novelraw Chapter 472 - 471 - Void of Heaven
Chapter 472 - 471 - Void of Heaven
Maggie's party was the first to arrive. Her fellow Star Tier ancestor of the Sword Breakers Sect was the only death at their level in the spirits forsaken tunnels, but now a massive doorway loomed in front of her.
It was not like the other viewing window they had found before, it easily towered 2 to 3 stories tall. It was opaque as reported too but Maggie did not care.
"Everyone have their weapons at the ready. We are going in." All the Sky Realms with her nodded while the 2 from Moebius Sect frowned. They knew progress was needed but Master Lind would want at least 2 parties to go in.
Maggie ignored them but did not explain that her instincts were warning her that time was running out. The changes they had wrought left the Fiends nowhere to hide. If they decided to cut their losses, there would be no hope of escape.
They slowly approached the black entrance before moving into it. She had expected it to be cold or some kind of resistance but it was if only air was there. They entered the massive chamber and it was dark as a moonless night.
Fires were lit by those that could do so and a few lights sparkled. Maggie kept her Qi ready but only silence answered them. The empty caskets were spooky in the dark but no danger came from them.
"The array is ahead." One of the men from the Moebius Sect suddenly spoke up and Maggie waved to stop. She wanted to push ahead but the dias blocked them. Even flying over it was unwise as it could be turned on at any time.
Even assuming it was blocked, they could get dumped into the void if there was any issue.
They looked to see if there was a path through the caskets when Maggie suddenly felt dizzy.
"I was not quite ready. You must have suffered some battles with us before to know to interrupt me as soon as possible." A voice came from the shadows but it was wrong. The sound was like nails on a chalkboard to their ears.
Maggie frowned as she tried to focus but it was as if her dantain was not working properly to regulate her Qi.
"Those items are troublesome as they seem to work perfectly fine here too. Another piece of information for future reference to note." The sound of footsteps filled the silence but Maggie was too busy trying to correct her body.
She felt so heavy and weak. It was as if her cultivation was gone.
"We need to leave, now!" The 6 elementals from Moebius Sect suddenly covered her in their harmonies and she instantly felt better.
"Go? I don't think so. There will be no leaving now that fresh resources have arrived." Maggie felt it then clearly. Or rather, she felt the absence of what she had grown used to all her life as a cultivator.
There was no feeling of Heaven and Earth in that room!
Light suddenly blinded them as a being too handsome to be real stood before them. The instinctual revulsion surprised them all but Maggie felt her blood freeze in her veins.
She could not feel the cultivation of the being in front of them!
"A Star Tier and 8 Sky Realms. I would ask you not to fight too much as loss of limbs is a bit of an issue. Now, lay down your weapons." No one compiled but the gray skinned man shrugged as he seemed to vanish.
"DUCK!" All responded to Maggie's command as she was flung across the room directly into a casket! It was as if she was powerless to stop it!
"Excellent response time. A bit old but a Star Tier is always a good resource. Sleep now." The casket closed and sealed before anyone could completely react but then the seal shattered when a bright orange light covered it.
An irritated look crossed the man's face.
"You 2 will not be of much use dead but I see no choice." The Moebius Sect members flared crimson and orange around their bodies but then they burst like melons! The blood fountain covered them all in shock as Maggie still lay powerless in the open casket.
"F–F–Fiend!" Maggie got the word out and the impossibly handsome man smiled but it brought no relief to them. It was the smile of a predator looking at prey.
"A pleasure to meet you all. Those armor and weapons will not save you from me. If I was only a Star Tier, maybe, but since I am a Sun Tier, you would be wise to heed my command." All shivered but the disbelief in their eyes only seemed to make the creature enjoy things more.
"We shall begin." The lights all went out before the screams began.
⬧⬧⬧⬧
Halcyon looked at the gaping maw of the entrance but did not allow anyone to enter. Maggie had beat them there but she was nowhere to be found nor responding to any attempts to communicate.
He could not even sense her at all!
"Senior, how long have you been waiting?" Solon's group arrived and he saw Lind Frey's members start to examine the entrance.
"Not long but Maggie was here ahead of us, yet I cannot reach her anymore. It could not have been more than half a day yet now a full day has passed with nothing." Other parties started to arrive but Halcyon only had eyes for Lind Frey and his group.
"You are certain, Cyntilla?" The demoness nodded and Lind could only worry before someone caught his eye. "Senior Neera? Could I see you for a moment?"
A woman jumped before running forward. He then had her stand in front of the entrance and then closed his eyes.
What was he doing?
After a few breaths, Lind nodded and dismissed her before looking at Halcyon. The Star Tier understood as he put out a formation plate to isolate them.
"What?" Halcyon knew that grim look was not good.
"Some of my creations are beyond this entrance but they are warning us to stay away. It is hard to give them words but Neera has a very high compatibility. She was able to hear them." Lind glanced at the opaque entrance for a moment.
"They only said 3 words: Void of Heaven." Halcyon's eyes narrowed but he kept himself calm. It was bad but not impossible to deal with thanks to Lind Frey.
"If your weapon and armor spirits are still active, they are protected from being ripped apart by that but it is something encountered in the Heaven Realm." Lind looked on waiting for more. Halcyon dispersed the isolation to speak to them all.
"My counterparts, we are dealing with a Void of Heaven area. Did anyone bring Qi Stones at our level?" The question seemed odd but Lind understood quickly.
Sources of Qi would be unaffected by such a void while cultivators would be hard pressed to contain the Qi inside them. It would be different from the density issue as the only thing inside was Fiend Qi.
It was how the Fiend's took more territory and prevented counter invasion. Once set up, it was very difficult to remove from what he could guess.
"Lind, something is watching us." Annabelle whispered but made no moves. Lind only nodded but quietly began to weave around them. He wanted to be ready in case of an attack of something insane yet nothing came.
They waited as the Star Tiers got ready but Solon and the rest simply made sure their armor or weapons were ready.
"Once we begin, assume we will be attacked. Whatever we have faced it will be no more than a Star Tier we can handle while the rest of you find the headquarters." Lind frowned at that.
A Void of Heaven meant Heaven and Earth could not see inside. It also meant the normal restrictions might not apply.
"Assume the worst case scenario. Stay alive." Shoti, Cyntilla, Fey, and Annabelle nodded. Solon also nodded while Sheila noticed his grim look that seemed to speak to her telepathically.
Halcyon prepared to enter when the opaque entrance suddenly lit up again. Lind moved instantly as did a few other groups but nothing else happened.
Halcyon and the other Star Tiers had erected a quick barrier but they felt nothing else changed. They all carefully began to enter but Lind waited.
All his draconic instincts were screaming at him not to enter that place which had never happened before. He sighed and chose to suppress his dragon soul until it behaved.
"Lind?" Shoti seemed to notice but he only smiled and they followed the rest carefully.
The massive room led them to the dias where the teleportation array was laid out. None dared try to fly around it or above it. Obvious traps awaited them that they could barely sense.
It was like there was whitenoise beyond many of them. Their normal senses simply did not work. There were a few exceptions.
Neera and Solon had the best connection with their new gear which seemed to let them use their senses normally while all the 6 elementals were not bothered at all.
Lind noted that for later but focused on trying to find the source of danger when he saw the 9 filled caskets.
"Look!" He heard one of the other members shout and point but thankfully no one rushed out. Their bitter lessons had taught them well to be cautious.
Moebius Sect simply felt how off the room was.
A sarcastic clap filled the room as a being walked out. The moment Lind laid eyes on the gray skin and impossibly handsome features, his soul suddenly felt rent asunder.
"Well done coming this far, truly you are all to be commended. Ah, I see Master Frey seems to have overlooked something in coming here. That is the problem with Divine bloodlines." All froze but the Star Tiers were shocked to their core.
They could not feel the man's cultivation at all!
Halcyon clearly saw a terrified Maggie frozen in the casket and put it all together.
"FIEND!" Fear flowed through the crowd but he ignored them as he walked across the dias towards Lind Frey.
"A dragon soul is very difficult to grasp, even we respect how far one has to go to achieve it. In the outer world, you are the most annoying enemies as Heaven keeps too close of an eye on you, but here, you are nothing but a human once more." Lind looked up but he was quickly adjusting to his new reality.
It was the very feeling that his soul was far away, as if Heaven had removed it. How was he alive?
"To make a very tedious process short, you should all surrender while you can. I am in something of a hurry." The complete lack of care the being had despite being outnumbered spoke volumes of how he viewed them.
"S-Sun Tier." Neera stumbled over and the Fiend looked shocked at her before he saw her bracers and spear.
"Well, well. A spirit master not yet awakened. You will be highly nutritious–" the Fiend froze as the feeling in the room changed. He slowly turned around in shock as emerald flames lined an area of the room.
"Impossible! How are you doing that?!" The Fiend was not the only one that could feel it, the Qi was returning to that part of the room! Heaven was back?
"I can't do this forever but he can't get near me either. Break that array!" Lind was already sweating but all the weapons and armor on his brides lit up to grow the area of effect. The Fiend tried to get close but his instincts warned him Heaven would see him!
The other weapons and armors suddenly lit up with Qi as the Star Tiers acted. Their target was not the Fiend but the dias he stood on! The final battle began!