novelraw Chapter 420 - 419 - Monsters in the Dark
Chapter 420 - 419 - Monsters in the Dark
Lind finally calmed down but he now understood the source of his bloodline's anger. Fiends were the enemy of all life but he had not really encountered them or their constructs since he changed his soul.
Skinwalker's Inheritance, for obvious reasons, excluded that facet of the Divine Lands.
Still, he wondered about the strong desire to burn the corpse when it was clearly a victim, still, he had never actually heard how Fiends consumed cultivators. He only knew they did.
He was also interested in the changeling but they had greater issues if the corpse was indeed a tier 5 Sky Realm. Anything that could kill that level of strength would flatten him and Fey without much issue.
"Fey, let me see." She moved back from what had once been a living person but Lind used his training from administering elixirs to see what he could find. What had once been a body with limbs was now just a dried husk that barely resembled anything remotely human.
There were no traces of any normal Qi but Fiend Qi was very faint in every centimeter. There was also something else, something familiar to Lind at least.
"Demon Qi. Strange, why would there be demon Qi in a normal cultivator?" An agent of the Fiends was a generic term but universally they would be like the guards from Cimmeria. They would look normal but have signs of degradation as time passed.
Simply working for Fiends corrupted the flesh and soul, leaving those amoral minions that caged aether children like cattle.
"Tell me how long has this been happening?" Lind looked directly at the changeling who seemed surprised by him for some reason. The slender being leaned at him and tilted their head far beyond what any human could ever do.
"You are not bothered by me?" The voice switched between deep baritone to tenor but Lind was confused.
"Why would I be bothered by you? A changeling is a very rare being from a manifested aether beast and aether child but aside from the low occurrence, you are still cultivators." The one in front of him seemed to be of air and water. It was a good combination with their natural abilities.
The almond eyes widened to an exaggerated level that Lind suspected they were looking to get a reaction out of him, but he was not bothered at all. His dragon bloodline had no inclination one way or the other, besides, there were more serious issues at hand.
"Strange man, very strange, but I like it!" Fey shook her head as if Lind had encouraged some kind of rascal! He would be having a talk with her shortly!
"As to your question, it is hard to say. The last 5 years for sure across much of the outer fringes of Yinande. People die on this island with great frequency, or I should say we assume they are dead as they never return." Lind narrowed his eyes at that but in the decade since living with the Circle, his battle with the Tiger's Shadow never even made it there.
He assumed it was covered up but perhaps a shady place like that simply took as a normal day. It depressed him if that was the case. He had killed over 100 people in a short time but it caused not even a ripple.
"So at first, everyone assumed nothing out of the ordinary." The narrow face changed to a wide one as their hand cupped their chin. Lind found their attempts to elicit a reaction distracting but Fey seemed to find it normal.
Could a changeling in their natural state always be shifting? There was nothing about that in the literature.
"Again, not exactly. Most people who disappear are in the course of work or being too pretty in the wrong place. Also, the powerless are a requirement, but this issue is kind of the reverse." The tarps were pulled back on a few more bodies but the masses were roughly the same.
The other humans did not seem bothered and quietly looked on. Their complete lack of reaction spoke of either cold hearts or completely worn out spirits. In either case, not good.
Lind quickly noticed the similarities.
"All adults, no children?" The changeling nodded but then pointed to each table.
"Sky Realm, World Realm, and Soul Realm. No particular order or age but absolutely no one under the age of 15 no matter the realm." That detail seemed odd to Lind. He assumed the more vital ages would be more appealing but the opposite was true.
The demon Qi came back to him.
If demons were involved, they would want a fight or maybe their personal aesthetic. Demons could be quirky at times. The most depraved Clan could protect orphans from abuse, but slaughter adults in the most sadistic ways known to existence.
"Do you know where they were found?" Lind hoped to localize the area but the changeling smiled tiredly back.
"Where? Pick a village or small town and you will find a lot of places like this one. We are up all night and sleep during the day in hopes to fight them off but they leave no witnesses nor survivors, just these." Lind looked closer at everyone and could see it.
Dark rings under the eyes and Qi was sluggish in all of them. The guards must rotate but then that begged more questions. As if expecting it, the changeling shrugged.
"Most of the guards are dead or ran into the few wilds left. None ever returned but they are dead, I assure you." Lind realized they were desperate. The drunkard was likely the last guard of the village remaining or simply someone they put in armor like the rest.
"Why have you gathered them here?" Fey finally stopped checking her artifacts but before the changeling could answer, a scream cut into the night.
"Again." Rather than fear or worry, one of the women simply spoke a word before they all marched in a direction. Lind noted it was the source of the scream but he felt nothing that way.
He and Fey followed before a house on a side street came into sight. Compared to the darkness in the others, that one had some life around it but only the morbid kind.
A crowd had gathered but few were talking as the tavern group arrived. The crowd parted and Lind was allowed forward. The moment he crossed the threshold, his body tried to transform.
It was like there was a barrier keeping the Qi inside. Anti-Qi was thick in the air!
"Big Brother?" Fey felt nothing but noted his reaction. He waved her off but the changeling's eyes narrowed at them. Still, they had more important things to do.
"Who was it?" A woman with red eyes came forward.
"My brother Hamm. He made his wife stay with us while he set traps. He was all alone! I told him–" Her trembling stopped her from talking as tears overtook her. Compared to the near emotionless crowd, she seemed very normal.
Lind barely heard as his harmony was actually trying to break free from his control! It had never happened before!
"Big–" Before Fey could ask again, emerald light flared like a sun around him. His eyes became vertical slits before he blurred to all. He moved faster than any could conceive and a clawed hand pierced a shadow.
Rather than splintered wood and stone, a spurt of bluish blood flew followed by a shout of pain.
"AARRRGHH!" A shadow detached from the corner and resolved into the dark lavender skin of a demon!
No one had felt them at all! How? Demonic Qi was not able to hide from cultivators' senses so easily. The formation needed would take time, and not enough had passed!
"Beast! I will drain your soul from you slowly!" The demon had strange eyes. Rather than dark or vibrant metal like most demons, they were almost evil to describe. They were not the eyes of a living being but a creature of death and destruction.
All the cultivators felt their dantians revolt as they perceived the Fiend Qi in the demon.
Lind could no longer speak, but he had no desire to. He felt the burning need to kill!
The demon was a Nightfall based on his distorted horns on his head but his tier felt strange. Only a few tier 1 Sky Realms were left in the crowd, but they could not tell if the demon was stronger or not compared to them.
Suddenly, artifacts appeared as emerald light flared once more.
The demon went from rage to terror.
"How?! How are you doing that?!" No one understood his fear until a shift occurred. The house was no longer isolated as something broke. Two more demons were suddenly revealed in the crowd!
Fey moved before anyone noticed as her sword beheaded one near a woman. The blood fountained into the air but the demon did not die! It grabbed at the woman, or tried to but Fey had moved her away.
Instead it grabbed Fey and must have assumed it was the woman.
A twist in the air made all shiver but the remaining demons blanched at it.
"STOP! SHE IS THE ONE WE WERE SENT TO–" The other demon in the crowd shouted but it was too late. Lind was unsure what to expect. Fey was immune so he was not afraid of the worst but a very familiar pressure came from above.
Tribulation! Heavenly tribulation! It was not the kind to challenge a cultivator either, but a punishment one!
Lind did not move but he acted quickly by grabbing the demon on the house floor. He instinctively understood what was coming.
The world turned from night to day as lightning struck the beheaded demon and his companion in the crowd. Not a single person was harmed and Fey was fine but confused.
The pressure focused on Lind but his harmony flared and he looked up. He could not speak but he could still convey his will.
That one is mine!
The clouds rumbled but then dispersed as the world returned to a clear night.
All turned back to Lind as he towered over them all in his full transformation but then he slowly returned to his human shape. His eyes were cold as he looked at the demon in his grasp but then he was shocked.
The demon was dead!
He had not attacked after the first strike and Heaven did not get him. How did he die?
The look of terror on his face was disturbing, as if the demon had met something completely antithetical to his very existence.
Lind used his Eyes but was shocked at what he saw. His harmony Qi was everywhere! His emerald harmony had somehow killed the demon!