Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 760 - 759 - All Masks are Off

Lind was exhausted but for once he had had no shortage of funds, materials, or help from any one in the Alliance.  The Helion Trading Guild could not hide what happened and he already began to root out thralls in his own power.

They had been located in the far reaches but Fiends were long term monsters.  Immediate losses meant nothing to them so long as the long term goals progressed.  In a way, humans should learn that from them.

The long miserable history of humanity would have been far better if the long view was held to a higher priority than the short term.  It was clear how horrifying the Fiends were at infiltrating despite various attempts to screen for them.

Lind Frey was a spirits sent answer to the problem.

Whatever else he was, his harmony stripped away any hope of hiding.  The instant the Fiend Qi was touched by his harmonic Qi, it was transformed back to natural Qi.  The result was instant on any thrall.

Marked individuals were burned and any artifact or weapon was wrecked instantly.  Some were honest researchers already known but no chances could be taken.

The shortcoming of the screening artifacts all hinged on one man, Lind himself.  He was only able to charge maybe 1000 such artifacts and they had limited range but elixirs let him recover very quickly.

A full day after his orders were given, every power in the Alliance compensated him despite asking for nothing.  He also kept creating but slowed it down once the massive release was done.

The revelations were heartbreaking and terrifying.

Some powers, especially relatively new ones, could be very light on infiltration depending on their importance but some high and mid powers found their entire foundation wiped out in a day!

Some knew and tried to run while others died in shock.

The Fiends were insidious bastards that had learned many tricks over the epochs but only now did the Alliance truly appreciate the dangers.

The variations on the thrall technique also made them rethink many policies regarding missions outside their borders and upon returning.  Still, Lind Frey was currently the best solution.

"Lay still."  The man in question was currently laid out on his bed as a gorgeous blonde examined him.  She was looking very stern at him but kept going with a glowing stone tablet running over him head to toe.

"I am resting–"  He tried to speak but her Immortal aura spiked.  That was right, Qing had become an Immortal.  She had made it through 5 rounds but again all Divine quality.  Only Ethry and Cyntilla were directly more powerful than her with Kora a close second.

Even as he lay there, he knew Tal was facing her tribulation in the desert but information was being blocked out.  The reason being he had nearly collapsed.

Elixirs were a great help but could not replace true rest and cultivation.  It eventually caught up to him and now Qing had him on mandatory bedrest which was a bit humiliating for a Heaven Realm.

Still, his efforts would not let anyone denigrate him or look at it as weakness.

"How bad is it out there?"  His question made Qing pause.  While Lind had a general idea, he had simply focused on creating the artifacts without stopping for nearly a week before she put a stop to it.

"I do not have as detailed a grasp as Lysanna or Shoti but it seems several powers have crumbled.  The only powers barely affected were the Heavenly Maiden Sect and Hellfire Sect."  Lind narrowed his eyes at a missing supreme power.  His face must have conveyed the question.

"The Divine Sword Sect did not divulge the fallout but a rough guess put it at a little under 20% given the sudden decrease in several positions."  He nodded but frowned.  It was not like the Divine Sword Sect to hide such a thing.

He then saw Qing glancing away from him.  He narrowed his eyes.

"What else?"  She jumped but then sighed before sitting at the edge of the bed.

"Some of the Immortals you brought out saw their powers crumble and were judged by implication of the Alliance.  They were executed."  His aura tried to spike but she suppressed it as she had expected it.

Why go so far?  Who had suggested that?!  While incompetence deserved severe reprimand and even imprisonment in the current case, execution of an Immortal was too extreme!

His mind dove into the facts and information he knew but there was something nagging at him that slowly took shape.

Immortals were important, even with the influx he had brought, to the war effort.  Fiends were just that dangerous.  His harmony could rent asunder thralls or if concentrated, a handful of Fiends, but beyond that he could not take out armies non-stop.

There were billions of the damned monsters.

So why, even with such clear stupidity on their part, were the Immortals executed?

"They were turned into scapegoats, weren't they?"  Qing slowly nodded.  He then thought of the oddity of the Divine Sword Sect.  Pieces moved but he could not bring the picture together.

Someone killed the Immortals to make it seem like the issue was over and the Divine Sword Sect was strangely silent.  Why?  He tried to get a report but Qing stopped him.

"You need to recover.  No working for at least a day.  There is nothing else you can do."  He sighed but nodded.  She then stared at him until he rolled his eyes and actually went to sleep.

Unlike mortals, however, he stayed aware.  It was not like sleep paralysis, but he was still resting when more voices reached him.

"You should have told him the rest."  It was Shoti but it was not unusual for those 2 to be together.  They had known each other the longest.

"He needs rest and can still hear us.  Let us go."  Lind almost woke back up but decided he did not need the lecture.

He fell into dreams as he had not done in sometime when it all went horribly wrong.

A dark figure looked down on the world as if all of it was nothing but tiny ants or toys.  Its cold eyes had no emotion or any care for its actions as many died screaming, yet it never cared.

[You are dead.  Your actions will have no impact on me.  All of you are my sustenance.]

The vile voice made him squirm but then it changed.  He was flying through the blue skies as he saw families ripped apart by blood crazed swordsmen.  They looked up at him in amusement.

[Death is no bar to our glorious purpose.]

It was the same vile voice.  It was mocking him.

[You believe you have stripped the masks away but you have only found the tools.]

Anger flickered in Lind.  He realized what was wrong but could not prove it.

Agents of the Fiends had always existed.  Some were turned into thralls but others served better without such impediments.

He had to find who gave the orders.  The masks were off for that short window, even if they used others, the trail would come back to them!

He opened his eyes only to find a lot of time had passed.  He felt incredibly rested but Annabelle was sleeping on his left arm.  He carefully extracted himself but before he got far, an aura locked onto him.

"I slept, Qing, I promise."  He saw her arrive but she looked exhausted.  What had happened?

"There–there were more murders."  He did not understand until she kept speaking.  "The Immortals were executed by people from the Divine Sword Sect, the very ones that were Fiend thralls but the Alliance then found more bodies that had no reaction to your screening artifact.  They did have many plans and clear signs of being agents of the Fiends."

"They are all dead, aren't they?"  She nodded as he felt all the strength go out of his body.  He was too late.

Any trail had been mangled, confused, and no true orders save retaliation.  He had no path to follow back to anyone alive!

They had known!  They had known someone would figure it out and the Divine Sword Sect had still been hunting while the agents mucked up everything!  Idiots!

Their damn pride as swordsmen had been used against them!

"What did Shoti mean about the rest?"  Qing looked sad for a moment before she told him.

"Sa–Sa was killed saving a little boy from being used as a hostage by a thrall.  He was out on a mission and it was chaos.  He–he saved the child."  She wept as he took her into his arms.

"Anyone else?"  She nodded.

"Several of the children we trained have been crippled and other severe injuries.  We are doing our best but they all fought hard to save the innocent.  You should be so–"  His grip tightened as he pushed her into his shoulder.

"I was already proud, they simply affirmed their place in my heart forever.  I will stop this madness.  I do not know how, but I will stop it."  Tears were in his voice but none fell from his eyes.

She tightened her hold as another set of arms came from behind.  Annabelle said nothing but her presence was a comfort.  Lind's eyes were vertical slits but he kept his aura contained as rage tried to slip loose with his grief.

Ruby and Teela had to be found as they might do something foolish.  His sons might not be far behind.  His wives likely already thought of it all but he still wanted to find them too.

The Fiends would pay, he would make them pay!