"Oh? You really do have potential," Dohans’ cold, calm voice echoed. "That’s good. I’ve raised this sect and the strongest clans of this world for a long ti, but I was still unsure if devouring them would be enough to evolve my core to the Celestial level."
His words made the whole army swallow hard. Before Darian showed up, everyone in the sect and the clans saw themselves as powerful and unshakable. The neutral clans believed their strength was respected even by that king. The sect mbers trusted their defensive inscription as a barrier not even he could break...
But reality was very different. If that king had really wanted to wipe them out earlier, they wouldn’t have lasted even a single day.
It was all because Dohans wanted to fatten them up under pressure, forcing them to create more and more powerful figures... realizing they were nothing but prey waiting for the day of slaughter, terrified them.
Darian stared at that figure coldly. In his hands, two strange daggers appeared.
The mont Dohans looked at the daggers, his expression shifted. He could clearly tell: those weren’t made of anything from this world. These weapons had origins even he couldn’t asure.
"Today, I’ll avenge everyone you massacred." Darian’s voice thundered. In his mind, the images of Tir, Eleri, and Awel surfaced, bringing a storm of emotions.
He radiated an unshakable will. Dohans, however, sneered and raised his hand. A blinding white light flowed out, condensing until it beca physical.
A spear of light, nearly completely solid, was ford.
He was a Heavenly Elental Spirit. His best weapon was the natural energy he was born with. But... feeling that power, it was obvious he was no longer just a being ford from one of the five natural elents.
That light was extre Yang, mixed with a dense soul power — this was the true essence of his strength.
Both moved.
*BOOM!*
A colossal explosion twisted and shattered all of space. Even light itself couldn’t stay, plunging everything into darkness.
Everyone was horrified, death pressing down all around them. So coughed up blood. Even from that distance, even armored, they couldn’t defend against that violent pressure.
When vision returned, they saw Darian striking at Dohans again.
*BOOM!!*
The second blast was even more intense, shaking the ground and causing disturbances stronger than the first.
People couldn’t see any energy waves hitting them, but their physical bodies and souls felt like they were being crushed by a teor. It felt like they could be ripped apart at any second.
"Everyone, fall back to the sect!"
Remira suddenly shouted. Countless were wounded, and without hesitation, they pulled back imdiately.
As soon as they entered, shielded by the inscription, they watched the battlefield from afar.
Suddenly, a spear of light ripped across the do of the heavens like an annihilating thunderbolt.
On the other side, a dark figure appeared, holding two daggers.
He radiated killing intent, but his image was at the sa ti striking and beyond words. In that instant, the scene carved itself deep into their minds. They would never forget it for the rest of their lives.
"Raise the defenses to maximum!" Remira roared.
Saving strength to strike back? If they didn’t defend with everything, the sect and every single one of them would be wiped out.
*KBOOOM!!!*
With the new impact, even greater than the ones before, the entire sect shook. Over a thousand massive rune-barriers lit up in the skies above the sect in an instant.
They held their defense — and then, silence fell.
Everyone’s eyes stayed locked on the chaotic battlefield. Space slowly pieced itself back together... until it revealed two unmoving figures.
Dohans wore a serious, yet calm look:
"Interesting... even being nine realms below , your physique and raw power surpass mine. Your weapons are superior too. And you seem to be hiding more cards, right? Waiting for the perfect ti to catch off guard? Hahaha..."
He laughed lightly, but then his eyes shifted. His entire body shone with a dazzling light. On his forehead, a white rune appeared. This was his true body.
Suddenly, everyone felt the heavens themselves change.
Everything turned white, as if...
"WHAT! THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE!" Remira roared in shock.
Darian lifted his eyes to the skies, also surprised by the sudden change. When he first entered this world, falling from the highest point of the heavens down to the great island, he had seen that the blue sky was made up of countless tiny runes.
Those runes held the world together. Terrifyingly powerful runes, each one containing a strange energy.
He had an idea of what it was, thanks to the knowledge he’d gotten from that book. Possibly, it was the purest energy of the world, sothing that only existed in a handful of the highest-level universes, called Qi.
And what Dohans was using... was the power coming from those runes — the Qi that held that world together.
"HAHAHAHA!" His booming laugh exploded.
"You thought being superior in a few areas was enough? I’ve stood at the peak of this world’s power for a long ti. The system gave countless privileges and new possibilities. I never wasted my ti. My power has no limits, and I can use a share of everything that exists."
Remira clenched her fists, utterly shaken. She knew the creator of this world and was certain he wouldn’t just leave sothing like that available to anyone inside it. Dohans must’ve done sothing terrible to get access to it.
But Darian... just watched in silence, expressionless.
Dohans stopped laughing and stared at him. "Still confident? I’ll show you true despair."
With a wave of his hand, all that energy in the skies moved, surrounding Darian completely.
With a roar, everything around him seed to twist and harden.
A blinding white light covered it all. But right after, a horrifying sound echoed: the snapping and cracking of bones.
"Hahahahaha..."
Dohans laughed sadistically. In that instant, the people inside the sect could clearly see.
Darian was completely wrapped in white runes, covering every inch of his body like divine chains.
His clothes were torn to rags. The chains dug into him, slowly piercing his flesh, and blood drenched him completely.
Everyone trembled in despair. But when they looked at Darian’s face, all they saw in his red eyes was absolute calm.
No matter the situation, he stayed calm and thought clearly. He couldn’t let sothing like his heart demon take over his actions again.
Darian activated his ring... Qi was a basic, yet extrely powerful energy. But the rings’ dominance only worked over life energies and natural elents. He tried, but failed, to control it.
*Crack!*
His whole body shook, his bones slowly snapping, like he was being crushed from every direction. The pain was unbearable, but he had gone through worse tornts before. His mind stayed empty and serene, desperately thinking of how to break that power.
It wasn’t just physical suppression. It was an oppressive force sealing his entire soul... and with it, everything Darian had. He couldn’t use anything. He tried to move the daggers in his hands with all his strength, but could barely twist his arm.
To those watching from afar, he looked like nothing but a ball of raw, blood-dripping flesh, shaking nonstop.
Seeing Darian’s total lack of reaction, Dohans looked a little disappointed.
"Looks like you won’t give in until the very last mont... is your desire to kill and your will really that strong? Was it because of those three little ones who died?"
Suddenly, his face twisted with extre sadism.
"Hahahaha... this is perfect. Let’s see if you’ll still be smiling now."
Dohans spoke and waved his hand.
Then, three faint lights appeared around his body.
In that mont, Darian’s eyes froze. He lifted his gaze with effort, forcing his face toward Dohans. And then... his heart stopped.
The enemy raised his hand and smiled cruelly.
In front of him, three small, ethereal shapes appeared, fragile and broken. Three souls, like cracked porcelain, floated there, barely held together by a thin thread of existence.
The energy they gave off was so faint, so subtle, it felt impossible they were still in this world. Their eyes stayed shut, as if trapped in an endless dream — a dream made only of pain. Their faces twitched, carrying a silent agony.
Being a soul fragnt was worse than death. No body, no strength, no future... just a fractured consciousness, trapped in eternal purgatory. No strength to live or even sense the world, yet alive enough to burn in endless tornt.
They were two girls and a boy. Young, once full of power and hope, is now reduced to nothing. Not even a trace of elental glow remained in them. Everything had been stripped away, leaving only broken shells of who they had once been.
Darian’s red eyes shook.
Tir...
Eleri...
Awel...
Blood tears streaked down his face. No one could tell if they were tears of joy for finally seeing his old companions again... or pure agony from witnessing the miserable state they were in.
"AHHHHH!"
A beast-like, hoarse roar full of pure hatred erupted from his chest.
"HOW DARE YOU!!"
His whole body pulsed with blood and resentnt, like it was about to explode.
"Hahahahaha! Splendid!" Dohans roared with laughter, his voice echoing like a macabre thunder. "Don’t get too excited yet! I kept them with so we could have so fun together!"
He slowly closed his fist.
Three runes binding Darian detached, drifting through the air until they touched those fragile souls.
In that instant, the youths twisted violently. Their faces warped into indescribable expressions of suffering, and the faint energy they still had began to unravel, fragnt by fragnt.
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