Chapter 17: Starting the Battle
POV: Alexander
As per the plan that Elvira had designed for the impending invasion of the Four Realms, I was meant to be the vanguard, and hold of the incoming hordes until Elvira and Keilan could get their armies properly gathered. However, that plan was utterly shattered the moment the Enemy appeared in the Realms. The sense of danger I felt from it was too great, the power that radiated off of it eclipsed even mine, but more importantly my blood boiled with the desire to defeat the Enemy. Father once told me that dragons were naturally protective, and highly aggressive towards those who threaten them. Until now I hadn't truly felt something that would threaten the Realms to such an extent, or, to be more precise, I hadn't really been given the chance to act against such a threat. Father had defeated the Outsider far too quickly. I unleashed a roar that had been bubbling in my chest, shockwaves shaking the entirety of the Four Realms as my instincts took over. I would rip the Enemy to pieces.
"AHAHAHAHAHA!" A laugh answered me, the waves of dark beings and dark angels splitting before me, leaving a path directly towards the Enemy. The shade-like being turned to face me, vile grey eyes shining from within the black mist that covered it's still-forming body. "It is you! I have wanted to destroy you for a long, long time!" The being cackled, shooting towards me with impressive speed. My eyes narrowed and I roared again, power exploding out of my body as a giant circle of black and white appeared behind me, unleashing two ethereal dragons at the Enemy. Space itself cracked as they shot forwards, letting out silent roars as they charged towards the Enemy. Letting out another laugh the black mist split, revealing a gaping maw that consumed both ethereal dragons, vastly accelerating the formation of its body and slightly increasing its power.
That didn't even phase me however, as I continued my charge, my jaws snapping shut on the Enemy and vigorously shaking my head. The Enemy howled in pain and I spat it out, glaring at it and sucking in a deep breath. An orange glow illuminated the area around me, and the Enemy laughed at me, shaking off the injuries my bite had caused.
"Now do you really think your puny fire breath can harm me?" It taunted. In response I breathed out, a roar even more earth shattering than before echoing out and shaking the Four Realms, orange fire blasting over the Enemy. Shrill screams echoed out from the Enemy and he charged forwards, piercing right through my dragon fire to bite my arm, its fangs piercing straight through my scales. With a vicious jerk, it ripped a chunk of flesh of my arm, devouring it in a single gulp. With a low growl I grabbed onto it with my other arm, my claws sinking into its flesh and tossing it away, roaring angrily as my flesh mended itself. "That HURT!" The Enemy screeched, and a sudden thought flashed through my mind. It seems the Enemy's weakness is fire...after all, it didn't absorb my fire, rather it was injured by it. Visibly so, as the mist had shrunk in size and smoke was now curling off of it. The Enemy sucked in a deep breath and backed away a little bit, eyes watching me carefully. "I didn't expect that. You're more powerful than I thought." It said slowly.
"Come over here and I'll show you just how powerful I am." I growled. The Enemy let out a contemplative noise.
"Hmm. Alright." It said, and suddenly vanished. I sneered and breathed out again, covering my entire form in orange dragon fire. When the Enemy reappeared it was stunned, giving me enough time to bat it away with my flame-covered tail, eliciting another shriek from the Enemy.
"Hmph. So fire is your weakness." I mused out loud, my expression stoic.
"No. Your fire is just excessively hot." The Enemy complained. "It's almost as hideous as that monstrosity in the sky." I let out a snort, jets of fire shooting out of my nostrils.
"Ignorant fool. My dragon fire is the second most powerful fire in the Four Realms, just beneath the solar fire of the Realm Sun itself. Hot is not a term that comes close to describing it." I said with a tinge of pride. The Enemy's eyes lit up, and I involuntarily shuddered. If the Enemy had a face I am certain that a cruel smile would have spread across it.
"Oho? Is that so? I suppose this is my good fortune then!" He said and disappeared. I tensed and waited for it to appear, but didn't expect for it to reappear on my back, teeth already sinking into my skin. With a howl of pain I thrashed about, throwing the Enemy off of me, taking another chunk of flesh and scale with it as it screeched from the pain caused by my dragon fire. "I'll just have to get used to your fire! That way, devouring that damnable 'sun,' as you call it, will be much easier!" It laughed crazily, a mad gleam appearing in its eyes. My entire body stiffened and I glared at it.
"As if I'll let you." I ground out. The Enemy just laughed and charged at me, an action which I mirrored, our roars once again shaking the Realms. This was the final battle for the Four Realms, the end of the war so to speak, and in my heart I knew that neither of us felt like we could afford to lose. The Enemy might be insane, a fact I picked up long ago, but it is indeed just like the rest of us: bound to our own perceptions of reality. Not even deities could escape that.
POV CHANGE: Elvira
"Dammit." I said, grinding my teeth as I watched the two armies clash, my gaze slowly drifting up towards where Alexander was fighting with the Enemy. The battle was very intense, and to my eyes I could see that, despite everything, Alexander was at a slight disadvantage against the Enemy. It appeared that the Enemy was using Alexander to get used to its body and refine it more, much like I had in the Primordial Chaos, rather than trying to kill Alexander. Now that's not to say that Alexander was weak by any means. He was terrifyingly powerful, to the point where I doubted our chances of winning against him even if Keilan and I worked together. It's just that the Enemy had that nasty ability to absorb non fire-based techniques, as proven by it absorbing Alexander's Yin-Yang Dragons at the very beginning. Thus, over half of Alexander's power was completely shut down. "Dammit." I repeated, clenching my fist as I turned my attention once more towards the army of angels and deities fighting against the dark forces.
In the beginning we had the upper hand in techniques and strategy, but over the millennia the Enemy had gotten smarter and appointed commanders. What had once been more akin to waves crashing against a wall of angels and the odd deity was now a battering ram against said wall.
"Don't get too flustered." Sol said from my side, watching the battle between the Enemy and Alexander with a hint of fear in his eyes. It seems he, too, heard what the Enemy said about devouring the sun. I ground my teeth and focused again on the current battle, lamenting the odds. We were truly at a disadvantage here. Not only can we not destroy the enemy dark angels, as they are still Father's creation and can be brought back onto the right path, but they can viciously attack us. Instead we must suppress them, and continue suppressing them until they ask for forgiveness and re-enter the reincarnation cycle. This was an unintentional side-effect to Father's rules on Karma, though I can't logically say it is a bad thing. It's good that angels and deities can't run around destroying mortals and other beings willy-nilly. That sets a bad example, and whether they know it or not, mortals look towards the true gods for guidance in their behavior.
This all combined led to our current strategy -which was to lure the army of dark angels as close to the Life-Giving Tree as possible and have Reika suppress as many as she could. Currently our army of three hundred or so deities and angels (of the latter, there was only about twenty), formed in a square formation with the angels at the forefront, was retreating towards the Life-Giving Tree, which sat motionless, giving the horde of dark angels a false sense of superiority. Everything was working out well, but I was still apprehensive. Surely this was not all the Enemy had to offer. It surely had more tricks ups its sleeve...as it wouldn't attack the Four Realms without being confident in succeeding. Sure, we had our secrets, but in terms of information about our enemies, the Enemy was far superior to us. Once again my eyes flitted up towards where Alexander and the Enemy were duking it out.
"As expected. Keilan is formidable." Gilles said casually from my left. I nodded and looked at my brother, silently admitting that he was indeed formidable. His fighting style was vastly different from my own, which was more brute forcing it with my insanely powerful body, as he stood silently in the middle of six of the strongest dark angels I had ever seen -they were on par with a mid to high-tier deity. However, Keilan is one of the Big Four, so even those six couldn't tie him down completely. Invisible mental attacks barraged the dark angels, psyonic energy being the natural energy of the Karmic Realm besides karma, while their negative karma strings slowly bound all six and at least twelve other dark angels that were closest to Keilan. All this was done while Keilan stood in one spot, his hands clasped behind his back, black robes billowing in a non-existent wind, and a stoic expression on his face. "If not a little...theatric." Gilles couldn't help but add. I barked out laughter at that, slapping Gilles on the back and nodding at him.
"That he is!" I agreed, noting that the dark angels he fully bound with karmic strings completely suppressed and sealed the dark angels. Huh. He must've had a recent power increase. However, I quickly returned to my previous expression, watching the progress of the two armies while feeling an indescribably itch to do battle. It...wasn't a good feeling. But I understood it. The desire to test one's self, to see just how far I've come...I see it in mortal cultivators all the time, and even in the very, very few beings that populate the Heaven Realm. I hadn't even noticed this desire until the Enemy arrived...not even the Paradox or the Outsider elicited such a reaction. This was also part of the reason I wanted to go help Alexander. Though, deep down, if I was honest with myself, this truly stemmed from one single desire; the desire to keep Father from having to intervene.
This was a war between His children, no matter how you twist it.
He should not be forced to intervene, and act against one of His children. Even if that child is the Enemy, we should resolve this ourselves and prove ourselves to Father.
With yet another sigh I pushed those thoughts out of my head and glanced briefly at the battle within the Mortal Realm between the various sects touched by the angels and the beasts and sects corrupted by the Enemy. Lots of negative karma was being accrued down there...I shook my head. Out of all the battlefields, at least in terms of aftermath, the Mortal Realms are the worst off.
POV: Dei
Yet another mystic beast fell before me, and I found myself without any enemies. In a mile radius there were exactly zero enemies around me, and I hadn't even exerted my full power yet. That's just the difference between someone in the Immortal Stage versus the Mortal Stage. It took at least twenty peak Mortal Stage experts to tie me down for this long, and yet I still easily killed them. With a sidelong glance I assessed how the rest of the battle was faring. In short; the cultivators of Manu Ti were utterly dominating. Ten thousand years of laying and improving upon pre-existing formations ensured that my city -the oldest city in the entire Mortal Realm -was protected in a layer of magic impenetrable to anyone weaker than myself. These formations were being controlled by the Formation Sect that had popped up about five thousand years ago, while the other sects and clans worked on defending the mortal cities and staving off the beast hordes.
The Avians were battling the sky beasts with astonishing efficiency alongside the wind Elementals, while the water Elementals had a firm lockdown on the entire sea. Karae were scattered around the battlefield, attempting to mitigate damage done to our karma, while the other sects ran amok, battling and containing the enemy forces. The enemy may have a massive numbers advantage, but in a battle between cultivators, one person can completely negate that. Numbers were, in all honesty, only useful when you have the ability to suppress the strongest opponent on the enemy side.
"This is too easy." Celene said, appearing next to me via teleport, her eyes narrowed. "For something that's supposed to be a 'final battle' of sorts, this is much too easy." I nodded in agreement, my eyes sweeping over the battlefield. Leo was currently leading the Xing clan in battle against a number of Greater Beasts, the Xing clan being the descendants of Celene and Leo's children, with them being the Matriarch and Patriarch respectively, a literal sea of fire surrounding Leo. He was inherently gifted at using fire...to the point where even my own skills in the element paled in comparison.
"I can only assume that part of the plan is to damage the Four Realms through the negative karma that's being accrued in battle, but that's a plan that doesn't really do much in the way of turning the tide of battle. Sure it may have effect in the future, but with enough time it's easily fixed. There has to be something else...up until now the skirmishes and battles have been seamless in their execution, but this is more like ten thousand years ago -it's mindless chaos. We haven't even run into any dark angels yet." I reasoned, rubbing my chin and glancing at the sky, where I could sense the fluctuations of the intense battle going on up above. "The angels and deities are probably handling them, though...something just feels wrong." I muttered to myself, rubbing the back of my neck and looking over at Celene for her opinion.
"Well...you've already lost a fair amount of the good karma you've accrued so far." Celene said, looking at my very dim-gold aura. I snorted and looked at the corpses that surrounded me.
"Yeah...I killed a few that I probably could've suppressed." I grumbled with a sigh. They had been a little annoying...using a crude formation to try and trap me and weaken my power...so I kind of just killed them all.
"I don't even know what the point of this war is. That's the big question, the one we've been deliberating over for the past nine thousand years, and if we don't know that all we can do is go with the flow and improvise. Is this a battle for supremacy? Simple lunacy?" Celene asked rhetorically, shaking her head. I silently agreed with her, looking back up at the sky. With my hyper-enhanced vision, I could just make out the mass of evil, dark energy pushing back the army of angels and deities. With a frown I gripped the haft of my spear, wondering just what in the world was going on up there. To my trained eyes it seemed as if our side was in a tactical retreat, but I couldn't be sure. "Go on." Celene said. I whipped my head towards her, keeping my face carefully blank.
"I need to be here just in case anything unexpected happens." I told her weakly.
"I think me, Leo, and little miss empress," Celene said, referring to the fourth immortal stage cultivator whom we called 'the little empress' due to her...haughty attitude. "Can handle things down here. If we need any help I'm sure you'll know." I stared at her for a moment before simply nodding and shooting off into the sky, directing my charge towards where the deities and dark angels were fighting. In a matter of moments, due to me teleporting randomly, I found myself outside of Pangea's atmosphere and in the void of space itself. This was something only Immortal Stage cultivators could do. I didn't stop to admire the view, however, as all of my attention was fixed on the battle above me.
The power fluctuations were absolutely massive, especially around one particularly powerful deity that looked suspiciously like a Karae. I'd never seen or met that deity before, but wasn't bothered too much by it. That just means that I'm not yet powerful enough to meet with the truly powerful beings of the Four Realms....ok, that bothered me a lot. I'm going to get stronger, dammit. With a strangled roar I barreled straight into the nearest group of dark angels, the full power of my peak immortal stage cultivation base roaring out in an impressive display. Not once did it cross my mind that I should join up with the deities rather than act alone.
"HAHAHA! COME ON, YOU PANSIES!" I roared, my voice echoing out like thunder as I laid into the surprised dark angels. The elements seethed and my soulpower flashed as I thrust my spear forth, blowing a number of them backwards. A massive spear appeared behind me, the size of a mountain, rocketing forth like an arrow from a bow. A few dark angels came together to block my enormous spear, but by that time I was already upon them, my soulpower rippling forth and creating an armor around me. Behind me appeared a giant, twenty thousand tall version of myself, it's massive fists reaching out and grabbing at the dark angels.
The result of my actions were that I caught the attention of a rather powerful dark angel that came to deal with me, and in a coordinated strike with a number of other angels, they sent me flying backwards with blood spraying out of my mouth. Another laugh escaped my lips as I charged in once again, unleashing numerous mental attacks wtih my psyonic cultivation base, a type of cultivation we only discovered about three thousand years ago. I, however, was pretty talented in it and already reached the immortal stage with it, making it my third immortal stage cultivation base. Once again though I was sent hurtling backwards from a massive backlash, this time with six dark angels in tow. I smiled. This was perfect, now I'd separated some from the herd.
However, just as I was about to put the plan I had just come up with into action, the entire sky began to seethe. Darkness roiled and struck out at the dark angels, binding them and completely suppressing them. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I acted, taking an unimpressive green gourd out of my interspatial ring and pulling out the stopper. A suction force appeared and in a matter of seconds the dark angels were sucked into the gourd, darkness that bound them and all, after which I replaced the stopper, effectively sealing them. A small noise sounded to my right and I turned to see an incredibly pale man dressed in pitch-black robes, so black they blended in with the blackness of space itself, looking at me with an interested expression.
"Hmm. Not as stupid as I thought. You did bring the gourd with you." He muttered to himself before waving his hand. The black space seethed and twisted, and suddenly I found myself standing in front of three individuals, including the black-robed man. One was dressed in flaming red armor and had a complex expression, while the other was a dazzling Avian with pure white hair and an aura that made it very hard for me to breathe. "I got him." The man rasped to the white-haired woman.
"Sit down and heal. If I have need of you I will let you know. Until then, refrain from any more foolish actions." She said forcefully, each word shaking me down to my very soul. Though I also got the feeling that she wasn't all that displeased with me...despite me not knowing who in the world she was. With a snort I turned away and looked at the where the two armies clashed, our side in apparent retreat. "Go to the right flank. Wang Zizai's there. Seal as many dark angels as you can. Be careful. Gilles won't save you a second time." The woman said just as I was about to shoot off and go help, heedless of her orders. I glanced over my shoulder at her and nodded, before delving once more into the heat of battle.
Like I was going to sit idly by, waiting for orders. I'm a man of action.
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