Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 874 - 873 - Gambit

Lind had never seen a soul in such bad condition. Either they were intact or they dispersed. There was usually nothing in between.

He might believe a soul on the verge of dispersion would be fainter or maybe sparkling with spiritual Qi but it was like pieces of the man were just missing. His left eye was gone like it had been taken out like a block from his face.

Parts of his torso, arms, and legs followed a similar pattern.

"I am Lind Frey, a Divine Dragon Progenitor. I am also a True Lord." He flexed his aura and let it wash over the soul. The man actually seemed to embrace it and smiled.

[At last, hope is reborn!] Lind flinched at the choice of words but pushed past it.

"Who are you?" The soul tilted its head, revealing a disturbing gap in his neck but then he shook his head.

[No longer important. Let it go. Held on to important. I broke Realm Refiner.] The stilted speech and strange state spoke volumes to Lind. A desperate man had clearly gambled by holding on but his words made Lind stand bolt upright.

"You broke it, you mean this was not an accident?" The soul nodded in relief.

[Little time left. I thought I failed. I found the secret plan to kill us all and knew the truth but could not leave. So betray and stopped the plan.] Lind frowned to know the man in front of him helped the Fiends but then pushed past it.

He had a good idea of the kind of will it took to hold on this long. The soul in front of him could not possess a fly let alone a human being. He had not held on just to live.

[Programmed overload into 4th track and destroyed anchor. Triggered premature activation at the same time. All died. Screaming was horrible.] Lind realized he was partially right.

The artifact had been turned on too early but it had been intentional sabotage, not a rushed choice!

The soul suddenly shivered.

[He was angry. He killed many before leaving.] Lind wanted to ask who the soul was referring to but he saw another piece vanish. Compared to just holding on, the soul was now talking and remembering. It was fading fast!

"What do I need to do to stop it forever?" His question focused the soul and it looked grim as it pointed up.

[Processor is the key. Overload and it will tear itself apart. But…all die on surface.] Lind paled as he grasped the point.

Given time, he could easily figure out how to force the processor function to overload and bring the howl thing to an end, but then that Fiend Qi and refined wave would slam outward to finish what started a million years ago.

The Heaven Lands would be safe as the weak connection he created would likely break once more but everything up in the Celestial Fields would die.

It would not be a 15% refinement but over 100% power wave of death!

"There has to be another way?!" The soul shook its head.

[Thought hard, but no way to control backlash. No mind to wield it. Just machines.] Lind barely noticed the choice of words as machines were alien to the cultivation world.

His other words sent Lind on a different track. No mind to control it? Did that mean it could be controlled?

"Schematics and reports?" The soul moved and lost its leg in the process but took him to a much more robust station. Lind settled in and began to type like lightning.

Data and information scrolled faster than any human eye could follow. The concept of passwords or complex databases did not exist so it made his work child's play.

A home computer was infinitely more complex than the terminal but it was likely a limit to how much the designer could force things than true limits on materials.

Lind spent several days at the terminal before a slow smile spread across his face.

The full monstrosity finally came into focus for him.

The Realm Refiner had been in the final stages of preparing a 4th sphere to break down Qi, Laws, and so forth when the man now dead next to him found out the truth. Once turned on, the Refiner would also kill all occupants and refine them as well!

It was a slow death too and they could not escape! The Fiend Qi would surround the room after a certain amount of time passed to lead to the illusion that all was going according to plan.

Once isolated, the control room could no longer be reached but the Fiend Qi had to stay out for fear of wrecking the operation of the Refiner. It meant if it was turned on early, people would try to escape and anyone staying in the room would be safe!

If all went according to plan, people would slowly figure out they were tricked and die in agony in the corridors exactly as Lind's party had found them. Further, the whole process would finish at roughly the same time and take the Realm Refiner with it!

No muss, no fuss, and no evidence if Divine Realms investigated!

Fifty years was not even an eyeblink to Divine Realm cultivators that measured their lives in billions of years.

What the soul had done was gamble that the Fiend Overseer would not sense one of the loyal workers turning against them by turning on the Refiner early!

He was trained as a basic programmer, very basic. The code was barely passable to Lind's experienced eye.

Even a novice could piece it together in a few months of study.

It was far more difficult for cultivators but that was the point. Enemies would not even understand what they found if they found anything! It was ingenious!

Reincarnators were a risk but too damned rare to guard against.

While Lind had seen evidence of them, he had really only run into 1. Given such odds, he would not worry about them either.

Thus, a horrific and perfect plan unfolded but was destroyed at the last moment!

The soul had intentionally caused a flow test to fail spectacularly for the 4th channel. It was a critical test and drew all eyes while the artifact powered up!

Once started, it could not be stopped!

The burnt out stations were related to the 4th stream and before they could really piece it together or find the sabotage, they all panicked when they realized the Realm Refiner was on!

Only the man had stayed in the control room as even the Fiends had been carried away by the rushing masses. By the time they tried to come back, they too were being refined!

The barrier made no exceptions! They all died with the humans!

All said and done, 3 sects, 2 kingdoms, and an empire put their resources into the artifact. They were the first to be refined by it.

"A gambit, all of it, but you pulled it off. Thank you." Lind bowed low to the Soul that was basically only a torso and head by then.

He smiled faintly.

[Sorry all die.] Lind smirked as he pushed a button to eject a jade slip.

"About that, I am not one to give up easily. I have another way. It is a gambit too, but either way, this thing will fall." If he failed, everyone would die one way or the other. Better to try and fight for all to live than just give up.

The soul seemed confused but he finally broke down and became blank. Lind had no power to save him but a glance into the swirling black outside made him use his emerald harmonic Qi to protect him.

"In your next life, may you be repaid for the redemption you found here." His words seemed to briefly restore life to the soul before it vanished in a flicker of spiritual Qi.

[Master, you are not thinking of what I think you are, are you?] Haro's words flowed to him but Lind ignored him. He glanced at the ring for a moment and sighed.

"Are you able to obey an order after I die?" He felt Haro try to manifest but forcibly suppressed it. His status as master allowed him to command the spirit completely and he used it for the first time. "Answer me truthfully."

[Yes, Master. I am obligated to fulfill your final wishes.] The angry tone was clear but Lind did not care. Lind smiled.

"You want to tell my wives what I am about to do?" He felt a spike of fear from Haro. Not a stupid spirit at all.

He dismissed his brevity as he headed back out. He had to go through with the gambit.

He emerged to find more people waiting than when he left.

He looked sharply at Wen as she looked relieved to see him.

"I do not recall giving orders to follow me but to leave." She looked at him and pointed at the 3 still there from his party.

"We never lost contact but we became worried. What have you found, True Lord?" Wen was grim but Lind smiled wide. A true smile.

"Hope's sacrifice was worth it. We can end the nightmare." He did not lie but he distracted her just enough with his first words for all to miss a flash of black metal moving from his hand to hers.

She would not be able to see Haro until later.

"Blessed be the spirits in their wisdom. What can we do then, True Lord?" Wen snapped back to her usual self as did the others. Only Oz was looking at him oddly but said nothing.

He patted Wen's shoulder before he blurred. She suddenly collapsed as he knocked her out.

"You can get carried back to the ship and live a long damned life cursing me out." He saw Gard and Jeryl look stunned but Oz did not. She only looked sad.

"No goodbyes. Only orders. Wen will be in charge of the ship and you are all to leave right now. I will be destroying this place but it cannot be done remotely. Someone has to die here." He did not sugar coat or hide it.

Wen coming had actually saved him time.

"True Lord, then I can–" He stopped Gard and pointed at the death cloud of Fiend Qi.

"Only I can go back. Only I can save us all. There is a slim chance it fails so I will give you time. You have 3 days but to be very clear." His aura shifted and the dragons fell to their knees. "You will never return nor allow others to return. My final and only order to you all!"

The dragons on the ship knew at that moment something was wrong but could no longer leave. The trio bowed and took Wen away. He saw them fade to his sight before turning and going back to the control room.

[Master, you are a good man. I pray the spirits welcome your soul.]

Haro's words reached him and he smiled as the storm swallowed him.