novelraw Chapter 345 - 344 - Seeds of Discord
Chapter 345 - 344 - Seeds of Discord
"Tessa is effective as always. She really needs to stop protecting her brother though." Wyndam was sweating as he was being treated for injuries. He was bleeding from his head as well as several areas on his torso and legs.
Normally, a Diamond Tier would heal rather quickly but the current injuries were inflicted by an attack on par with his strength. Yaren was currently working to bandage her husband while both of them were in a fairly sturdy medical tent.
The cries of less fortunate people were all around them.
At the same time the contingent of demons had been teleported to the Saint Kingdom, the southern provinces of Darkmoor Kingdom began to revolt. Normally, it would be laughable to think that such weak powers could rise up and cause an issue, but just as a small team of demons had made the teleportation array, another group of minions worked with the humans of Darkmoor.
Many small sects, empires, and kingdoms wished to be free of demonic rule, no matter how well treated they might be at the moment. The arrogance of royalty or power greedy cultivators was not to be underestimated.
While Darkmoor kept a strict eye out for any sudden influx of resources or signs of unusual army building, it never occurred to anyone that the disparate forces would just rain hell on each other in a bid to grasp more power.
Empress Resha studied humans well at her father's insistence and had learned of the disaffection in the human powers under Darkmoor Kingdom. The Demon Empire may only view humans as fodder for rituals or personal use, but they did not deny that in numbers they had strength.
She had happily worked with several caravans and trading groups that did not like the Sapphire Auction House or its rigid controls on profit. She had grade 3 and 4 artifacts smuggled to each power according to their desires.
She never told them they were not the only ones being supplied and their pride made them blind to the possibility.
Lind, however, knew information was a lifeblood of any organization. He was always looking for resources in unlikely places as he encountered such a powerful Relic in the former kingdom of Altair.
Thus, he had noticed odd increases in the quality of some spoiled young masters or chosen disciples' weapons or armor that could not be explained simply. There was nothing against a low level power getting lucky or even bankrupting themselves to increase their prestige.
Afterall, having such items did not equal success, but combined with sheer numbers, they became dangerous. Thus, when the Shadow Sect alerted him and the Conclave fell so quickly, he summoned Wyndam and Kexin to an emergency meeting.
Wyndam had a lot of information at his fingertips while Kexin had a far more recent understanding of the Demon Empire. Her niece was not so well known to her but since Yor was her father, she could make some inferences.
Shortly after that meeting, Lind utilized the teleportation array setup in the base of his tower. It was similar to the demon array made off the coast but unlike that one, his could be used so long as resources were spared.
They had sent Kalen and Tess with 1000 Gold Tier demons to patrol the southern border of the Saint Kingdom. The reason for that was the clear hatred the Saint Kingdom had for all demons. It would appeal to Resha's upbringing to lay waste to the hypocritical residents of the Saint Kingdom with a powerful contingent of demons.
With Sky Realms very rare in that kingdom, it also made a great deal of sense to send a powerful force that would be hardly bothered until its work was done.
The peace had made many beings lax and some expensive formations had been allowed to decay to uselessness.
Lind, himself, sent Wyndam with 20000 Gold Tier disciples to the south of Darkmoor. He knew the resentment of the region better than anyone and it had not changed in the near century and a half since he was born.
The reports of increased occurrence of powerful items was a likely indicator of something odd. With Kexin revealing a few key organizations to check out, it only took Wyndam a quarter of a day to confirm the Demon Empire had been generous to strange destinations.
It seemed idiotic but the long live of cultivators made it possible to foster a relationship without the other party knowing they were being used. The smaller powers thought they had earned the respect of some Cimmerian merchants and their backers.
The truth was, they were fodder to make Darkmoor waste resources before realizing the severity of the issue.
The battle was ongoing even as they sat in the tent as unlike with Kalen, they did not have an easy way to corral the humans warring on each other.
"What will Master Frey do?" Yaren had a cut on her back from a beast that was now visible as Wyndam went to work bandaging a new injury there. A sword had almost cut her open from the back!
"My understanding is he thinks trying to defeat armies will only buy time. If we were dealing with mid or high level powers, we would have issues but thankfully we are dealing with deluded idiots of the low level powers." Wyndam was not happy with those idiots as his kingdom was once considered part of such a level.
They may not have the prestige of the powerhouses of the continent, but a royal had to think of his people before going to war!
The people dying by the hundreds out there were the lifeblood of their powers!
"Vice Sect Master Wyndam!" A voice suddenly shouted and he saw a young man bleeding from a shoulder wound running to him. He had a jade stone in his hand.
"MEDIC!" Wyndam shoved the young man, far too young and only at the Soul Realm, into a chair as he took the stone away.
[I have wiped out half the leaders of the rebellious powers. The other half tried to go into hiding but I found them. The battle will be over before the day is over.]
The message was short but the anger in every syllable was clear to him. Wyndam had no pity for the idiots currently being massacred by his master.
He moved the flap of the bloody tent aside and looked to the horizon. He could only see a few of them from his current vantage point on a hill, but the smoking columns from a major city were clear for all to see.
Lind was not just killing the head of the snake, he was blasting it into oblivion for all to see.
"Master Wyndam, we found something!" A young woman with a bandage on her head came floating over on a sword. He recognized her as one of the promising core disciples that recently made it to the Gold tier.
He took a strange violet jade stone and sunk his senses into it. He felt repulsion but he recognized the aura easily enough. It was demonic Qi.
"Was there a demon using this?" He held it up but she shook her head. She pointed to a few markings on the top fin of the stone. He recognized it as a conversion matrix. He sent his Qi into it and found messages back and forth about the plan to assault a neighboring kingdom.
"By the spirits, this is too much groundwork for just Empress Resha and Yor to pull off in such a short time." Wyndam frowned as his mind quickly ran through several possibilities when his heart froze.
There was 1 former emperor of the Demon Empire that had laid low for centuries before he was killed by his son. He had been known to adhere rather well to the treaties after the last war. His nobles had caused issues but that was true across the world.
So long as it was kept small, few would interfere.
"My love, Pelea says Master Lind has found something in the Violet Oak Sect." A jade stone was handed to him and Wyndam quickly dove his senses into it.
[The records here indicate trades started 3 centuries ago! The blasted Emperor laid the groundwork for this long ago!]
The rage in the message was clear and made Wyndam actually a bit worried. He had noticed that when Lind gave in to his anger, he tended to go overboard.
"Find Tal, quickly! We may need her!" Lind had objected to her coming but she was a Diamond Tier, even if only half way. The stone dral had proven that the herbivore race was not so pacifistic as many believed.
Her control of earth Qi was terrifying at times.
Wyndam could only hope she could stabilize Master Frey if he needed it.
⬧⬧⬧⬧
A smoking hole remained of the main buildings of the Violet Oak Sect. Emerald arcs of energy sparked now and again as Lind had used his breath alone to smash the formations aside.
The sect was just shy of a mid level sect with a peak Iron Tier as its sect master. Their formations had been as paper before his power but the crushed jade slips were currently the focus of his rage.
"That damned Emperor had been planting seeds all that time! He planned to die! He planned it all!" Yor was not a bad demon as far as Lind could determine but a Machivellian mastermind he was not.
Ryu and Yor were quite similar in their desires and interests, but their prowess was without equal. So why would Yor, a man who enjoyed chaos and battle, quietly rule the Demon Empire without issue for almost a century?!
It had been part of the plan. Yor would disdain the tactics used thus far but he would not undo them. He would simply pass it along to someone interested in doing it!
"Your damn whims! What were you thinking about sending Kexin to me? Was that a damned pretext too?!" That was what angered him more than anything. That poor girl had clutched to life for nearly 75 years but was then parceled off like a sack of wheat at the end.
How much was planned and how much was hoped? A spark was needed to start the war, and the Demon Hall had been used. Lind began to have emerald scales cover his body as he looked north.
"You wanted a war, instead you will learn the fury of a dragon!" Pelea was with the small team supporting their Sect Master but all quailed at the power coming off of him. They were all Diamond Tiers but they felt like ants at that moment.
An emerald streak of light moved north. No one could stop him and many wondered if they even should.
How many had died already? Lind's elixirs were beyond powerful and he had been free with the Heaven grade 3 healing and recovery elixirs to save lives, but even then people died. Lind clearly would not forgive that.
They all looked on and felt proud as they continued with the assault of the next power on the list. It was extensive but they were all weak, even with the artifacts from the demons, they were like children.
The Moebius Sect protected the south from the surprise attacks while its leader finally went to the frontlines. The war was only a week old and now the last supreme power of Sarth was flexing its muscles.