cliffs until they finally saw the rather barren surface.

The Qi was thin but useless to them anyway.  Still, it meant they were in for an easy start.  Their mission was to head for the heart of the Saint Kingdom while the rest of their forces would keep the 2 great sects occupied.

The Darkmoor Kingdom would not raise a finger to help the Saint Kingdom but they would send forces to the border.  It was not a bad plan at all.

The sneering demons summoned swords, spears, and all manner of brutal weapons but then an oppressive aura appeared in the blue sky above!

They tried to find the source but nothing was there!  The Nightfalls began to rise into the air but then a figure seemed to emerge from the shadows of the forest ahead of them.

Leathery wings with mighty horns and a terrifying tail were clear on the figure.  While many demons had features corrupted by their advancement, it was mostly affectations.  Their horns had no purpose and wings were usually too small to be of true use.

The figure before them was not like that at all!  All the demons felt an instinctive need to venerate the figure as he marched toward them.  It was only when he was half way that the Nightfalls realized he was a peak Diamond Tier!

They were angry at feeling awe at a junior and readied poison, acid, and other Arts when the demon looked up at them.

There was no anger nor disrespect in his face, but that look was all it took to steal the anger from their hearts.

"Disarm and kneel.  If you do not, you will die."  The words were not shouted nor said with disdain.  The tone simply expected all to obey and to defy was insanity.  The Purgatory demons instantly obeyed.

All their storage treasures were emptied of weapons, explosive pills, and formation plates.  They kneeled as tears fell from their eyes.  The Nightfalls were left stunned but they too felt the need to obey.

They would not!  They only listened to one master, their Empress!

They tried to attack but found their Qi no longer responded as they slowly fell from the air.  Their bodies had no strength.

"Sister, they disobeyed me."  Before the words faded from their ears, a gorgeous demoness appeared.  She had no signs of corruption so would be called a Sky Realm by most but her face was doom to the Nightfalls seeing her.

"You did well, Kalen, take the Purgatory Realms away.  This will get a bit messy."  The emblem suddenly glinted on her right breast of her armor.  A twisted strip that had no beginning or end.  Moebius Sect!

"Kill the Nightfalls!"  Demons began to appear everywhere and were all peak Diamond Tiers with a few Sky Realms, all with Moebius Sect on their armor!  When did the Demon Hall get Sky Realms!

The Nightfalls died unable to resist as the single demon was all they could see.  The Akashic Bloodline was to be obeyed, but they paid the price for their disobedience.  Blood flew as the Blood Empire lost the Saint Kingdom force.

The war had begun but it seemed Lind Frey was prophetic.  He did not go north, but south.  No one survived to relay the news to the Empire nor did the prisoners even think to do so.  All messages were ignored as the Purgatory Realm demons were escorted away.

Tessa looked to the west and hoped things went as well over there as they did with them.