At the same time that Alm and Bruno roamed the city, within the underworld, existed a distant place where nothing could be seen, only sensed by a few. There, a black hole of indescribable proportions existed and slowly expanded, swallowing others around it. This was where the Queen’s main universe resided.
Inside this universe, one could find a small ascending planet called Pristine, covered almost entirely by water. A small continent stood out, and in a region to the east of this continent, a barren desert stretched. However, it was completely covered and sealed by intricate runes, dominating even the skies. It was a grand formation that radiated a power that shouldn’t be possible to exist there, making the place isolated and impossible to leave.
Within this desert, sunlight did not penetrate. The laws were fragile, and the density of Qi was so thin that it was similar to a completely mortal planet. There were no sandstorms, and everything was enveloped in a terrifying silence and coldness.
In its sands, no matter where you looked, countless bones, metals that were once weapons and armor, and traces of what was once life were scattered everywhere.
At this moment, coming from all directions through the skies, millions of cultivators invaded the desert, divided into hundreds of groups. They all overflowed with killing intent as they flew, and in their eyes, only the image of a city surrounded by mystical and dense walls stood out as they approached.
Within the city, everything remained silent. There were no trees or any type of vegetation visible; everything was dead. Countless earthen structures were empty, and as you approached the center of the place, you could see movement near a gigantic central castle.
A massive statue of a round being with a small figure on its shoulder stood there. Thousands of people, with completely varied and mixed forms, were kneeling with their heads touching the ground in a deadly silence.
Everyone seemed thin, and a large part showed signs of injuries. They trembled while, in their minds, they seemed to plead for something in front of that statue. For them, that place used to be a dream world; however, currently, each day felt like forcibly dragging their bodies out of an abyss. With every passing second, the blade of the ravager seemed to draw closer to them.
Nearby, inside the castle that stood out among the constructions of that place, in a room in the center of the location, a woman dressed entirely in black, with her hair tightly tied and without any adornment or shine, meditated silently. Despite her clothes and appearance not displaying any joy or life, her natural beauty couldn’t be easily hidden. However, the bloody and cold aura surrounding this woman was like an abyssal mountain over the world.
Silently, the woman in black opened her eyes, and a violet light briefly reflected there. There was no expression on her, just a lack of any feeling or will; anyone who saw her would feel an extreme emptiness. Then, a message reached her mind, making her eyes flicker.
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"They have come again..." Dry words sounded from her.
She took a deep breath before retrieving something well hidden in her clothes. It was a piece of paper created to exist eternally, and it wouldn’t deteriorate as long as it was given some Qi. However, currently, that paper was dry and almost torn.
The woman quietly opened the paper, and a subtle expression appeared on her face. There, she saw an image drawn with an extreme amount of detail. The author seemed to extract from the depths of their memories every tiny detail they could remember. In the illustration, a single round figure, without any expression but with a subtle presence, reflected in her eyes.
"Master... I’m sorry, I won’t be able to live much longer to wait for your return..." A murmur escaped her lips, making her eyes tremble for a second. "But, I fulfilled my destiny as promised. I destroyed with my own hands that nefarious clan called Nightflare... gathered all my people on the continent, in our home..."
A single tear trickled lightly from those moist eyes. Then, a violent tremor reverberated through the earth and the skies throughout the city.
The castle vibrated, and all the people kneeling in front of the statue forced themselves to maintain their position. They pressed their foreheads to the earth heavily, in total despair.
Soon, the castle doors opened. Then, the woman in black stepped out, looking at the horizon and sending a message to a distant place. Next, she observed the people at the feet of the statue and felt endless guilt and sorrow.
’Everything inside is sealed; master can’t feel them now... sorry for being useless and disappointing these people with you, master...’ She thought with empty eyes.
She then waved, and a runic sphere a few meters in size emerged, pulsating with Yin and violet energy. Quickly, thousands of shadows emerged from within that sphere as if a separate world existed there.
The woman began to be surrounded by humanoid cultivators and beast hybrids, all wearing armor covered in marks, witnesses of countless battles. Their auras were as bloody and cold as the woman in black.
In a short time, nearly a million warriors were around her, and then she stored the sphere. She looked at some figures approaching, and soon, the voice of one of them sounded in her direction.
"Ruri, the training formation..."
"I know," replied Ruri dryly. "The formation they used to trap us in the desert hardly lets any Qi or laws enter. The Yin rune can’t replenish its energies. We can use it only a few more times. After that, all the Qi we use to recover with the help of Loeus and Langrum will run out."
"These twelve cursed families!" A man with a young appearance and multicolored hair spoke, clenching his fists angrily.
"Corin, we have no way to fight against them; we all knew that," said Ruri, glancing slightly at the young man. "We’ve decided to fight until the last living cultivator, but you’re the only one who can escape the formation and flee with your power."
Corin looked at her and narrowed his eyes. "Master never taught me to be a coward and abandon my allies. Earthbound Horn will fight to the end; I will never allow them to invade master’s home!"
Ruri sighed lightly. "We have, at most, a few months until we can no longer fight. This war against the twelve families and the entire continent has been going on for dozens of years. Master will avenge us. But if two disciples die here... he may fall into darkness again... please..."
"Never!" Corin cut her words.
"As long as we can still fight, even without any energy or resources, we’ll continue. Or his disappointment will be worse than his sorrow; let’s honor his teachings." A handsome and serious man, with eyes emanating pure energy, spoke calmly; it was Loeus.
Ruri just nodded without saying anything, then turned her gaze to everyone around. "Master’s puppet has been very useful, and we’ve managed to survive for a long time; its protection has always been with us."
She began speaking, and her tone became loud and full of bloody energy. "But after they raised the formation. They used force to exchange the lives of billions and billions of cultivators from the continent as if they were worth nothing. All to burn the puppet’s energies over thirty years. Neither the puppet nor we can fully recover. We’re like turtles in a jar, and we’ll die out of resources in the end. Now, the last gift master gave us, the Training Formation, is close to ending."
Everyone clenched their fists and claws tightly. In the end, they only survived because of all the measures the divine being left for them. But everything had an end.
She continued with fervent determination. "Master’s father, the great primordial beast Behemoth, is sealed, and master managed to free one of its chains. Now, the bastards trying to stop this want to take advantage of his absence to destroy everything about him, capture us, and find his clues. We can’t allow that! As long as we’re alive, we’ll fight; they’ll only catch us dead!"
Everyone roared in unison. Then, Ruri suddenly looked to the skies as a black and serpentine figure appeared, covering the entire place with its draconic presence.
"Deryu." Ruri murmured, and then a message sounded in her mind.
"Runula and the Dragon Knights squadron initiated the battle. There are hundreds of their squads," Ruri spoke to everyone.
"And the same as always; each must kill 100." A tall, green female figure spoke authoritatively; it was Langrum.
"The last herbs have been harvested, and we have a stock of pills for a few fights. Let’s fight without hesitation." A man dressed in black with a cold expression spoke, looking at Ruri. Her gaze trembled slightly, seeing the clear resemblance between that face and her master’s; it was Almin.
"My husband has renewed our equipment! We will massacre them all!" A robotic voice sounded from inside an armor. Ruri looked and nodded, sensing the determination of the dwarf woman inside; it was Oldis.
"We all completed the first level of the Nine God-Slaying Lotus, princess! We are ready to go all the way." A young man spoke, looking at Ruri with admiration. His name was Venjio, his appearance was similar to Ruri’s. He was someone from Montide born after the whale left them. But his talent was shocking, and he was recognized by Ruri to lead his people.
"All eight squadrons! Let’s fight for our God! He will avenge us!"
Ruri roared, and everyone drew their weapons, leaping into the skies in all directions. The first squadron was formed by wyverns and half-demons; they were the first group trained by the whale. Next came the three squadrons of the Primal Beast Legion; their numbers were almost half of what they once were, but they were the most powerful squadrons.
The fifth was composed of a few thousand ogres and half-ogres, led by Langrum. They all radiated a unique physical power; beside her, there were five green figures more human-like. Three men and two women, all as powerful as Langrum but emanating boundless Yang. They were her children, with Loeus being the obvious father.
In the sixth squadron, there were a few thousand dwarves dressed in full two-meter armor, giving them a peculiar appearance as if they were robots. Leading them was Oldis; they were all the last survivors of the dwarf realm that was completely devastated. Of the living dwarves, only Vuard was not present. He worked in the forge day and night to help in his best area, attempting to create a miracle. As for the three children of the two, they bravely died in battle a few years ago.
The seventh squadron consisted of thousands of short men and women with an appearance similar to Ruri. They all wielded katanas, and their eyes were illuminated in violet thanks to their mental cultivation. Their leader was Venjio, who cultivated explosively even with almost no resources, all thanks to the things left in the city.
The eighth and largest squadron in number was led by Almin, accompanied by a slim woman dressed in red. Despite appearing to be fragile and simple scholars, both emanated a fiery sensation, like a volcano about to erupt. The woman was Doara, daughter of Detue and Alnia, who had died in battle a few years ago. Almin and Doara shared the leadership to command an overwhelming number of beast hybrids of various types.
Just under seventy years ago, there were nine squadrons. It was precisely when the puppet protecting the place was destroyed without QI, and with the wounds of its body accumulating in exchange for the lives of billions. All the abyssal cerberi, to protect the city, sacrificed their lives, decreeing the end of the squadron.
It was a terrible blow to everyone. However, it was an opportunity for them to prepare and resist until today. Only a dozen cerberi that were newborns at the time remained alive in the city. Their cultivations were very low; they could not help.
These eight squadrons were the last survival force of the desert city. Everyone who could fight and was alive was there, together in almost a million, against hundreds of times more. Their resources were consumed, and all the natural QI of the place was drained. It was only a matter of time for everything to end, but they refused to surrender.
Their combat power was unimaginable for an ascending planet. They survived and faced similar battles countless times over the years. Initially, the formation was built to defeat the puppet. However, quickly, the enemies realized that they would have to keep it at any cost; or they would never win. Now, everything was close to the end after slowly depleting all their resources.
Internally, everyone held onto hope for the whale’s return and preferred to die rather than be discovered as those who gave up. The certainty that the whale would avenge them propelled them to fight with all their might. However, death loomed over them as clearly as the sunlight... something that now only existed in their distant memories.