novelraw Chapter 431 - 430 - Divine Guardian
Chapter 431 - 430 - Divine Guardian
The illusion formation plates cracked and fell apart by dawn. The Fiend Qi as well as the Heavenly pressure likely pushed them far beyond any endurance Annabelle had planned for. The surviving citizens slowly emerged and found the pair arranging the dead demons.
Smiles and relief flooded the crowd. Many had lost loved ones and friends to the attacks over the years and they were finally avenged.
They were about to return to their homes when a heavy pressure covered all of them. Lind and Fey recognized it right away. Fey frowned deeply but merely stood in her bloodied dress and held her sword at the ready.
Oba had returned.
She was not alone either as several pristinely white robes covered a handful of tier 7 Maidens. Oba's looks seemed intentionally better than the last time they met, but the grim faces all looked down at the town.
Their eyes narrowed at Lind and Fey as they stood by the pile of demon corpses.
"It seems you survived. I had some issues getting help to come back, but it seems Lady Xin has slipped away once again." Oba was looking at them in some joy at their failure to stop the infamous demoness from escaping.
Lind and Fey looked at each other before a storage ring was tossed to Oba. She sunk her senses into it and nearly fell out of the sky!
"Sister?" One of the members with her was stunned at Oba's reaction. Oba handed the ring off and they quickly realized what they had.
It was the storage ring of Lady Xin! Her imprint was gone so she was dead!
"Where is her body? One of the leaders of Ransha Quingyu has been killed. There is much we could learn from her." Oba wanted to see the demoness dead. She was irked that 2 juniors had done something none of the Maidens could do for centuries.
"I am afraid there is nothing left of her. She paid the price for being a tool of the Fiends." His words made the Maidens narrow their eyes but then all froze as a powerful sword aura flared from Fey.
She was only a tier 5 but the quality of the aura was profound. It had a Dao woven into it! The Dao of the Sword was well known but the Dao Fey put out felt terrifying. Oba was shocked at the changes a few days had made.
"How did you do that lower world trash?!" A brunette with plaited hair looked down at them. Her face was delicate but the tier 7 strength was very real. Lind did not like her tone or the way her blue and yellow eyes looked at Fey like she was trash.
Still, he said nothing. He looked to Fey who seemed to become profound. She slowly floated up and then began to dance with her sword. Her bloodied clothes only gave credence to her skill as all were shocked at the moves.
Lind had not been able to see her during her enlightenment but clearly she had grasped aspects of it well. Each of her moves were clearly able to kill or defend with a twitch of her wrists. Once she stopped, all shook their heads as if they had been in a trance.
"Senior Sister, we need to take these 2 in for questioning. Clearly they have things to tell us." Lind noticed Oba actually did not agree to those words but seemed uncomfortable. Who was this woman that made the proud Oba actually disagree.
"I will go nowhere with you ever again Evelyn. Your false friendship is already dust in my heart. I never really knew you nor did I really see the truth about how small you are." Lind felt pride swell in his heart. Fey was back!
She had changed, no one could stay the same, but the confidence that had been missing for so long seemed to have made large strides forward to return! She had been shaking and hiding from Oba only a few days ago but now she stood proudly in front of them.
Evelyn's eyes narrowed as a mace appeared in her hands. The high quality materials and work made Lind suspect her background was quite high. He saw the few other Maidens were not entirely in agreement with her but would not stop her.
He wondered what to do as a handful of tier 7 Sky Realms could easily crush them without even trying.
"Heh, it seems Little Chyou needs to enact some discipline on her seedlings. They are not what they used to be, although there has always been an overinflated sense of arrogance in all little people born here." A voice made all snap their heads over to the forest.
A small round shape emerged but the Maidens were not impressed. Lind and Fey, however, were shocked.
It was a black shelled tortoise but a very small one! The voice, however, belonged to the Star Tier Heaven Realm aether beast!
"A mere beast wants to dictate to us!" Evelyn had her mace light up as earth and darkness made the very air feel heavier to Lind. He frowned as the effect seemed not in control of the woman.
The mace was well made but she could not seem to use it effectively. Her disdain made it seem like she was superior but compared to Fey's expert use of sword aura only a few moments ago, one would think their tiers would be reversed.
"Sigh, little girls should be more polite to their elders." Lind saw the tortoise simply turn to the mace before the Qi vanished! Shock barely registered on Evelyn's face before she was slammed into the dirt!
Oba instantly knelt towards the tortoise.
"Senior! Please forgive my Sister. She was not aware of your presence." Lind narrowed his eyes at those words. If Oba knew the Black Shelled Tortoise was there, why did she not stop Evelyn.
"I do not like the petty games you are playing. Leave Yinande and tell Little Chyou to put that one to the kitchens for at least 2 centuries." The other Maidens were shocked but after that demonstration of power, they said nothing.
"Senior, I apologize for my junior sister. She will be submitted for punishment as you request." Many would have missed the flicker of her flesh but Lind's sharp Eyes noticed and realized Oba had used the Tortoise to knock Evelyn down.
She had not changed her sneaky ways.
"Then leave, now. You have half a day." Oba bowed and moved towards Fey before she too was slammed into the earth. "Are you deaf? I told you Maidens to leave, not Lind Frey nor the Fierce Fairy. They are still my guests and have done a great service. I would be a poor host if I did not reward them."
Lind arched an eyebrow as he needed no reward. He had brought danger to the island. If anything, he took responsibility.
"S-senior. I am afraid the sect requires these witnesses to testify about a dangerou–" Oba was making a crater in the earth and her shape was flattened but changelings were not so easily killed.
"If you think I am unaware of what goes on in that head of yours shapeshifter, you are sadly misinformed about me. Unlike humans, aether children, or demons, a beast or bloodline hybrid's mind is an open book to me." Lind was curious about that. He had never felt his mind invaded so was that true?
Evelyn clawed her way out of the dirt. She was angry but she at least knew better than to push her luck. She put away her mace and glared at Fey who still floated in the sky.
Oba finally was released and resumed her shape. Lind noted her robes were actually damaged which made him realize it was an artifact armor. It worked with her skills perfectly to mimic which made him curious about it.
Still, the frazzled Oba bowed and then turned to the other Maidens. They looked sour but started to fly off.
"Oba." Lind's voice made her stiffen as she slowly turned around to stare at him.
"Tell Senior Chyou that I know the truth about the demonic Fiends and will be sending that information quickly. Any known location should be staked out and prepared to kill them all. I swear by Heaven and Earth we are all in grave danger." The Heavens rumbled and Oba actually looked at him in shock before slowly nodding.
They flew off and Lind felt sad inside. The sect was still full of fond memories for him but the Floating Isle branch had long since soured the connection. Valkyrie may not be just a bad example but a result of a larger issue.
"You are generous, little dragon." Lind smiled and bowed deeply.
"I am of the Second Circle." He wove a few engravings that were low grade 5. He had quickly advanced during his breakthrough but he could only make a very basic Qi gathering engraving for the moment.
"I knew you could do it, and I am glad you are not resentful." Lind bowed again. Fey also bowed next to him.
"After facing these creatures, your desire to protect the village was understandable. I have to ask, however, were you not aware of the last decade of tragedy?" Lind got the impression she was not but wanted to understand.
"I am quite an old woman, you know? I sleep more than I am awake. Further, those twisted things are designed to be hidden. What lower realms do to each other matters little to me unless I am invested in it. So long as they do not harm me or my wards, it is mostly the normal cultivation world." Lind felt a little tired of that answer but it was due to the truth of it, rather than the indifference.
The cultivation world was cruel, but he felt like the Floating Isles went out of its way to make that cruelty worse.
"May I ask, senior, for your name?" A slight tremor shook the earth and Lind realized she had laughed.
"Name? I have not had a name for a long time, little dragon. I am the Divine Guardian." Lind was intensely curious but the moment those 2 words hit him, his head throbbed. Information was imparted from his bloodline which the Black Shelled Tortoise did not seem surprised to see.
"You were from the Celestial Fields?" Lind understood that the 4 Divine bloodlines sometimes chose a member or one earned the title Divine Guardian. They would be the matriarch or patriarch of their group.
They were not the highest authority but he could not retrieve the piece of information on who would be.
"Very good. You really are a progenitor. Yes, I was once living in the Celestial Fields. A Heaven Realm cultivator up there can live for close to 10,000 years but still a lot of resources to make it. My own race gives me a lifespan of close to 5 million years." Lind felt shocked but then he was confused as he looked down.
His question was obvious but he held it back. An approving nod came from her before the world distorted. They suddenly found themselves back in the village. The villagers were shocked but when they saw the small tortoise, they all knelt in honor.
"We need to talk but first, please set them free." Lind smiled and bowed before he began to talk to his old teachers. The world was changing at his hands once again.