The entire planet plunged into absolute darkness. There wasn’t even a flicker of light; everything was enveloped in a black mist. It was as if the sun had been extinguished and the stars swept away to a distant world. It all happened abruptly and without any fluctuations.
The few thousand survivors of that planet emerged from their makeshift huts. They were all gathered in one place, encircling a simple mountain in the center. They looked up, their fervor burning intensely within them.
In the midst of that demonic domain, they could feel it clearly... there were so many it was impossible to count. The entire planet was surrounded by millions of divine demons, and just sensing their presences was suffocating, as if their own existences were reduced to something smaller than dust.
But not a single mortal felt fear. Instead, a deep hatred was rooted in every cell. The divine cultivators... they were evil beyond comprehension. All they wanted was to live; why did these invaders insist on deeming themselves superior and using them?
They first fomented war between the two sister planets, lasting generations of pain, hatred, and suffering. But the heavens were just, and a protective deity saved them with their own hands, avenging and caring for them.
Now, these discontented bastards wanted to force them to bow to a god they had never seen. Bow or die? A just deity would never have oppressive followers like these demons. Would they accept being subjugated by someone who didn’t even have the courage to come in person? Never. They all decided unanimously; they would fight to the end and never let an invader dominate them. A future as slaves to another bastard’s will could only be worse than death.
But now everything had changed. All those who looked up clenched their fists at first; then, they clearly felt a figure emerging from the top of a mountain. Immediately, everyone breathed a sigh of relief — he was there, everything would be fine.
A guttural voice, laden with bloodthirsty intent, thundered across the entire planet.
"Mediocre mortals! You dared to deny the Shadow God and resist his dominion! All shall be purged from existence forever, not a stone will be left upon another."
All the demons entered the planet’s atmosphere slowly, activating their cultivations and Qi to the maximum. Previously, there were thousands of divine demons led by a demoness at the peak of the Spirit Fusion Realm.
Now, all the invaders radiated a higher realm that no one on the planet could accurately sense. They were millions of demons in the Divine Origin Realm.
Immediately, the entire planet began to tremble and its rotation was interrupted; it seemed that the whole world would violently explode at any second.
Until a soft and enchanting voice sounded, but, in contrast, her words were filled with hatred and curses.
"This so-called Shadow Dog motherfucker, must be as mediocre and pathetic as your bastard servants. Only trash can command an army of trash; today, I will avenge the lives of my fallen comrades in battle."
A lone harpy flapped her obsidian wings, rising high. Her eyes gleamed like violet beacons, and a golden rune on her forehead lit up. All the demons turned to her, somewhat surprised; how the hell did an Empyrean appear on this ascending planet?
With a heavy huff, Rivine’s wing-like arms moved and all the laws of the planet seemed to synchronize to bless her.
"Holy Gale Force!"
Her sharp voice echoed, and infinite runes of wind laws pulsed at her call. Suddenly, a furious storm of winds began.
The dark dominion over the entire planet was shattered and swept away wildly in a second. All the demons widened their eyes. They knew this power; it was the dominion of the laws of a Basic level Empyrean, but... this demonic dominion was something that someone at this level couldn’t possibly master; it was composed of divine Yin. How was this possible?
In the center of the wild whirlwind, Rivine smiled, and on her back, the laws of the winds contorted as if they were being transformed.
A wicked smile curved the harpy’s lips, revealing an expression of pure malice. For those who knew this race, they understood this wasn’t just a superficial expression; she could truly do extreme things with a manic smile.
The bloodline of a pure harpy carried with it a peculiar bestial appearance, selected for survival to be as attractive as possible to humanoid races. All harpies were female and appeared as young and beautiful girls.
They always lived close to humanoid races, and depending on where they lived, their appearance varied, resembling humans, elves, or other types of humanoids. But along with this attractive appearance came a charming voice... and a chaotic and malevolent inclination.
The main power of this race lay in the ability of their voice and song to easily invade the minds of those who heard them, lowering their defenses so they could kill their target with ease. Against weaker opponents, harpies were almost invincible. And against opponents of similar level, dealing with the mental invasion was extremely complicated.
There was a golden rule against harpies: kill them first or run away. Not only because they were complex enemies, but also because these women were manic, sadistic, and malicious; if you were caught, it would be worse than death. But if you were a single man, you would usually accept the risk of facing them.
As problematic and fearsome as they were, no humanoid race rejected them nearby. Some scholars described them as the extreme representation of feminine duality. When one of them found a mate and accepted them, all their malice was converted into unmatched dedication and loyalty.
That’s why they were also known as Loyal Hunting Dogs. Any single humanoid man would lean towards trying to build a relationship with a harpy. After all, who wouldn’t want a beautiful, powerful, and completely dedicated woman? But usually, it resulted in a painful death.
Alm and Bruno calmly observed the young harpy. Rivine was a unique case, the result of natural talent combined with techniques and knowledge given to her by them. Mental cultivation perfectly matched the race’s talents, and combined with incomplete Daos and wind laws, a small monster was created.
But she wasn’t just talent. If that were all, Alm and Bruno could easily find talents. In her, they felt an infinite will to fight to the bitter end, something few cultivators valued but was impossible to forge and far more important than anything else.
’She’s our missionary, so... from what we’ve seen of her actions and being a harpy, her loyalty isn’t in question. We’re also her leash to curb her strange inclination; a Hunting Dog for certain tasks and quite useful,’ Bruno commented mentally. ’We just need to understand what her goal and will are.’
All of this took less than five seconds, until Rivine opened her wings and her voice rang out melodically. The entire group of the whale observed and felt that manifestation more attentively for the second time. Soon, all the demons who focused on the harpy seemed to see a haunting.
"Dee-dee-dee..."
A soft and graceful voice echoed from all directions of that planet. Immediately, the demons felt their minds disturbed and invaded. Until...
CRACK!!
At a terrifying and imperceptible speed, a small figure with sharp legs pierced through the air and into a demon’s body. It exploded into a brutal mist of blood.
Meanwhile, the smiling harpy continued to sing with her manifestation still active. In the next second, her wings flapped, and several meters away from where she was, another shower of blood occurred.
"Lirum... Lirum..."
Calirer, Runula, and the new member whose name they didn’t know, were still unconscious. Ruri had placed them in a protective formation.
Meanwhile, the other members of the whale group watched everything with mixed expressions. That harpy was definitely terrifying in many ways. They realized that when she confronted them, she hadn’t fully used her abilities and had only tried to charm them with her voice. She didn’t attack immediately, probably because she didn’t know who they were; Rivine wasn’t irrational and wild, she certainly didn’t intend to kill them and would investigate first.
However, the sight of her attacking with a smile, while brutally killing demons and singing charmingly, left a striking impression of madness.
Ruri took a deep breath and, with a step, reached the whale’s side. She murmured thoughtfully beside him, "Was I like that when I was a teenager and we had just joined the Three Extremes Sect?"
Alm and Bruno remembered the image of the young Ruri, sadistically killing several elders without any mercy back then. Indeed, it seemed she simply wanted to see blood, not to save her people.
"It’s slightly similar, but there’s a noticeable difference. I knew you weren’t like that; that’s why I had to be tough and make you change. But Rivine... harpies are beasts inclined to be malicious and powerful, to find powerful men of other races and ensure the species survives. It doesn’t mean she’s bad; everyone has their quirks," Alm spoke calmly.
Ruri nodded awkwardly, recalling that embarrassing phase of hers. Bruno added, "If you don’t force your worldview on her and accept these differences, you should get along fine."
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The entire event in the sky took one or two minutes. During this time, Rivine had killed almost fifty demons without stopping. Everyone in the group noticed that she chose the strongest ones possible, whom she could take down with a single move.
It was a smart choice that saved a lot of energy with the goal of reducing their numbers and power. She had a realm difference from them, but still, thanks to her talent and what the whale had given her, she had become equal to everyone in the group. She was incredibly strong, someone who could never be underestimated in any situation.
But, obviously, that meant nothing. There were millions of demons, and only the closest ones were greatly affected by her manifestation. The others simply observed and analyzed the scene as if waiting for someone’s order.
It didn’t take long. On the horizon, a figure radiating a sinister presence appeared. It was a male demon, very similar to Dem Zarn; he certainly belonged to the same race as him.
As he appeared, the whole planet seemed to have its warmth absorbed, and the temperature suddenly dropped. A chill ran down the spine of all the natives of that planet. The whale group recognized those fluctuations.
It was literally the same power they had felt from Dem Zarn. The demon waved and confirmed, thousands of pulsating Yin runes appeared, crafted from the refinement of countless lives. A tremendous pressure emanated from those runes. It was a pure and terrible power, but the cost of having it was high.
Alm and Bruno just snorted. Until they felt Les, who was silently observing in the inventory, roar; his furious voice rang out, ’That bastard! Those malignant runes were made with lives from my race, countless Feys were recently killed by him!’