It was like both sides were heading towards the end in different ways. The enemy focused its entire tactic on trying to breach the mine field while the allied forces of Amera, Nicole, and Doaf kept their best to eliminate the powerhouses of these enemies.
The mine field was the brilliant idea of Deem himself. He acted upon the old orders from Arthur to maintain the defenses of the sect intact.
In fact the presence of a traitor was something they knew of but didn't know who he or she was. And so they just assumed the worst and started to think of ways to sustain the sect.
Even if the shields were gone, they implemented a lot of other defensive tricks which the mine field was one of those.
In return things inside the sect seemed a bit chaotic.
The sect was already watching the brutal fight ongoing outside the shields. The grand hostile army looked dreadful but they saw how the few forces scattered on the sides and heart of it caused great damage already.
That made many think of stepping outside and joining the fight.
"No one is allowed to move!"
"This is the order of the sect leader."
"Our top priority is to defend the sect."
"Leave the fight outside for those fighting out there."
However many shouts started to spread all over the sect. Jim didn't hesitate to show himself and start taking the lead from here.
He knew if he let the sect cultivators out, this war would be lost for him and his superiors.
He would never allow such a thing to happen.
His orders helped in stopping those brave enough to think of going out. However that didn't settle things at all inside the sect.
In fact many voices started to question him. Any sane person would see this opportunity as a golden one to crush the enemies at the door.
Leaving the enemy free and acting as he liked was a grave mistake. Even a small kid would never make such a mistake.
And that made many see things quite differently now. The main question that rose in their minds was why Jim gave such an order?
Just with that simple question, Jim's authority started to be shaken.
He stood in the middle of this while news about the rising insurgence inside the sect started to flood him. He had a strong and widespread net of spies all over the sect.
Every single move of any group would reach him instantly.
"This... looks bad," he knew where this would end up. And yet he didn't receive the orders to act.
The army was still attacking the shields relentlessly while trying to catch the running flies in the middle of their ranks. Things didn't look that bad on the outside, however Jim knew it would get deteriorated so fast inside the sect.
"If I lost control... No, I can't allow this to happen," he clenched both fists before he took out a bird's wing, wrote something and then let it burn.
He didn't ask for permission to start acting, instead he gave them a deadline for his actions. He already made up his mind. "My efforts won't go in vain because of a bunch of fools!"
He said this to himself while thinking about the lousy leaders of the army outside. He believed he would do much better if he was the leading general of the entire operation.
But he was just appointed here with no authority at all.
Many bird's wings started to flood him with curses, persuasive words, and even threats.
However he ignored all these messages coming from the enraged leaders.
He was dead fixated on lowering the shields and inviting the grand army outside within.
"This is the only way," he muttered to himself while taking out a small black orb and held it tightly in his fist.
It was through this orb that he could easily smash the shields and turn them off. He waited patiently for ten minutes, and during which reports never ceased to drop bombs over his ears.
"So they are forming groups now to assault me? Hahaha, bad it's too late for them," he couldn't help but laugh while pressing over the orb in his hand.
The next moment the shields around the sect shook. He planted many traps inside the arrays to be triggered with this simple press of him.
However as he stood on the top of the highest mountain peak overseeing the world around, the results he waited for didn't happen.
"What the hell..." he watched as the shields vibrated violently as if they were resisting his will. In the next minute only few gaps appeared all around, and the shields remained intact in most places.
"How come this happened?!!" he didn't get it until too late. "These two... damn them!" he turned to his henchmen, "go, find Deem and Gor and make sure to bring them here alive... or one of them at least."
"Yes sir," the cultivators started to move except for one.
"What's wrong?" Jim wasn't in the mood to listen to any wise words now from his top advisor.
He was someone highly recommended from the people he worked for. He facilitated his entry to the sect and even promoted him to be his vice.
"Things don't look good down below," the man who was in mid thirties moved a few steps to stand beside Jim. He pointed towards the ground around the mountain, and there Jim could see hundreds of silhouettes moving fast towards here.
"They are moving already?" Jim couldn't help but ask in surprise. He thought the damage to the shield would buy him time, valuable time and topple the plans of his enemies here.
However it seemed he underestimated one thing.
"Deem and Gor... the two you are looking for already got in contact with the leaders of this move," the man slowly said while the eyes of Jim widened.
"I... need to run," Jim couldn't help but think about his own safety.
However at this moment of despair, a long curved sword penetrated through his chest from his back.
"Sorry for that... I really liked you a lot," the man said in a sinister tone, "but you left me no choice. You ruined everything when you went to see that cursed dragonair on your own."
"Y... You..." Jim started to feel weak as blood gushed out from his chest. The man didn't hesitate to withdraw the sword in a brutal move, deepening the wound and accelerating Jim's death.
"We can't leave any traces behind," the man took out a crimson red piece of cloth which he used to wipe the blood off the blade. "You... were supposed to lead this world at the end. But look at you now... Tsk, why did you go out there and try to manipulate such a dangerous kid?"
Jim wanted to say something, scream and even curse. However all he could do was to choke in his own blood while he fell heavily on the ground. The man finished cleansing his blade before sheathing it.
"Arrogance... sometimes is the greatest sin the mightiest of men will fall into its deadly trap... Tsk, what a shame though..."
The man kicked Jim and pushed his body to fall off the peak. He stood there all alone while watching the violent explosions raging wild from the gap at the forefront.
"It was such a perfect plan, only to be ruined by you... I can't forgive you for this, y'know," he gazed down at the rapidly falling body of Jim. He shook his head before turning around.
"As this is a failure, I have to go back and lead everyone towards the backup plan... Tsk, this plan isn't as perfect or decisive as this one, but at least I can make the journey of that Arthur here like hell..."
The next moment he waved his hand and a slash appeared in the air. The air seemed like a soft piece of paper being cracked by his slash.
Dark fog dissipated from this small crack before it totally enveloped that man. In less than one minute the man vanished from here while the crack slowly returned to its regular form.
However this happened under the watchful gazes of someone, making him feel more conflicted and enraged about this. And yet he knew the facts hidden from him so far!
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