novelraw Chapter 471 - 470 - Setbacks
Chapter 471 - 470 - Setbacks
"They do not suspect I am here but these new weapons and armor are a problem." The Fiend left in charge of Severis Island sat comfortably in a room with a massive wall jade lit up. A part of it showed the fumbling forces still trying to find the entrance to the transference room without success.
All the adjustments were complete but the most precious resource had been stymied by Lind Frey once more.
At first, the slow drain of life force had been unnoticed, but then something tipped them off and they retreated. It mattered not as he knew they had to return, but then they did there was a change.
Their life force was not being drained anymore!
If the slow method did not work, then he simply had to speed up the process.
A healthy harvest had been achieved the first time but after that the Star Tiers escorted the Sky Realms. It was annoying but at least the Star Tiers were unprotected by whatever the Sky Realms had.
A few successful attacks garnished him something but far shy of what was needed.
He was then contacted by the Commander.
"Lind Frey is proving troublesome. His limited reach is spreading up here now too. There have been rumors by some of our enemies to pull him up here." The Fiend frowned as that would be bad.
The 6 elementals were a threat.
They had been laughable pawns before at very low levels in mortal realms but Lind Frey had changed that drastically. At first it seemed like a blessing as stronger cultivators were never unwelcome on the food chain but then something odd was discovered.
Harmonies naturally resist Fiends!
The stronger they got, the more they could resist!
They did not know why, nor did they care but Lind Frey had opened a door to enemies that would become fierce enemies already. If he was safely protected in the Heaven Realm, it would be much harder to kill him.
They had chosen to try and stay out of his way to make him become complacent. As there was no official cultivation technique, Lind Frey had to figure out how to advance yet he never seemed to stop!
The final threat came from his creations, it seemed. His Forged items personally were now showing their teeth in ways nothing else had.
All of it added up to a frustrating obstacle.
"How much more is needed before it can be triggered?" The Commander did not seem concerned. Afterall, they had alternatives, it just would be resource intensive.
"The levels are only ⅔ full but we would need to be at 80% to have the minimum needed to try." No matter what, it would take 1 to 2 Star Tier's worth of life force to be ready. The Commander nodded but then the Fiend leaned forward in shock.
"He is here!" He quickly manipulated the arrays so the Commander could see what he did. The display showed a young man in crimson robes with dirty blonde hair entering the tunnels. Women and men followed him that all had a looped strip with only 1 side to it.
Moebius Sect had come!
There had been no warning but Fiends had stopped being surprised by him.
"What is that?" The commander pointed out that where Lind went, the torches were being extinguished. They were not simply to light the tunnels but to maintain the Fiend Qi in the facility!
How were they being extinguished just by his presence?!
"I do not know but it is easily fixed." The Fiend touched a stone on another pedestal and all the torches not only lit up but the strength of Fiend Qi increased massively. It was not helpful as it would kill cultivators quickly as well as the extensions used by others.
He was about to relax when sigils blazed around Lind Frey and then emerald light launched down several tunnels.
Where that light went, all the torches and Qi vanished!
How?!
"This confirms a suspicion we had from some reports. Of all the harmonies, his harmony is the true danger to us. I am changing your orders. Kill him and all those with him. Leave none alive and target the Moebius Sect afterward in the Floating Isle and the lower world." The Fiend nodded as he understood.
He broke the connection and began to set up the final trap. If he killed all of them in the right spot, it would not matter if Lind Frey could negate their Qi or not.
He was about to keep watching when the female aether child with him pointed directly at the monitor. The Fiend frowned when a blast of emerald flames engulfed the display before it went dark.
"They all have to die, indeed." He got up and prepared to receive his guests. It would take them a while to get there.
⬧⬧⬧⬧
Lind exhaled as a formation shattered under his direct attack. The previous use of the prism artifact simply magnified his harmony but the resistance he felt had increased.
"So, someone is watching us run around in these tunnels?" Solon came in with Lind and his group. Lind smiled at the happy feeling all the weapons and armor gave when he arrived. Several of the users were finding it hard not to smile.
Solon's sword was trying to show off how well it was working with him but Lind simply praised it and told it to focus.
The weapons and armor spirits were happy to have their creator nearby.
He had noted a few that were highly compatible with their users. One of the women from the Sword Breakers Sect had practically been jumping when he arrived but her spear and bracers were oozing pride at finding someone like her.
Lind shook his head of his thoughts as he focused on the current issue.
"They have increased the density of Fiend Qi. We will need 2 6 elementals at least tier 5 of the Sky Realm in each group. Our harmonies will purify the Fiend Qi as we move but it takes time." While Lind's harmony was fairly efficient, the others had maybe half the effectiveness.
Using 2 harmonies together would get the same result roughly.
The Star Tiers did not question him after the results they just saw.
"How big is this place?" Lind turned to Solon who would be going with them.
"Big, but we had to scrap the maps when we realized the same areas were shifting after we went back." Lind turned to Annabelle who nodded as they made their way to the known doorway to the large chamber.
It took the better part of 2 days due to having to purify the air but Solon noticed that some turns of the hallway shifted once that was done. Annabelle was pointing out very subtle illusion arrays that made it impossible to map out the structure.
Similar reports were coming in now that communication jade stones worked better inside the tunnels. The cultivators were feeling hopeful now that Moebius Sect lifted the constant pressure of Fiend Qi everywhere.
There were still battles but without the Fiend Qi to support them, the once powerful enemies were simply hollow corpses.
The incredible effect of harmonies made many powers widen their eyes and clearly spark ideas. The clear benefit of 6 elementals was exemplified right in front of them.
Lind's party finally reached the doorway but the once clear view was obstructed.
"Was it an illusion all along?" Solon wondered but Annabelle quickly shook her head as she frowned. Fey was the one that recognized what happened.
"They have blocked the room by dousing the light sources. Can your harmony get through?" Lind tried but saw his emerald light flow back up and around into the hall they already stood in.
"The change in space is not Fiend Qi in and of itself but an effect of their formation. I can't brute force it this time." Lind then examined the wall with his Eyes but instantly had to close them.
"Lind?" Solon was concerned as the power of his Heaven Eyes was well known to him. The only things that would cause him pain were at levels that were concerning.
"I have no idea what that was but it is above Star Tier for certain." Lind felt worried. He kept quiet about what he didn't see. Any alteration of nature would have traces of natural Qi in it but that square space had nothing.
It was 100% Fiend Qi.
The tunnels had been a mixture even as they moved deeper.
It was the first time outside of that Ruin he had seen such a purity of Fiend Qi. Why was Heaven not smiting it with lighting?
Still, he had seen what he needed as well.
"I think I found the entrance but it will take a long time to reach there." Lind began to move but relayed roughly what he had found. Other parties moved and found tunnels that had previously been missed.
The remains of habitation were finally found and all knew where all the enemies had been coming from.
They also found a few more groups but they were quickly defeated as they all converged on the entrance. The closer they got, the more disturbed Lind felt.
It was too easy. Annabelle found no other monitor arrays which meant no one was looking. Why? He moved as quickly as he dared but other parties reached there first. Whatever they found would dictate the next steps.