Chapter 210: Chapter 209: [Black Hawk]’s Peak Moment
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
On this day, Gale, a Sword Scabbard hanging at his waist, personally appeared before the North Snow Tribe’s front lines. He unfurled his cyan wings, allowing him to hover in midair while thousands of the Demon Race circled around him, beating their wings and looking down upon the battered North snow Tribe camp.
The vast territory of the North Snow Tribe had been almost completely devoured by the Demon Race from Cold Heaven Cliff, leaving only three buildings in the core area still stubbornly resisting. Yet in just three short days, the Demon Race of Cold Heaven Cliff had failed to breach the North Snow Tribe’s outermost line of defense.
Even though the Wall had been breached in countless places, a great swathe of houses behind it had collapsed, and fierce flames blazed, a young man holding a Witch Staff still stood at the North Snow Tribe’s gate, gazing up at the Demon Race that filled the sky.
He casually flicked the blood from the tip of his Witch Staff and glanced at the not-quite-human, purple-robed demon at his feet, his eyes devoid of joy or sorrow.
CLATTER. A Skull Magic Staff lying in the shadow of the gate was kicked into the air, rolling past the boundary line of the North Snow Tribe’s Wall.
Seeing this, the demons filling the sky were terrified, their feathers trembling in fear.
The one who had just died was none other than the Great Witch Priestess, who had entered the fray at the command of the Celestial Chosen Demon, Lord Gale. That core member of the Demon Race had lived for thousands of years and was a key figure of Cold Heaven Cliff. In a very real sense, she was a being who could command all the Demon Race, the very linchpin of Cold Heaven Cliff.
In terms of bloodline, the many demons of Cold Heaven Cliff were not a single clan. They were all blessed by an ancestor, and only united under the command of a Great Witch Priestess who could commune with a Demon Emperor that once resided on Cold Heaven Cliff.
Without the Great Witch Priestess, there would be no one to guard the heritage of the Cold Heaven Cliff Demon Race, and the Leaders of the great demon clans would find it difficult to act in unison.
But that was all in the past. The legacy left by that powerful ancestor of the Demon Race—the Demon Emperor Cang—had been completely inherited by the Celestial Chosen Demon, Gale!
What was most shocking, however, was that Gale was this generation’s Witch Priestess of Cold Heaven Cliff. In the entire history of the Northern Boundary, this was the first time a Chosen One, let alone a Celestial Chosen Demon, had ever held such a post!
For one thing, none of them were willing to remain in the barren Northern Boundary; to them, this place was nothing more than a trial.
More importantly, the Chosen Ones didn’t possess souls native to the Northern Boundary, so they couldn’t receive the approval of the ancestors’ will. This meant they couldn’t communicate with the ancestors, much less borrow their Ancestral Power.
Yet Gale had done it. He had effortlessly inherited the ancestor’s legacy, gained their approval, and even acquired some of the authority that only a Great Witch Priestess should have been able to wield. And now, he was preparing to lead the entirety of Cold Heaven Cliff to annihilate North Snow!
"Witch Priestess Gale, the previous Witch Priestess is dead. What should we do now?"
Black Hawk slowly beat his wings, hovering beside Gale. His massive body was slightly hunched and his neck was bowed as he spoke in a low voice.
The Witch Priests, Witch Priestesses, and Priests of the various tribes were not fundamentally different from one another, but their ability to invoke Ancestral Power varied greatly.
Until they fought, there was no way of knowing who was stronger.
Away from the source of her power, the Witch Priestess of Cold Heaven Cliff had been unable to defeat the Witch Priest guarding the gate of the North Snow Tribe.
In that last exchange, the North Snow Tribe had been struck by several bolts of lightning, its buildings set ablaze. For half a mile in every direction, the deep snow had been blasted away by a furious gale, exposing the ugly earth beneath.
The sight was enough to make one’s heart pound in their chest.
"The last Witch Priestess is dead. You’ll go, then."
Hearing this cold voice, Black Hawk’s sharp beak fell open and his eyes widened. "Me?"
"From the moment this Witch Priest began to borrow that so-called Ancestral Power, his body was already a spent force. His youthful appearance is nothing but the last flash of a dying candle, a sign that his power is reaching its Peak before extinguishing completely."
Gale spoke slowly, a mocking glint in his eyes. "That Ancestral Power grants him abilities far beyond this era, but it’s also eroding his body and Soul. Every attack he makes takes an irreversible toll."
"To put it bluntly, he’s just a vessel for Ancestral Power, and there are only two possible endings for him. One, he is eroded to ash by the Ancestral Power itself. Two, the Ancestral Power is completely depleted, and with nothing left to sustain him, his life melts away like a candle."
"The first outcome would require too long a wait. By then, a new vessel might have already adapted to the Ancestral Power. I want the second outcome, and I want it now. Delays breed new problems."
The moment Gale finished speaking, Black Hawk felt a sudden, irresistible push, as if a storm that had gathered for ten thousand years had swept down from Cold Heaven Cliff, sending him to the very zenith of his existence!
"KREEE—"
The cry was like a clap of furious Thunder, and the resulting wind pressure flattened the forest for over half a mile.
Black Hawk was stunned to feel his Soul ignite like a torch. A wondrous power poured into his body, gathering in his talons with the force of a thousand rivers flowing to the sea!
’The gales of this world... are mine to command!’
At this thought, Black Hawk’s eyes turned blood-red. He was propelled from the Demon Race’s formation by the Gale, facing the Witch Priest of the North Snow Tribe alone from his high vantage point.
’This feeling, this aura... it’s just like the previous Witch Priestess when she fought her enemies! This is a power only someone in her position should be able to touch!’
’But isn’t the new Witch Priestess of Cold Heaven Cliff the Celestial Chosen Demon, Lord Gale?!’
He glanced back in shock and confusion, his gaze meeting Gale’s. That sharp look was like that of a King who ruled over all, while he himself felt like a general who had never lost a single one of ten thousand battles.
A calm voice suddenly echoed in the depths of his Soul: "Black Hawk, I have granted you the power of our ancestor, the Demon Emperor Cang. After this battle, your name will be recorded in the third row of the Cold Heaven Stele, alongside all the Witch Priestesses who have fallen throughout Cold Heaven Cliff’s history."
’This sudden surge of power... was a gift from Gale?’
’Just how many unknown, ancient techniques does he possess!’
Black Hawk was inwardly stunned, but the blood boiled in his veins. He nodded to show his loyalty, then slowly turned back to look down upon the Witch Priest of the North Snow Tribe. "To see my own name carved into the Cold Heaven Stele, you must die today, no matter what!"
’If I only had the power of the Middle Tier of the Demon Race, equivalent to a Human Race Warrior of the Iron Flesh Realm, I would certainly avoid him like the plague.’
’But now I have power equivalent to a Witch Priestess! Surely I can kill one withered old man on the verge of collapse?!’
"Winds, come—"
At his bellow, the demons filling the sky suddenly lost control and were sent scattering. Even Gale’s robes whipped about violently, and he was nearly swept away himself. He frowned and the corner of his mouth twitched, but he said nothing.
Seeming to realize he’d put too much force into the attack, Black Hawk lifted his beak in a show of pride, but he had no intention of stopping. He could only do his best to avoid harming Gale and incurring his wrath.
’As for the other demons... are they worthy of Lord Gale’s promise to be recorded in the third row of the Cold Heaven Stele?’
In that instant, the very sky seemed to change. Earth and stone were ripped from the ground and swept into the air. The accumulated snow gathered into a massive cyclone. A colossal storm was forming before the North Snow Tribe, and with every foot it expanded, it scoured the ground three feet deep!
