Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 601 - 600 - Fighting a Soulmancer

Gravis had on the flexible armor Lind had made for him and the other soldiers of the Two Rivers Empire.  Unlike leather that could be made stronger with inscriptions or refining, Lind's Forged armor was stronger than any steel but as flexible as leather.

It was the peak of Lind's ability but Gravis' armor was a little different.  It had some functions built into it as a commander and he put it into effect as he saw dust rise in the distance.

"All forces be ready!"  He shouted as he infused air Qi into his armor and a square floated in his vision.

He saw glowing dots behind a dark line that represented his forces but he was stunned to see different colored dots as he had been told beyond the line that was the wall.

Gray dots were normal cultivators but he saw 5 dots that were varying shades of blue.  Soulmancers!  The shade showed their strength but that was only a rough estimate.

He touched the 5 dots and he knew each of the squad leaders were seeing a floating mark in their vision to show their enemy locations.

Lind never explained how it worked or where the idea came from but Gravis could not deny how useful it was.

Briel seemed to grasp how it worked but Gravis simply did not understand elemental and soul resonance resulting in a display he could see.

He was able to stop the overlay and then see the markers for the Soulmancers as well.  They were the true threat as normal cultivators were a known quantity.

The earth violently shifted outside and the order came through from Lind.

The soldiers charged while the forces on the wall unleashed formation attacks.  Lind had made it where demons and humans could work together to produce terrifying effects.  Air Qi and cold fire Qi for instance unleashed balls of fire far more terrifying than either alone could make.

While the Star Tiers had all the elements, combining primary elements had the best results and Gravis saw it himself once more.

Sheena would be in charge of the gate forces once he left so he had no worries as he led the charge.

The army against them was half sunken into the soil as the shaking stopped.  The small window to attack was more than enough as they had expected it and the attacks from the wall decimated the regular soldiers in the enemy forces.

Blood bloomed on the battlefield before his forces arrived but there were far more soldiers freeing themselves while attacking back.

Gravis' armor flared with earth and light Qi to deflect most attacks and blind his foes without him having to do anything.  The armor was amazing in its reactive defense but it still had gaps and Gravis felt a blade light try to cut his arm.

Blood trailed from his slightly exposed shoulder but it was hardly a serious wound as he cleaved with his own sword into the screaming man facing him.

The man's head went flying as his armor was hardly an impediment to the black sword in Gravis' hands.  Like his armor, the blade was Forged by Lind.  Their Emperor was a busy man in so many areas it was not even funny and despite getting burdened as an Emperor, he continued to do his work.

The blade in his hands was able to cut through almost any material Gravis had tried but he had been warned that Arts could shatter it if he was not careful.  Gravis had to trust his instincts but the blade alone was never expected to act like that.

His primary element of earth and fire flared as the blade became molten hot yet maintained its slim form.

He also applied the other elements the way Lind had taught them and it seemed like his sword sang through the air as sword aura flared around his blade.  Gravis became death on 2 legs as he carved a path through the soldiers like they were so much wheat.

He was not alone as while some of them were injured, it was as if the army against them were paper tigers.  They had all the appearance of a fierce army but when their forces were unleashed in combination with the ensnaring trap Lind unleashed, they were nothing.

Many would think things were going well until one of the markers moved to his right.  Gravis saw a black cloaked Soulmancer carving into their forces with tendrils he had seen 50 years ago.

It was clear the Soulmancers had realized they could not reap their souls but using the dangerous dome would not work in current circumstances either.  The emerald dome above cut off that option by design.

Lind had not only cut off much of the Law Binding observation ability, but he also dulled the brand's effects in many ways.  After experiencing the lethal dome before, Lind had made sure to include that in the things he wanted to limit against them.

Celestial Qi was not so easy to set up that he could use it every time.

Thus, the isolation dome doubled as their protection now but that was the limit of what it could do to Soulmancer skills.

Gravis worried about the tendrils, yet the earth shifted beneath the Soulmancer instantly and sent the tendrils above their army, but still many were severely injured and likely killed.  Arts launched instantly at the same time from the walls directly at the Soulmancer.

He screamed in defiance but it did not save the man's life.

"That's one."  Gravis could not help but keep the count but not long after another fell before they could attack which told him Lind's alteration was ongoing in their favor.  Likely he attuned it to lash out at any weaving or soul manipulation.

Only 3 remained but he saw a faint form suddenly appear on the horizon that drove fear into his heart.  He also saw a large swath of the trapped soldiers fall over and knew what it cost too.

"Formation B!"  Gravis gave out an order and they took up positions around him that triggered their armors to create a sigil.  The soul giant slammed a fist down but rather than squash them, it was shattered like glass.

Rather than counter a specific technique or Art, the sigil was directly related to soul resonance.  It caused the individual souls inside whatever was conjured to regain their strength and thus separate instantly.

It needed time to activate so the tendril attack was impossible to counteract that way but the current attempt was more than fine.

While Gravis' force was defending, another was attacking with a different formation arrangement.  A new sigil flared power from the group and made a lance of soul power that glowed emerald.

Unlike the Soulmancers, Lind imprinted his creations but they were limited since he did not use other souls.  He could not make them endlessly and his recovery time was months at a time.

In 50 years he was able to make many things like the formation effect possible but in a pinch he could not do the same as the Soulmancers.

Still, the effect now was more than enough.  The emerald lance skewered the 3rd Soulmancer and left only 2.

Gravis was about to breathe a sigh of relief when he saw a crimson robed woman wield a massive sword against the lance squad.  She was followed by another Soulmancer but he noted she had a mark too!

She was in fact the brightest blue by the way the marker indicated.  Yet, nothing stopped her as she was making her way through the enemy army with ease.

What was she?

"Formation C!"  Gravis did not pause and his group rearranged to create another attack.  Formation A was the lance but formation C was something more terrifying.

The sigil appeared and so did the effect.  An emerald dragon barely appeared and Gravis felt drained of Qi massively that time.

Still, both the woman and the Soulmancer looked at them, yet it was too late.  The dragon roared as it flew across the battlefield and killed the black robed Soulmancer with ease.  It caught all off guard that it ignored the red robed woman.

Gravis downed 2 elixirs to quickly recover and his sword barely glanced off the woman's attack.  She was enraged.

"DIE!"  Her voice shook him and he realized her body and soul were being reinforced.  Rather than an external attack, she had enhanced her body!  He had heard of these Soulmancers!

Gravis knew Raquera Empire had an oddity of Soulmancers that rarely left.  Rather than create Arts or techniques, they transformed their bodies into weapons.

She did not focus on him as she turned like lightning and sliced one of his men in half!  The others quickly reacted but she seemed able to find the weakness in the seams of the armor!

Gravis changed his elements to fire and light.  He was only secondary in both but the blade lit up with powerful lightning he discharged with sword aura.  She was forced to focus on him while the others reacted.

He felt his arms nearly come off with her sheer strength.  Her speed was also difficult to track but Gravis did not need to anymore as he smiled at her.

His smile made her grimace but then chains exploded from his armor at his command at the last moment.  When asked what he wanted for effects from his armor, he had asked for a way to capture an enemy even for a few seconds.

The black chains were only conjured earth Qi with traces of metal but they did what he wanted.  The woman could not swing her sword and he cut her hands off!  He could have gone for the kill, but most expect that.

Sure enough, he saw a glitter of Qi at her throat shatter as she had clearly expected him to go for her life.  Blood sprayed from her stumps as the sword fell to the ground.  His handful of unharmed soldiers charged to kill her but he stopped them.

"Capture her.  She is not like other Soulmancers.  She can't harm us now."  Gravis knew Lind would want to interrogate anyone they could capture.  The army around them saw their Soulmancers defeated so terrifyingly easily.

It broke them and made the battle finally come to an end.  The siege of months had been a massive trap to let them explosively bring the army to its knees.

A direct assault would have been their victory but the price would have been much higher.  Lind was not willing to sacrifice all that life just to win which made Gravis feel a sense of trust and loyalty even more than before.

The cleanup began and Gravis realized while they had started at mid morning, it was now almost sunset.  A battle of a single day freed the city at last and decimated Dar's forces.  He felt the exhaustion wash over him as Sheena led out her forces to help finish all they needed to.

Gravis wanted to see Gail and his new baby soon after all the death he had seen, but that thought was pushed back as he took one more elixir to face the rest of his duties and report back to Lind that they had won.