...
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...thump-thump, Thump-Thump, THUMP-THUMP!
’Hey, wake up.’
The dry voice echoed in Runula’s mind, prompting her to open her eyes once again. It was as if something soft and gentle was filling her body, bringing back her strength and will to live.
She felt the warmth returning and circulating through her body again. Her first sensation was of a young girl clutching tightly onto the neck of her true body, and her eyes met the small black figure on her shoulder silently observing her. Soon, her heart began to beat rapidly.
The whale sighed. "You have recovered enough. Shift back to human form to heal. I’ve just kept you alive again."
BOOM!
The space trembled, and a powerful wave of Qi from the heavens reverberated. The whale spoke quickly, "Immediately summon everyone from your clan, or they’ll all die in vain. I’ve already read your memories; Almin is coming to protect you."
The whale made a motion, pulling Ruri back onto its back. He caught a glimpse of her tear-twisted face, and that fueled his fury.
"Just rest; Deryu will stay by your side. Master will resolve all of this quickly." Ruri spoke, wiping away her tears, and Deryu snorted... then, seeing the whale’s deadly gaze, simply lowered its head.
Soon, they ran at full speed, leaving the two behind.
The power of faith once again demonstrated its surreal usefulness, even as they used it in a rudimentary manner. By reading Runula’s memories, they spared as much as possible. There wasn’t much left, and this was their biggest trump card.
Now, things had completely spiraled out of control, and they would have to put an end to it quickly because the cause of everything was ancient enemies. The method and the why would be discovered later.
’Are they okay, Master?’ Ruri asked through the array as they ran.
’They should still be. Calirer and the Soul Eater clan are fighting like turtles in a jar, but Almin did a good job leaving a vast stockpile of pills behind.’ They responded and briefly communicated through the array as they ran.
During the last month, Calirer and Runula had strived to meet expectations and managed to bring down all the clans of the tenth level. When they reached the eleventh, each of them attacked a clan, and after a bitter fight, they emerged victorious with few casualties. Everything started going wrong when they focused on attacking the last and largest clan in that place.
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That demon clan, sensing imminent defeat, brought to the table their connection with the fourth abyss clan called Nether Hound. Calirer didn’t care about threats and defeated them without hesitation.
It didn’t take even a day for numerous cultivators from this clan to appear. They put on a show with their arrogance and destroyed some buildings of the clan. They roared about how they were doing a favor by visiting a place full of hybrids and felt no fear or had high guards. This time, Runula and her clan mercilessly massacred them with the dragon’s breath from the skies; they didn’t even have a chance to assume their true form or understand how they died.
Shortly after, Runula went to sweep the eleventh level to collect everything useful in that place. From there, in Runula’s memories, she only had a bad and distressing premonitory feeling and went to check on Calirer.
When she arrived at the clan, Runula found a massive army surrounding the Soul Eater clan within its walls. At the front line, beyond demons, humans, and half-beasts, there was a variety of demonic races, making it frighteningly clear that three demon clans from the twelfth level had joined forces for that attack.
Calirer and Runula attacked with their two clans in a bloody battle that could shake the entire abyss. To the shock of the pure demons, the two clans were seasoned soldiers in desperate fights, with the mentality of unstoppable warriors. None of them hesitated, even when the blade was cutting their throats. In perfect teamwork, one always saved the other.
Even with an overwhelming numerical difference, rarely did anyone from the two clans die, while the dead from the three opposing clans continued to rise every second. With the use of recovery pills and the infinite energy in the demonic diagrams of the two clans, it became clear what the result would be in a short time. Then, a sudden turn occurred.
In perfect sync, hundreds of wild figures emerged at various key points. They were gigantic, bestial, and had three heads emanating an abnormal power from another world. They were creatures that Alm and Bruno knew well, Cerberuses, hundreds of them, all pure with their three heads.
Their lineage ignited, and the world went dark. Black chains made of mysterious runes appeared. All the major half-demons and half-wyverns were completely sealed by these chains, unable to move a single muscle. Then, everything changed drastically.
Calirer and Runula were not captured, but the major advisors commanding the groups were taken out of the game. Their already small numbers decreased by a third, and the two leaders were overwhelmed in commanding the troops.
However, everything began to crumble rapidly. In a desperate move, Calirer sent a message to Runula.
’Three days until he returns; if this continues, we will fall before then. I have cards to play. Gather your members and run to the realm of mists to call him. This will force them to divide, giving us time. When he returns, everything will change.’
The barrier separating the five realms from the rest of the abyss was made with high-level spatial laws that isolated the two places. Only a small part of the laws from inside the realms could leak out, but that seemed intentional. With this, all contact between the members and the demonic diagram was cut off, and Calirer could not call him, nor could they sense anything from the outside.
Upon hearing those words, Runula didn’t hesitate. The trust between the two was like a mother-daughter bond. So, she called all her members, and they made their way through the river of blood.
One of the three clans pursued them. Running wounded, being chased by numbers larger than their own, was much more difficult than fighting head-on. And it took them three days to traverse from the eleventh level to the ninth, where the realm of mists was located.
The cost of this was lives being claimed in a self-detonation of a half-wyvern whenever the enemies got too close or surrounded them. Countless died, but in the end, they failed. The enemy won by managing to target the clan leader and kill her. Or at least, that’s what they thought.
’According to demon rules, this couldn’t have happened. Higher-level clans can’t attack lower-level ones... or so it should be. However, with the three patriarchs of the evil cultivators involved, things obviously changed. Most likely, we are the target.’ Alm said coldly.
Bruno spoke incredulously. ’We were even careful when invading higher-level clans. We didn’t act directly. Always checked if they had any information about us. But none of them had any idea what was happening.’
’Information from small clans doesn’t reach the higher-ups, due to the dispute among them; information is power, and everything dies there. Still, if we speculated that the clans of the last levels had means to know, they shouldn’t care about ant matters. Many things beyond our knowledge happened for all this to occur.’ Bruno added while sensing the smell of blood hitting them.
’Calirer... just her clan defending for three days...’ Ruri spoke mentally, trembling.
The whale responded quickly, focusing ahead. ’Don’t let emotions affect your mind. Feel through the clan symbol you have; the demonic diagram is being used and is almost depleted; they are still fighting.’
They crossed a steep mountain, emerging at the top to be met with a horizon of war-torn apart. Ahead, there stretched a desolate battlefield, where the land was stained red and black by spilled blood, and mutilated bodies lay as silent witnesses to a brutal conflict.
A few meters above the ground, a visceral and distorted roar cut through the air, echoing like a dark demonic scream. Ruri and the Whale stopped incredulously and turned to contemplate the origin of this devastating sound.
A demonic female figure exploded into a frenzy of power, causing the very world to shatter under her influence. Every inch of her being emanated a suffocating demonic pressure; her eyes, completely black and void, reflected the darkness of her soul. Pulsating runes covered her entire body, bringing a familiar sensation.
Dozens of demons were annihilated in an instant, transforming into a bloody mist as she subdued them with her overwhelming presence.
In a swift motion, she was surrounded by frenzied cerberuses after the opening of her attack. Chains from the underworld snaked in all directions around the demoness, trying to contain her in an ethereal embrace. Then, the pulsating runes on her body lit up in a symphony of darkness.
BOOM!
The black earth split open at her command, and endless pillars of earth rose in unison, blocking the chains and exploding in a black and demonic power.
’Earth laws...’ Bruno’s incredulous words escaped into the mind.