novelraw Chapter 598 - 597 - Rebellion
Chapter 598 - 597 - Rebellion
Shi sat safe in her mansion in the capital. She could not go any farther from the teleportation array based on the restrictions Xing set. Even without contact, she knew the artifacts would kill her if she disobeyed.
Thankfully no time limit was put on them but that could change.
It had been a month since the first city fell. The dispatched army should have finally arrived and begun the attack. It would be the true test of the current war.
If the intruder and his forces overcame it, Dar would fall. There was no other outcome.
"My Lady, a report." A young girl in black robes put a jade slip in front of her but Shi could feel an oddity in it. She pretended to examine it but then frowned. There was a sigil faintly engraved inside of it.
She glanced at the now nervous slip of a girl. She was only at the World Realm but her ability should be around 4th or 5th circle to be assigned as Shi's servant. Only novice Soulmancers could serve her.
"Tell me, do I strike you as a fool?" The girl jumped but quickly shook her head. Her single white streak appeared to reveal she had over extended herself at least once but her youth affirmed her ability to refine souls.
"Then tell me, why are you trying to trap my mind?" The dark wood door burst inward to reveal the current leader of the Dar Soulmancers. He was a hunched over man with extremely pale skin.
He was not in a good state but his power was at the peak of 5th circle. He was also a peak Star Tier.
His hood pulled back to reveal a bearded face but he looked very sickly. His skill at refining was far worse than the young girl's clearly.
"Great Lady Shi, the time for your indulgence has ended. I already killed the imperial family and the noble fools. They were wiling away their time with some vivacious entertainment. We have also culled the demons that dared to look at us in defiance." Shi looked bored.
She had heard such speeches far too many times and in all variations to be surprised any more. The only twist was Xing could not kill them remotely like she usually would but She was hardly in trouble.
She was a Sun Tier and peak 6th Circle. Besides, she was long prepared for such foolishness.
"Nice speech, did you rehearse it or simply practice for when you rebelled?" The man grimaced at her lack of fear or anxiety. He was in control now! Dar was his!
"You can pretend all you like but I will claim all the souls of these invaders for myself and rise above that whore Xing!" Shi suddenly began to shake but it was laughter, not fear that made her do so.
Her full throated laughter caught not only the 2 in her room but the waiting Soulmancers in the hall. Why was she laughing in her dire situation?
"Just for that, I will not kill you. Leave, if you plan to fight then go fight." She had no interest in wasting her time but the man wasted her mercy.
"Take her soul now!" Shi felt the chill brush of many tendrils but saw all of them look dumbfounded as nothing happened. They were not harmed either but that was again, her mercy.
"Just for the record, if you paid attention in training, you would know 2 vital things. The Supreme Lords are beyond your abilities and there are no ways to rebel." She flicked her right index finger as she sipped the wine from her crystal goblet.
The Star Tier man flailed as he screamed. His body began to twitch in agony as faint blue energy rose from his body. She had no desire to refine such a foul man so she simply let it disperse into nothing.
A wave of such energy left his body and flew into the sky. She actually saw it leap towards the emerald dome like a magnet and was in awe when they flared like a golden light before disappearing.
It had looked so beautiful.
"G-great Lady–" The young girl was quivering and weeping. She had not attacked Shi but it did not get her safely off either.
"Go, now, and do not return. I will not kill you as I imagine what he said to you but I loathe traitors." Shi was not lying. She wanted the whole mess gone. "Do what you want but leave me in peace. I would recommend leaving the slaves alone also but do as you wish."
She watched them leave with a sneer.
They did not comprehend the power at her disposal nor the frightening power of the intruder.
[Tasteful, but brutal.]
She sighed as the voice appeared once more.
"I don't suppose you will say you only just now saw that or have been watching the whole time?" She felt no need to speak telepathically as she moved to make sure no more surprises were left behind.
She looked out past the dark velvet curtains to see some smoke rising here or there but it was hardly chaos. The Soulmancers were supreme in the 6 Empires for a good reason. If they chose to rebel, the cultivators could not stop them.
[Actually, I was hoping for some information. I just dealt with creatures looking for you and I called phantoms.]
She sighed as she checked her barriers. Sure enough, at least a few dozen phantoms were caught at the edge of her compound.
She frowned before touching a sigil on her restraints. The phantoms wailed in agony before being swallowed by the barrier.
"I wish there was another way. It was likely the rebels. Unleashing fresh souls and refining them into weapons make a short lived but very effective weapon called phantoms." She frowned more deeply as it made no sense.
The plan to capture her was clear so why–?!
"They are all rebelling. Every city and faction. You have unleashed a lot of death before you even arrive." She was not happy about that.
[Damn it. It helps the war but the price is too damned high!]
She felt the righteous rage but also a deep sadness too.
"It is not your fault. The fear of Xing's power is what kept most of the empires in check. Over my lifetime she has done a purge at least once a millenia if not more. Rebellion is more common than you think here." She felt good talking about it.
She might be killed once the intruder arrived but she did not care anymore. She was happy just being a little more free. It would have been better if Linghu was there but she could not ask for miracles.
[I may not be the sole cause but I was the flame to the tinder. We are moving too slowly.]
She could feel the frustration but she smiled to know someone out there was as irritated with these fools as her.
"How soon can you get here, anyway?" She had not asked before because she did not want to seem like she was fishing for information but the new situation made it moot. What she knew no longer mattered.
[I do not know. Taking the city was easy but keeping it is a pain. The damned army is more impressive than mine but it is dysfunctional in the strangest ways.]
Shi smirked as she returned to her chambers. She did not want the conversation to end but she knew it would shortly.
"You killed the others so easily I was told, why is the army bothering you now?" She was not exaggerating. Marsh had brought far worse to the intruder's very doorstep yet prevailed.
[My battle is not the army but the one in control of the Law Binding.]
Shi shivered. She understood. His combat power was tied up with the dome over their heads. If it fell away, she would be instantly forced to return regardless of her wishes.
"Can I help?" She glanced at the artifacts but there was no response. A breath of relief came from her but only silence answered her. Where did he go?
[Apologies, had a meeting find me. No, you cannot help at the moment. Those things on you are dangerous and likely laced with triggers. I can feel the danger even from where I am.]
She shivered once more but for a very different reason. He was likely right.
She felt the connection break and knew the battle must have demanded his attention. She sighed and hoped her brother could be saved after it was all over. If an empire fell to the intruder, his foothold would be solidified and unable to be ignored any longer.
The resources of Dar were nothing to laugh at.
Shi sipped at her wine and wondered how long she would be trapped in the mansion.
⬧⬧⬧⬧
Xing smashed another artifact into tiny pieces as Linghu was tossed like a ragdoll across the room.
"NOTHING! NOTHING WORKS! USELESS!" Almost half a year since the attack on the Dar Empire started and nothing had gone right.
The beasts had stopped being too annoying but any Sun Tier that moved found themselves besieged. Many had ended up as food for the aether beasts!
The 2 armies from Orewellia and Raquera Empires found a strange emerald dome they could not pierce when they arrived. It withstood everything they could throw at it before they realized it was siphoning power from their very attacks!
Any attempt to get to the areas she could not see suddenly had stone drals and a Sun Tier gryphon ripping the armies to shreds! She even tried using the punishment attack but it was simply deflected and dispersed albeit with some signs of issues.
Yet, when she attacked the same spot, there was no improvement in the damage!
Xing was furious on many levels but not least that she could not reach Shi. The artifacts were still connected but that was all. Every command failed!
"I WANT THAT DOME SHATTERED NOW!" She sent out orders to the 3 idling empires but it would still take over a year for them to get their forces through the Hinterlands to Dar.
Time, time was running out and she felt danger. If Dar truly fell, the intruder would no longer be an annoyance but a true threat to her. She could not allow it. She could not!