Chapter 69: Chapter 61: Divine Combat
At Yan's war council, a few hours just after the fortress at the border fell. A lone soldier suddenly stormed Yan's palace where the true Lung resides.
He was screaming, telling everyone that the heavens were falling down at them. The gods were punishing the mortals. That they whistled as dozens of them died from explosions.
There, Yan pieced together what happened. And the fortress fell in under an hour.
An unbreakable defense outpost where thousands of soldiers manned it. Paradiso made it fall with such ease, it was like an adult kicking down a wall made out of plywood.
"We gather here today, to discuss the enemy currently on the way to Yan. Paradiso, a satellite city of Leithanien. It's the emperor's personal city and they are leading the charge." One of the councilors frowned.
Murmurs broke out and they whispered about the fall of their defenses at the border.
"Silence! We have here one of our censors that personally met them at Lungmen. Leizi, give us the rundown." The emperor called in the Kirin.
"Y-yes your majesty. The censorate visits Lungmen annually. I was tasked with two other censors to observe Lungmen and correct mistakes." Leizi winced, remembering something.
"Then they arrived, Deliverance... They apprehended or outright terminated terrorist insurrectionists called Neo-Reunion. Then, Edward Artorius' daughter fought with one of Reunion's cadres." Leizi continued.
"After the battle, Asmodeus. The Leithanien emperor dropped down from the sky and apprehended Talulah. Then... A Feranmut arrived and asked if she had to fight him again." Leizi got dazed.
She has never seen a Feranmut in their dragon form before. Kjera's royal blue scales were like the deep ocean. As large as Lungmen, the dragon was simply elegant and powerful.
"What!? A Feranmut from outside Yan?" One of the Sui regulators thought it was a sibling.
"Yes, they're a dragon. But not someone from Yan at all. They had royal blue scales, here is a portrait of her." Leizi offered a picture that was drawn.
The council burst into whispers once again. Kjera is a Feranmut that left Yan thousands of years ago. They have no idea or records of who she was. Not even the people of Kjerag.
"This is troubling... If a Feranmut is amidst their ranks... Then we have to send one against them too." A tall man with black hair spoke. (pic)
"Chongyue... Are you suggesting what I'm thinking?" The true Lung sighed and the man nodded.
"I will be entering the defense for Yan personally." He stood up and left the meeting, preparing for the battle. If their border defense fell that easily, he had no doubts they would come in a few days.
"Chongyue has spoken. We will prepare to meet them in battle, show them Yan's strength. The heavens will it. The aspect of war will lead us to victory." The emperor commanded and the council prostrated.
__Nearby Yan's borders__
Shining and a squad of Ash's ghosts found another garrison. It was responsible for the logistics of the vanguard and they were mostly storing food, supplies, weapons, and medicine.
The scouts returned back to Paradiso and Ash was informed about them quickly. "Ash, it's a sizeable outpost in which they have tons of supplies stored. They most likely deliver it to the fortress from earlier." Shining reported.
"Hmm, personnel?" He asked. "A couple of guards here and there. Not few, not many either."
"Send in Narcissa and let her announce that Paradiso will be invading them. I will give them a chance to flee." Ash ordered and Shining blinked.
"Narcissa? But they won't take her seriously..." Shining was confused.
"Exactly." He grinned and Shining gulped. She put on a poker face, but she didn't like what was happening.
'I have to do something about this... Or he'll crush anyone under his foot.' Shining went to Narcissa in order to give his orders.
Choppers flew over to the garrison and papers were dropped. "All civilians evacuate in an hour or die? What is this joke?" One of the soldiers in the garrison laughed.
They didn't take it seriously of course. But some paranoid ones did evacuate immediately.
And after exactly one hour, Narcissa who was waiting near the gates of the outpost took out a megaphone.
"Ahem... Is this on? Ok. Yanese outpost, Paradiso will be commencing an attack on this garrison. We have already given you an hour to evacuate civilians. As a just and magnanimous country, we already gave you the chance. We will now attack."
Narcissa's childish voice resounded in the garrison and they just listened with a scoff. Thinking it was a prank or something.
And Ash who was watching her make a speech raised his hand. "Troops! Open fire!"
Hundreds of artillery guns and mortars fired. The howitzer shells arrived first. Making whole buildings explode into splinters upon impact.
The garrison didn't even have the chance to scream in terror. Whistling shells of mortars carpet bombed the outpost.
Fires broke out and the only sound that can be heard were small cries of help, crackling wood that were burning, and groans of pain from shellshocked troops.
"Second barrage! Open fire!" Ash ordered again, just seconds after. The artillery reloaded quickly.
Another round of brutal artillery barrages rained down on the garrison and the ghosts roamed around. There were no signs of survivors this time.
"Advance!" Ash shouted and he returned to his office. His elite operators communicated with hand signs as his ears were really sensitive.
"This isn't like him, he would just capture the place. Not kill them all like that." Margaret frowned and the others agreed.
"We just have to let him off for now. He'll calm down, what can we do?" Degenbrecher sighed.
"What if we crawled to his room?" Enciades suggested and the two raised a brow at her.
"Are you crazy? He's obviously not in the mood." Margaret glared at her.
"What? Whenever I'm angry, when we do it. I calm down right after." Enciades explained her side.
"Shut up, this is different. He's on a warpath, we can talk to him later... But we can't do anything now." Degenbrecher ended their little talk there.
They advanced further. Taking multiple garrisons on the way with absolute annihilation.
And when they came across a mobile city. They shot their wheels and let them get stranded.
"Oh, citizens of Yan. The censorate attacked our emperor. The ones afflicted with oripathy are being treated as 3rd class citizens. Our goddess would be ashamed of humanity. Kjeragandr-sama! Please bless these unfortunate souls." Enya rang her bell.
Kjera then rolled her eyes and went into her dragon form. Paradiso then gave treatment to the infected.
And tensions were taken care of because of the appearance of a deity. Yan worshipped the dragons. And they all took the bait, seeing is believing after all.
Propaganda was being used against them. Kjera was being used as a symbol of peace. Then poach citizens to their side. It was too easy for Ash.
He was completely taking over. Yanese citizens were then sent all over Yan as missionaries. They carried videos of Kjera blessing them.
They not only have overwhelming military might. Paradiso was also breaking the nation from within. Planting seeds of doubt, sending out propaganda.
With their choppers, sending out missionaries was easy as pie. The true Lung's crimes from thousands of years ago were spread like wildfire.
The emperor of old's bloody conquest against the gods who just ruled their land in peace were forcibly put into servitude or killed.
And when it finally reached the capital. Unrest was felt everywhere. Soldiers were having doubts. A goddess that was wronged spread the news of Yan's treachery.
Riots raged through the cities and civil war was rearing its head. Looming over Yan, tensions were skyrocketing.
And of course, Ash transferred his memories of being attacked by the censors. Turning it into video evidence for more unrest.
The missionaries spread out their misdeeds as well. Like how the censors went to Lungmen. One of the most important cities of Yan due to their trade.
And they brought the shadow guards of Yan in order to commit genocide against the infected. With that piece of news, paranoia spread to the afflicted.
The best part for it though, was Paradiso is sending out weapons and supplies to groups that were being formed.
Insurrectionists were getting fitted with armor, superior swords, crossbows, spears, and arts units. They were prepping them for a civil war.
"Ash, we saw an army stationed at the second line of defense. They're using mountainous terrain. And there's a Lung that's heading them all." Margaret reported what the ghosts were able to gleam.
He went to the skies and squinted his eyes. Looking at their commander. "Hmmm? Nian's sibling huh?" Ash saw the colors of his arms and Nian was the only one with that kind of feature.
"Stay at the city, Kjera, Nian. Make a wall and fortify our defenses. Our artillery can still reach them. I will be taking care of this nuisance myself." Ash squinted his eyes and cracked his neck.
He flew right in front of the man and Ash stared at him coldly. Chongyue could feel the unsettling energy on him that wants to lash out. It made his skin crawl.
"You are the commander of that ragtag army on those mountains?" Ash looked behind him.
"Yes, my name is Chongyue. You will not pass here, leave now or there will be consequences." Chongyue squinted his eyes.
"Consequences? You must be stupid, even Nian is smarter than you. And she isn't that bright, friendly, but not bright." Ash scoffed and he was getting angry.
"Your censors attack me and you do not expect retaliation? When you attack me, you want me to extend my neck. Yet when I attack back, I am the one offending you? How could there be such a good thing in this world?" Ash sneered.
The clouds gathered and a lightning storm formed. Rain started to pitter patter. And Chongyue went into a martial arts stance.
'He isn't simple... What is he capable of?' Chongyue couldn't help thinking.
"Let's begin, shall we?" Ash cracked his knuckles and Chongyue heard whistling sounds from the skies.
He was shocked when he heard explosions behind him. When he was distracted, he felt his cheek bones fracture.
Ash sucker punched him with savagery right at his face. He collected massive amounts of potential energy on his fist and released it all at once upon impact.
The effects were devastating. A massive shockwave fractured the earth and Chongyue flew towards the mountain behind him.
Bouncing on the ground like a smooth pebble thrown on a lake. He then pierced through the mountain, getting embedded halfway inside of it.
In a daze, Chongyue blinked. His ears were ringing and the world was spinning around him. Before he was able to gather himself, Ash took out his sword and raised it.
Lightning struck it and the sword hummed in glee. Its owner was pouring in energy and desired to slaughter.
It vibrated in excitement and Ash's arm and back muscles screamed. Pumped with blood to the maximum. He then released a slash towards the annoying mountain in front of him.
A flash of black light sweeped through the battlefield. And in a split second, the mountain turned red.
Then it was bisected horizontally in half. Molten rock flowing as the intense heat melted a portion of it.
He then concentrated and brought out his spectral arm. It pushed on the mountain's upper half and it slid down, crashing. Earthquakes shook the enemy combatants and they froze at the overwhelming power shown.
Ash jumped and he landed right in front of Chongyue who was lying in molten rock.
"We're just beginning, don't tell me you're giving up already?" They were surrounded by explosions of artillery and Chongyue could hear his men getting bombarded.
He gritted his teeth and he moved. His bladed tail tried to stab Ash right on the chest, but he caught it and smashed him to the ground.
Ash let him gain his bearings and Chongyue leaped backwards, analyzing how strong he was.
Chongyue spit on the ground, blood pooling in his mouth. He breathed in deeply and calmed down, entering a stance.
"That's it, don't go soft on me now." Ash felt his strength increase and they clashed in the middle of the battlefield.
Their fists crashed onto each other and Chongyue winced. 'His fists are so hard, it's like hitting a slab of steel.'
They fought using martial arts and their every blow shook the earth. Chongyue got hit by a straight right on his chest and he plowed through the ground.
Shaking his head, Chongyue quickly changed his style to being an interceptor. He parried Ash's relentless assault.
But he couldn't get a hit in due to his speed, accuracy, and precision. It was like he could see the future.
"Come on! Come on! Hit me! Go faster!" Ash headbutted him and Chongyue saw stars as Ash's forehead hit the crown of his head. Buried underneath dirt.
Ash raised his foot and stomped on the ground. Chongyue was able to stab his tail on his leg sideway, barely making him miss his chest.
He wrapped his tail on the limb and threw him away. Chongyue stood up quickly, but he was suddenly pulled in by an irresistible force.
"Fight! Fight like a man!" Ash imprisoned them in a cube of his energy manipulation. Kinetic energy would never escape. Trapping Chongyue inside of it as he felt an invisible wall behind him.
He stood his ground and entered battle once again. Sacrificing his defense, Chongyue exchanged titanic hits against Ash.
Ash's fist hit him with a body uppercut and Chongyue bounced from the ceiling of the cube. He didn't get hit for nothing though, Chongyue aimed his arms towards Ash's horns and he smashed his knee on his face.
Their fists then hit each other's face, but Chongyue could notice that his opponent wasn't taking any damage.
His determination burned and he was getting stronger and stronger.
"So you're that aspect huh? You get stronger the longer you're in combat. Entertain me well Chongyue." Ash grinned and he filled his fists with potential energy.
Chongyue vomited blood when he got hit at the solar plexus by Ash's energy infused fists.
A string of hooks, uppercuts, and straights right on his face then rained down on him. Chongyue's vision was spinning. His tongue couldn't feel his jaw. It got fractured to smithereens.
Ash clicked his tongue, he didn't make his blood boil. The aspect of war could fight, that was for sure. But a deity powered by war can't contend against a natural disaster.
He dropped the cube and lifted him up by his hair. "I expected more from you Chongyue. Your sister put up a better fight."
The dragon thought that his sibling got subjugated by him forcefully and he glared daggers at him. Chongyue transformed into his dragon form and loomed over the battlefield. (pic)
"Give me back Nian!" Chongyue roared and some kind of energy wrapped around him. Ash then flew away, a spacequake hitting his location.
"That's it, you're showing your guts. Now we're talking." Ash grinned and a black flash enveloped the battlefield.
An eastern dragon made out of his lightning roared. The heavens raining bolts of it like divine tribulation.
__
Thanks for reading everyone, ciao.
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