War Maiden Katara had fierce battles. She had nearly died more tis than she could count and only by the grace of an alchemical pill was she still alive till the present.
She had witnessed peak Crystal Tiers battle. It was terrifying and not sothing many powers wanted to happen anywhere near them if possible. Those strong enough to keep them away still had to prepare for shockwaves from such battles.
All that said, what she had just witnessed put all previous battles to sha. The mighty erald dragon had appeared from nowhere when a sickening blood array activated.
She had only heard of them but the lack of Qi told her it was a bloodline array. A reviled technique to use the blood of the fallen to create a powerful defensive or offensive construct.
She had never heard of one on the scale she had seen today.
The beast had tanked the attacks like it did not fear death. Its erald flas were stunningly powerful but in the end, it was not quite enough. They could only look on from safety as the aftershocks would wipe out most of their forces.
She was there with the Eternal Sin Sect and the Divine Knowledge Sect. They were the 3 most powerful forces currently on the south side of the Ruin.
Still, she was as shocked as anyone when a telepathic voice scread about burning the do. She recognized that voice and knew all his stories were true! Lind Frey had full access to the powers of an Immortal!
"He tore through space! That is how they got away back then!" Her words were swallowed in the chaotic atmosphere but her shock was complete. If at that mont an enemy wanted to kill her, they had their best shot.
So they took it.
A dagger made of violet tal flashed at her back at that mont. Anyone seeing it would know it was refined to poison its target fatally. The thing about chaos, it is often the friend of fate.
A tree branch with the timing only a god could command, slipped between Katara and the dagger. It took the attack but also snapped her out of her stupor.
An enemy!
Her massive blade swept out but she could not find the source. It was like the attack had co from midair! A glance at the branch made her break out in a cold sweat. It was a peak grade 7 dagger!
The poison was not demonic but alchemic! It was possible anyone could have used it! A demon, a human, or a beast could equally have attacked.
Who?! Who would attack her at that mont? She was trying to focus but then a new person appeared she was familiar with.
The prodigal genius Forger of the Fionan imperial family. Princess Delenn Ser Fionan!
It was rumored she had reached the limit a grade 7 Forger could reach before she vanished and Katara was stunned to see she was also a warrior of great ability as well!
The power she was able to put out was far above what any Crystal Tier could do in the last million years!
Seeing 2 fresh displays of what Immortals used to be seed to wake up the leaders around her. She, herself, felt her blood rush in her heart. Her near brush with death was not nearly as invigorating as watching those 2 go all out!
"Go now! Get organized and march! This is our best chance to capture them!" The demon leading the Eternal Sin Sect was quick to get things under control. Katara noticed his wording. Capture, not defeat or kill. It was a very asured response.
Her eyes narrowed. It was very unusual for them to be so level headed.
"You heard him. Don't let them show us up!" Her own subordinates were getting her forces to move but nothing seed out of place. Yet, she felt a chill in her spine. Sothing was very wrong.
A single pair of people had been able to reduce the war to a joke in 2 weeks. Why did that feel more normal to her than the current army around her?
"This is wrong. The whole war is wrong. Why have I never considered that before?" It was like a fog was lifting from her mind.
Out of instinct, she swung her blade over her head. The clink of tal on tal had her glance up at the still standing trees to see a shocked figure looking at her.
The sa exact dagger fell to the ground at her feet! What made Katara stunned was the robes the man was wearing. The Divine Knowledge Sect?!
Why?!
As she was about to shout, the demons on her right suddenly turned in unison to attack her forces.
The Maidens were caught off guard but never more so when half the Divine Knowledge Sect turned on their own!
What was going on?! She had not heard any orders go out but they were moving as if they were getting instructions directly.
"FORM UP ON !" She pulled in the closest Sisters. They quickly set up a battle formation but she was shocked when it did not engage!
She whirled to her backside and saw 2 Sisters killed by their own!
"NO!" She moved like a flash yet it was not fast enough. The 2 won attacking seed insanely powerful compared to the rest. They did not suffer from the Corruption!
"What are you?!" She tried to strike them but she was moving through mud while they moved through air.
Blood began to fly as she realized not all of the Eternal Sin Sect turned on them! Each group had traitors in them!
What disturbed her was how unsurprised others were! They acted like it was normal for infighting to occur!
A sparkle drew her eye up and saw it split into 3 before all Qi vanished!
She had heard of it several tis before but it was the first ti she experienced it. Further, none of their preparations did a thing to stop it! No formation flared to protect them, no refined robes reacted, and nothing in their artifacts could stop it!
The void of Qi seed to shock everyone awake all at once. Her mind cleared instantly as she realized there were no traitors! They were all controlled!
[Found you!] A voice bood in her head before Princess Delenn shot a warhamr into the upper branches of the trees and a scream was followed but a figure crashing to the ground.
It was the sa one that attacked her!
The woman sailed through them like lightning with an erald glow covering her body! She still had access to Qi!
[There are 4 more.] The voice was there again. Katara was stunned as Delenn seed to flow like water through their army slamming warhamrs into figures clearly trying to escape.
They were all mbers of the Divine Knowledge Sect!
A figure limped into view with a stump where his left forearm should be. His body was covered in blood but his color looked pretty good.
His eyes, however, were ice cold erald gems with vertical slits as they looked at the 5 figures dragged over before the storm of Qi rushed around them.
She then stared in shock as he brought out elixirs like they were grains of sand! Those that were not dead he seed able to restore without a problem!
She had never seen so many powerful elixirs that could cover both humans and demons with ease!
"Rest and recover. I have questions for my new friends. Anyone that has doubts about what they are, ask yourselves harshly what you were just doing. Ask how many inexplicable battles ended before anyone could gain an advantage no matter how many numbers you took in. Think about it very hard." Katara already knew what he ant.
It was like a subtle veil had been put on her mind and she recalled the vile bloodline array just recently being used.
"Fiend Cultists! Spirits cursed Fiend Cultists!" Her voice seed to shock many but it sent many down their mories that had been filtered.
The bloodline array was already there when they arrived or they would have noticed. It also ant another array was in action!
She wanted to summon an artifact but her storage ring was dust with everything else.
"Maester Cord, do you have a spirit crystal?" Her question made the man pause before he summoned a palm sized crystal and tossed it to her. She infused her Qi into it and it glowed a bright red!
"Bastards! There are traces of a bloodline array in us!" Her words drew many eyes and others tried to summon items but they had nothing. Lind turned back to her before he summoned an erald fla.
It swept outward and she felt pain in her veins until a clarity ca to her unlike previously. It was no longer like being half awake but fully awake!
When had that been enacted on them?! Where?! It could not have just been in the Divine Ruin incident! All the powers gathered suffered from it so it had to be everywhere.
"So that is another facet of their control. Many things are beginning to make sense." His words confused her but he turned to his prisoners who were currently sealed. They tried to clearly do sothing but it failed.
"Oh your thods to die are gone and your dantians sealed. Now, I am a bit rusty at this but I assu I will get used to it once again." His voice made her shiver and Katara realized she had only scratched the surface of the man in front of her.
Just what kind of beast had co to their war?
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