Unsealing Emptiness

Chapter 489: Fear! Fear! Fear!

Fortunately for Ember, the Phoenix did not put forth any resistance.

She was quick to notice that the mighty Celestial Beast suddenly did not maintain her lazy appearance. She replied with vigor and attentiveness, which was rare in her.

Ozul kept grumbling to himself on his way back. To him, it looked like there was really no need to disturb him.

Since convincing the Phoenix proved to be such an easy task, Ember was forced to analyze the situation and find the cause. Having interacted with her for hundreds of years, even the slightest change in Phoenix’s behavior did not escape her eyes.

"How is this cat related to the Phoenix exactly?" she couldn’t help but ask Ozul.

She understood that he did not like questions about himself, but any matter concerning the Celestial Beast was too important to be left aside.

"Would you believe me?"

Confused, Ember turned to face him, "Why wouldn’t I believe you?"

"Jinx is the Phoenix’s mother," Ozul answered her with a straight face and continued walking.

"Oh, so the cat is her mothe- wait what did you just say?!" Stretching her hands wide, she held him by the shoulders.

Annoyed, Ozul squinted his eyes at her, "It is up to you if you want to believe me or not. I am not going to convince you." Not only did he not have the energy, but he frankly did not care either.

The fact that Jinx is supposed to be the ’mother’ of the Celestial Beasts would not change anything. It was not like they could convince her to help them when needed.

"Is this a joke?" Ember stood still before voicing out her thoughts. But as those words left her mouth, she shook her head, ’You don’t joke...’

She cast a confused glance at the back of the black cat walking so gracefully beside him.

’But how am I supposed to believe this cat is the mother of a Celestial Beast?! Hah! Why did I even ask him?!’

And so Ember took the remaining day to digest and get over the fact that Ozul was always casually having naps with the mother of the Celestial Phoenix curled up on his lap.

. . .

In the coming days, everyone around the estate seemed to be in a state of anxiousness, an expected outcome before a war such as this.

Everyone was assigned roles, and starting from Transcendents, the soldiers were gradually informed of war.

Ember knew that even with all of her people crawling about Phoenix City, there could still be many spies of the Sect or Wilderness lurking about in the corners.

As such, there was no big announcement of a war. The soldiers of lower ranks were only informed to prepare for an unknown assignment.

The next day, the Alliance received news about the strange movement of the cultivators in Phoenix City, but with no other information, they could only sit and watch.

The Elders of Wilderness, as cautious as they were, issued orders for their people to be extra vigilant in the coming days.

And so, another day fell, with no news of war leaking out of the Phoenix City.

...

"Is everything ready?" Ember asked.

On the last day, the soldiers were distributed weapons, which were also generously given by the Lord of Shadows.

"They are prepared to march, Lord," Remal replied solemnly.

In the end, it was decided for Remal, Salar, and Rai to lead the soldiers. Meanwhile, Ryujin and Jaka would remain back on guard.

"Go on then. Remember to prioritize your lives. Wreck as much destruction as you can," she told them as the three of them flew off in the distance.

Even though Rai was weaker than both Remal and Salar, he was still in charge as he had experience with the Beastkin before.

"Do you not trust me?" Ryujin came beside Ember and asked boldly.

"It’s the opposite," Ember answered as she watched the three Sages lead hundreds of cultivators in a single direction. "Remal and Salar are both soldiers. They cannot be trusted to defend a city in a Realm they haven’t spent even a month in."

Clearing any doubts from his heart, Ryujin nodded, "This is my home."

Behind them, Jaka remained silent in understanding.

Watching hundreds of cultivators march in the direction of the Beastkin’s stronghold, the spies watching this scene hurriedly informed their superiors.

Before long, the information reached the ears of both the Sect and the Wilderness.

. . .

"Prepare everyone!" shouted one of the elders of the Wilderness.

Meanwhile, the Wilderness Leader looked solemnly as the Beastkin hurried about and prepared to face off against an army.

"We have to meet them halfway. If the battle rages here, it will destroy our homes!" the man who once used to be Ember’s friend asserted with force.

The Wilderness Leader remained quiet. His mind drifted off to other thoughts.

The Elders collectively came to an agreement and hurriedly gathered their people to prepare and march toward the incoming forces.

"What gives them the confidence to attack?" The Leader muttered to himself, stroking his beard calmly.

Among everyone in the Beastkin, he knew best how deceptive Ember truly was in her schemes.

"If she thinks we are any weaker than the Sect, she is mistaken!"

The other Elders nodded in agreement. It was well-known that they had fewer Sages than the Sect and the latter had even recruited one of the only two wandering Sages recently.

"The question is not why us, but why even?" The Leader restated his question.

His close aide and old friend mulled over it in silence. There didn’t seem to be any rational reason for them to start the war first.

They neither had the numbers nor the Sages to put up any resistance much less attack first.

"There are 7 of us, and they have sent only 3 Sages. There must be a trick!"

"5 among you should march with the rest. 2 Elders will stay here just in case," the Leader stated, something was still bugging his mind.

’Ember is not naive enough to not expect an attack from the Sect while her forces are all here.’

He also hadn’t forgotten about the Celestial Phoenix, but at most, she would only defend the City. The Phoenix was never known to start aggression after all.

In the end, it made more sense that Ember had received further help from the Demonic Emperor and received orders to attack.

The other Elders shared the same thoughts as him. Some assumed, and rightly so, that the remaining two Sages of Ember could be hiding and waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

Nevertheless, it was war and they had to fight.

No matter what schemes were at play here, they couldn’t be overly cautious as it could also be their bluff.

"Coordinate with the Sect. They must send their forces," The Leader ordered and his old friend walked out of the room.

Even if someone told Hakuja that Ember was neither ordered nor was given extra help from the Lord of Shadows for this war, he wouldn’t ever believe it.

But the truth remained that Ember was doing it purely to cause as much damage as she could before her enemies attacked them.

With the Sect busy dealing with fending off an enraged Celestial Beast, Ember’s forces would be overwhelming against the Beastkin.

They only lacked in the number of Sages, but even that weakness could somewhat be managed with the superior number of Transcendents on their side.

...

On the other side, under the lead of Rai, hundreds of cultivators rushed straight toward the stronghold of the Wilderness. Trees shifted and they erased whatever hills that appeared to block their paths.

He had positioned Transcendents all around, and they were given only two objectives: come back alive and cause as much destruction as possible.

Ozul and his group were somewhere around the middle, surrounded by tens of Nascent Soul cultivators.

"You three will stick around each other as much as possible. If you kill a Transcendent, don’t forget to throw me the corpse," Ozul had his own orders settle in their heads.

Unlike Ember, his only goal was to absorb as many Transcendents as possible. There also remained a faint hope in his heart that a Sage might fall, and he be given the opportunity to absorb them.

The chances of that happening were not significant, especially since there were only three Sages with them.

Behind them, at a distance, he could feel the presence of Ember lurking.

Even she would not step in to take advantage, lest the leader of Wilderness gets involved as well.

Focusing ahead, it didn’t take long before the presence of other cultivators started to appear.

"They are here," he told the other three.

Rai, Remal, and Salar were the first ones to detect their presence and all the Transcendents were soon informed as a voice appeared in their heads. All, but Ozul heard it as his body immediately expelled the foreign threads of Spiritual Essence.

No one faltered.

An army of their size had little to fear in this Realm!

Hundreds of Nascent Soul cultivators, a hundred Origin cultivators, and tens of Transcendents. It was a force to be reckoned with.

1,000 meters... 500 meters... 200 meters.

"You disgusting Beastkin! Fear the wrath of the Lord of Shadows!" Shouted Rai, his voice reverberating throughout the region.

"Fear!"

"Fear!"

"Fear!"

Chants of reverence soon followed from all the soldiers, the name of their true Lord resounded deeply in their hearts.

"You are a Beastkin as well, you dumbfuck!" cursed the Elder from the Wilderness.