novelraw Chapter 355 - 354 - Empress Resha
Chapter 355 - 354 - Empress Resha
The Blood Empire had fallen. Their war against the continents had come to nothing save their own destruction. Those that had the ability had seen the battle between the golden woman and a very familiar figure of Lind Frey.
The Immortal Soul simply made all the fight go out of them.
Just when talks of surrender were being spoken of, all the noble houses, the major clans, and some of their subordinates involved in the war were wiped from the world by their bodies exploding!
Resha had seen it happen but wondered why she was spared. The power needed for such an attack was well known to her, afterall, it was the failsafe the imperial family had against the many nobles acting together against them.
It would be triggered by betraying the imperial family at their activation, but she had done nothing! She was the only one left and her aunt was too far away to trigger it!
What was going on? The meeting room once had a massive stone table at its center with many chairs but it was just a pile of rubble as the roof had been ripped open by whatever happened when that woman arrived.
Their formations might as well have been paper compared to her. What was that woman?!
Blood dripped from the remaining walls as well as off the few servants still alive in the chamber. Weeping and shell shocked demons were everywhere. The slim female servant that had served Resha so well had blown up right next to her, but the viscera was not as shocking as the girl's death.
A spy, that girl had been a spy for a clan or noble. She had some suspicions but as everyone else that died was tied to the powerful nobles and clans made her conclude that.
"How did it come to this?" Her words were mumbled out but a voice answered her from above.
"You did not heed the warning of your ancestors. You believed your sheer power was enough to overcome any shortcomings of tactics. My only question was, why do it at all?" Lind Frey appeared on top of a large black disc. Its aura was superior to any artifact she had ever felt, but the dark green eyes were coldly piercing her soul.
She shivered but as if the shock was a shell, it fell away replaced by her arrogance!
"My ancestors wanted this! We were meant to rule the myriad worlds! All is for the taking as we were commanded to do so!" His eyes narrowed and Resha felt her face flush with fear as she realized what she had just said.
"So, the Fiends wanted you to fight." Resha suddenly felt small looking at Lind. He went from simply a more powerful cultivator to a being that could crush her like an ant. She then felt demonic Qi flare around him at the Gold Tier!
It swiftly spread from the room and activated the few formations still working.
Resha felt her heart lurch as she realized what Lind was looking for. She was much weaker than him and she had seen the Immortal Soul as well. Fighting him was akin to suicide.
"There it is." Lind looked straight down and then brought forth an artifact that made the hairs on Resha stand on end. It was a low grade 5 artifact but its power felt above that as well! The rumors around Lind came back to her and she recalled the one most found impossible to swallow.
He was a Heaven grade 5 elixir master and Forger. It was an elongated cylinder that tapered on one end. There were grooves along the narrow end that lit up with Qi before it began to spin as it floated out of his hand.
A ring lit up the dark stone nearby before it began to glow molten and fall into a hole! It was a drill! She had never seen someone make one this way but further, the artifact did not seem to mind the formations still working as it shattered them easily in the floor!
It then pushed down and a large hole was made that smoldered with intense heat.
Resha could only shake at the kind of power Lind Frey commanded so casually. Her father had warned her but it seemed so impossible to be afraid of someone other than the Heavenly Maiden Sect.
"What did you expect to happen? Once the Maidens got involved, your doom was assured." He looked down at her like a petulant child but she could not even summon rage to fight back. He was a monster far beyond the Maidens!
"T-they were to have been unable to respond. I w-was assured they would not be able to." His eyes narrowed at her words but the artifact suddenly returned. The sides of the hole were still too hot but a jet of ice cold air instantly chilled them.
"Let me show you the truth of your allies." Resha was picked up by a forced she could not resist and brought onto the disc artifact. They floated over the hole and descended quickly. She barely registered the several floors of the palace, all she saw was the blood.
More exploded bodies filled each vision she saw with some shocked and unresponsive demons throughout. The Blood Empire was dead. Even if the ensuing power struggle tried to resurrect it, the rest of the powers would not tolerate it any longer.
"Why didn't she kill us all?" The question slipped out but she did not really expect an answer.
"I stopped her. You specifically are alive because I requested it. Kexin may not know you but she seemed to love Yor very much. Being his daughter, I at least wanted to give you a chance to see your aunt before the end." The implicit execution to follow made Resha shiver but she knew trying to kill herself would not be allowed.
Several artifacts had been floating around Lind Frey and she had no doubt some of them were to control her.
Eventually, they reached a place far below the imperial palace. It was a secret place that only the imperial family and its close allies knew of. She was more shocked that Lind Frey could breach the defenses here than anywhere else.
They had been made by another power afterall.
The thick layer of rock was interspersed with refined materials to act as protection when inscribed with formations. For time immemorial, the Blood Empire had existed but none knew why they rose to power to rival the higher powers like the Divine Sword Sect and Heavenly Maiden Sect.
Now, it was laid bare to all that came down that hole.
A feeling of illness would spread to any cultivator that came down there but demons had no problem. A massive cavern was finally revealed when they reached a certain depth. There were caskets lining the walls that were now empty.
Lind Frey noted them but made no move to go closer as they continued to descend to the very bottom of the facility. Resha shivered as they approached the final defense that was intact.
"You have no idea what they are capable of. My father incurred their wrath until I agreed to proceed with the plan!" The man seemed unmoved as he examined the massive door in front of them. It felt wrong.
It did not belong in the world and even Resha felt that each time she came to it.
Suddenly, arrays began to light up in sequence to her utter shock as the door cracked open. Beyond the doorway was another large room, but this one was simpler. It had several artifacts set up to use demonic Qi converted to Fiend Qi.
Lind Frey did not seem to be slowed down at all. He seemed to understand all that was before him. After a moment, one of the artifacts lit up with a flame that made a border around a square distortion of the air.
The flame, like all else in the room, felt wrong. It did not belong in this realm.
"Unexpected. You survived." A voice came through the distortion but Resha nearly jumped at the surprise in it. It was as if the other side expected her to be dead!
"I am afraid the Empress is quite dead. I am here instead." Lind's voice was cold. A long pause ensued but then dark laughter came from the distortion.
"We understand. You knew we were behind that little empire for our needs. Wars are expensive and resources have to be taken from where we can find them." Resha felt her body lose all strength. What was going on?
"I was not certain, actually, but things did not make sense. The Heavenly Maiden Sect ended the last war but did not wipe out the Empire back then. There must have been a reason yet I never found it." Lind seemed to be doing something as more formation plates appeared around him.
"Ah, yes that was because we still had a use for the demons we sent out into the myriad worlds. The Blood Empire is aptly named, don't you think?" Lind made no move but his agreement was assumed. "We have countless such powers working to supply us with resources."
"Don't you mean Sky Realms?" A dark laugh followed his question but Resha was confused. What did he mean Sky Realms were resources?"
"You are quite right, little man. We could make a similar deal with you, you know? If you set up a power, we can give you strength like nothing you can imagine. The wider cultivation world would be your plaything." Lind did not even pause as he finally saw 2 of his artifacts light up in compliance.
"I am not stupid enough to believe you after what I found. You inlaid each Nightfall Demon with arrays to absorb the lifeforce around them. This would, of course, include the very demon itself but not for a time." A very long pause followed Lind's words but Resha was staring at the man.
What insanity was he spouting about?
"Who are you? How do you know about that?" The jovial tone was gone and now a threatening one was present. Lind paid it no heed as the final 2 artifacts lit up.
"Who I am is no longer important to you, what should be important is they know EXACTLY where you are." The distortion suddenly changed from the Fiend Flame to demonic blue flame. A scream of rage also came through.
"WHOEVER YOU ARE, WE WILL FIND YOU AND YOU WILL ONLY DREAM OF DEATH!" Lind smiled at them as he finally summoned a jade communication stone.
"Lady Estelle, I found the enemy behind the enemy as you feared. I trust you can relay what I asked to the appropriate power?" Resha was floored at the name Lind just used.
"Well done boy! I heard you made that old witch very angry with you. Never fear, a safe bed is here for you anytime!" Finally, Lind flinched as the words were spoken.
"I appreciate the offer but you worded it that way on purpose." A cackling laugh came through as the jade stone went quiet and the distortion finally vanished.
"W-what did you just do?" Lind Frey turned to her and now there was only pity in his eyes.
"Nothing much. The oddity of your preparations and the level of knowledge needed matched to something I learned on my recent journey in Rakathi. Yor defied them, didn't he? So they offered you what you wanted most, power to rule or something similar? He warned you but I am guessing each emperor or empress was limited by something." Lind spouted out state secrets as if he had always known but an array lit up on her chest as pain lanced her body.
As quickly as it came, the array was shattered.
"I see I was right. Senior Skinwalker was liberal with knowledge on the Fiends but I had not believed they really had gone this far." Lind was using Fiend Qi! How?!
"What are you?" Resha suddenly began to understand her father's caution regarding Lind Frey. Despite his lack of martial achievements, the man was terrifying as an enemy!
"I am your warden as of this moment and you are going to reveal everything the Fiends planned. Everything." His cold dark green eyes were like bottomless pools of terror to Resha as they flew off into the sky.