It was the beginning of the night attack when the whale slowly emerged from within the mountain. Everyone had heard his earlier words and knew exactly what the plan was; they immediately took a deep breath and focused, needing to act convincingly.
The whale moved towards the battlefield, and everyone seemed to take a step back. In the distance, Alm and Bruno felt a dark gaze directed at them. And by the sensed fluctuations, they could feel a surge of ecstasy in that gaze.
That dark presence was almost imperceptible to everyone and was certain that nothing would discover it. But it hadn’t accounted for the presence of three... or maybe four divine souls there. Everyone clearly felt that presence.
It was an elder from the Shadow God branch. But his aura, his Qi, the energy of his soul, everything indicated that he was merely a cultivator at the peak of the Divine Origin Realm, similar to all the invaders. This realm was the limit for the red disciples living in the forest; if anyone surpassed it, the sect’s elders would quickly sense someone breaking the rules. Therefore, the invading demons were always within this realm.
But the true cultivation of this elder didn’t escape the senses of Alm and Bruno; he was at the peak of the Heavenly Saint Realm, a whole realm above. The two knew this type of disguise method, simple in theory but in practice extremely complex and meticulous; only a cultivator at the peak, extremely studious and talented, could pull it off. That demonic sect must have invested considerable resources to hire a renowned outsider.
Within seconds, about fifty demonic cultivators approached. Lately, this was a common number; they were disguising themselves as normally as possible. But Kaiyka’s message echoed in the whale’s mind.
’Sir, he has a strange and high-level talisman with him. I subtly sense its spatial fluctuations.’
Alm and Bruno nodded, wondering what he intended without feeling anything. But Kaiyka, with her divine soul and spiritual cultivation, could perceive very subtle things that the two couldn’t.
’A talisman with spatial fluctuations,’ Alm muttered sarcastically. ’That bitch spared no effort this time. That must be an invaluable quick escape treasure.’
Bruno was excited; they had received a good gift. The elder’s plans were clear: he would blend in among the stealthy attackers and, at the crucial moment, unleash his true cultivation, causing unimaginable havoc. His goal was to kill and injure as many as possible, then use the talisman to escape immediately.
It would be a swift and devastating single move to leave no trace behind. The sect’s elders would feel his presence, but he would flee immediately, leaving no concrete evidence of who or what he was.
But the plans unexpectedly changed for this elder. No one would suspect that the whale would appear for the first time on the battlefield just today; it was a gift that fell from the sky for him.
Neither the elder nor anyone else suspected anything amiss. Alm and Bruno had planted over the days that their allies were starting to weaken and fight on the brink of death. Those who were behind every day seemed more limited, and those in front were injured and barely winning.
The two were pleased with their performance, especially of the beasts who were weak and of questionable intelligence. Runula had truly become someone capable of leading and making the beasts fulfill their demand. Her only flaw was that she wasn’t good at making friends and recruiting. But Liumi made up for her shortcomings, and the two were a perfect duo to deal with the beasts.
The elder, upon seeing the whale, quickly found it plausible that he had appeared to reinforce the defenses of his severely exhausted allies. Now, the disguised elder was moving directly toward the whale, ignoring everyone else around him. His target had changed—he needed to kill the whale and end this quickly.
CLANG!
The whale moved attacking with a sword, and his strike collided with a demon. At the same time, sounds of clashing metal and battles starting echoed all around.
With swift and precise movements, the whale spun and slashed a gray horn off a demon’s head. The demon roared in pain, blood flowing as its horn was severed, but the whale’s sword cracked in the process.
Without much hesitation, the whale swung the blade again, cleanly beheading the demon with a second strike. All of this was silently observed by the distant elder, who was giving orders.
In an instant, another demon attacked the whale from behind. He swiftly turned, with no time to grab another weapon. A saber and the cracked sword clashed, producing a sharp, piercing sound. The sword became covered in fractures and nearly shattered.
The whale’s eyes subtly gleamed, the earth trembled, and that demon’s legs were suddenly sealed without any fluctuation. The next second, the sword slashed, and he exploded completely, while the sword itself was destroyed in the process.
Another shadow emerged from the side. Sensing danger, the whale made a serious expression and quickly retreated, taking a moment to retrieve another weapon from his spatial ring.
It was during this retreating move that a shadow swiftly approached, attacking his back; this was the perfect opportunity for the elder. A macabre smile spread across that demon’s eyes; but he did not see an even more villainous and sinister smile on the whale’s face.
In an instant, he was five meters from the whale. He took a deep breath, and the sound of something breaking resonated within him, releasing his powers.
At that same second, a wave of power surged and shook the entire Black Forest. Trees bent, and laws distorted above. This was the power of a divine cultivator who shouldn’t have been in that place—but it was still incomplete.
Alm and Bruno knew perfectly well that unsealing cultivation work wasn’t easily reversed. All the Qi of this elder had to be drained; he had only removed the seal, but his body was nearly energy-depleted. He relied on what little he had and the capability of his cultivation to lightly break the world’s rules with abnormal power.
The whale swiftly turned, their gazes meeting. A semblance of ridicule was etched on his face. "Oh? Confident with just that?"
The elder’s gaze twisted, and his attack power surged... but he immediately felt the presence of death over his head.
He looked up in shock and saw a small human figure emerge from within a dark cloak. She held a curved blade, and as suddenly as she appeared, a terrifying power surged.
"Full Eternal Bond!"
SLASH!!!
The entire forest trembled as if a celestial blade had struck the ground. The earth split open, a deep chasm like an abyss appeared and stretched for several meters.
The poor elder was split in two; his body couldn’t withstand even a second of that power. He felt his soul crack and cleave in two immediately. His entire existence was effortlessly divided, and his life was taken as if he were nothing.
The whale narrowed his eyes seriously. But there was no time to waste, so he moved. Ruri, barely conscious, jumped onto his back and held on tightly. They grabbed the demon’s soul and body and rushed toward the mountain.
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They didn’t forget to send a mental message to the others. Everyone who was fighting received the command; immediately their true power exploded with everything they had. The demons around them widened their eyes in desperation. They... had been holding back and pretending until now?
In less than a minute, all the invaders were swept away by their full force.
Inside the cave, the whale, Kaiyka, and Calirer were focused. Kaiyka radiated an infinite soul power as she grasped the split soul. It took only a few minutes before she opened her eyes.
With a step, she reached out and touched the whale’s forehead, sending all the memories she had gathered from that elder.
Within the memories of sect members, there were blocks on internal information. Despite Alm and Bruno also possessing a divine soul, they weren’t adept at using it and were still learning. On the other hand, Kaiyka was a spiritual cultivator and knew how to wield her soul much more effectively.
She couldn’t read everything in full, but with all her power, she could extract specific information in parts without triggering the soul blocks; touching those blocks would cause the entire soul to explode, losing everything.
The whale quickly read through everything and nodded in satisfaction. He turned to Calirer, "We have enough. Get ready."
The current Calirer had an aura, physique, and appearance completely different from the Calirer who had registered in the Yinblood sect a few months ago. She had undergone a new metamorphosis and had solidified her bloodline so much that it was impossible for a non-demon to mistake her for anything other than a half-human. To other races, she was now a legitimate Soul Eater demoness.
All these changes had occurred while they were under attack, and the whale was passing on the demon bloodline of the same race to her. She absorbed two-thirds of it, while Runula took the rest.
This was the perfect and unique moment, one they would hardly have again. The whale took a black tablet from the elder’s spatial ring and handed it to her. Then, he sent several memories and pieces of information to her.
It took Calirer a few minutes to process everything. When she opened her eyes, the whale spoke calmly, "You must go now. The clans know that a disguised demon elder will attack, and they are prepared to help cover your movement within the sect, but they don’t know exactly when."
She nodded and clenched her fists determinedly. With a motion, the whale shattered a portion of the elder’s soul and drew a considerable amount of blood from his body. Having read parts of his memories, she knew how the tablet worked. Everything landed on the black tablet, which vibrated as it was activated and recognized the user. Its runes would remain active for a few hours, but it was enough.
"We’re counting on you and Rehvka," the whale said to Calirer, calling out the name of his disciple. In the next moment, a shadow appeared, revealing itself behind Calirer.
"Everything’s set. We’ll execute flawlessly," Rehvka said, and the shadow vanished completely, enveloping Calirer with it.
Calirer took a deep breath and set off with complete focus. The two would work together in a scheme with many variables that could go wrong. But they had confidence, and in the end, everything had been orchestrated, and it all depended on them.