There was a reason cultivators took heart demons seriously. It was not simply about losing control or suffering Qi deviation. The final stage of the heart demon was possession.
He had almost succumbed to it himself. Lind knew the true danger of falling into that abyss. He had thought Delenn was far past such danger yet sothing seed to have happened in their ti apart.
A couple decades was nothing to an Immortal yet in that ti she had fallen.
His master was effectively dead.
Eventually, her dantain would suffer fatal deviation as the heart demon finished consuming her soul. Anger surged in him as he saw the thing that was once his Master calmly walking the burning streets of the Rubyfire Kingdom capital.
She seed able to find the Soulmancers all on her own but he did not know how. They were terrified of her but her target had slipped away. Nest was missing.
He might already be dead but he doubted it. Heart demons were simple. They had their goals and if left unfulfilled, they would continue. She was only sane due to that.
"Master, what is wrong with her?" Mills was shivering behind him. He ntally told her the sad truth and his pain must have co through as she began to cry. "Can't she be saved?"
Lind wished he could, he truly did. He was in fact wracking his brain for anything Qing or Shoti had talked to him about. The mirror artifact might have been able to save her but it was all the way back in the mortal realm!
It also was in need of serious repair from the last he heard.
An Immortal heart demon would be far beyond it. Especially one so advanced in his guess.
"She knows you Master, she might still be there." Mills tried to plea but she did not understand.
[A heart demon is not what you think. This is not an external force taking over but an internal one. Cultivation does not only improve our bodies but our minds as well. There is nothing more terrifying than obsessions and desires aloud to run rampant. Mortals suffer a similar fate but they call it a psychotic break or even a breakdown of personality. They might recover from that but a trade off for us is such things can consu us to the exclusion of the rest.] He was careful to hide his transmission as Delenn could feel them.
Mills beca red eyed as tears fell. The gist of his words ant that the malice in her own heart consud the rest of her. It was just a ghost of his Master with scraps of mories. Because he facilitated her revenge against Gareth and brought her to the 2nd layer was likely the only reason she rembered him.
He granted the wish.
Would he have turned out like that back in the Lotus Empire? Only able to recall Cyntilla because she helped him? A shiver went down his spine at the thought.
There was nothing. Not a single scrap of information gave him hope. Worse, it made him more depressed as he really looked her over. Her body had several serious injuries but it was like she didn't feel them at all.
The strength she was outputting was far above what should be possible without his artifacts all charged up. His Eyes saw frayed ridians and her crystal was barely intact.
Even if he did nothing, she was going to die but if she died like that her Qi would go out of control. The city was in grave danger!
[Mills, this is important. I need you to join your aura to mine. We have done so in practice but I will be in control of the weapons you summon, ok?] He had to stop her.
Small ice weapons appeared but Mills made sure to only conjure her aura. Lind was likely the only person in the world that could rge 2 auras as he was about to do. Normally auras clashed but due to his unique crystal and all 18 elents, he could adjust his aura to match others.
He had only practiced with Chu and Jur really as he knew them best but Mills had presented a new opportunity.
She was the only one that could match his Battle Aura. Her nurturing physique also helped no doubt.
rging auras did not have much use normally. For instance, 2 sword auras did not an they would be twice as strong. Different cultivators grasped different aspects of sword aura.
Solon was better at cutting in one go but Lind had been better at flexibility thanks to training under Shoti. Thus it would be more accurate to say the 2 aspects would combine to make a more powerful aura but a direct comparison of sheer strength would fall short of anyone's desires.
Battle Aura, on the other hand, was a different beast entirely.
Not only was rging it next to impossible due to rarity, finding soone at the sa mastery as yourself was unheard of.
Mills was a unique existence even more than Lind in that aspect as her physique was geared to nurture the opposite gender when using it so rging was as simple as breathing for her!
It took him months to be able to do it himself and control it.
He did so now as his own aura flared. Any further proof of a heart demon commanding his Master was the total lack of response to the threat they had beco.
The Battle Aura around both Lind and Mills was only at the Crystal Tier originally but it exploded forth far beyond either of their original level. Lind had always been able to fight above his realm to an extent but the strain in his body was now very familiar as he was going to use it in a real fight.
"Radiant Tier, huh?" The icy weapons now grew massively and Delenn finally responded with confusion to him.
"Are you betraying
too, Lind?" Sadness filled her voice as tears fell but tears were in his eyes as well.
"On the contrary, I have never been more loyal to my Master Delenn, but answer . Do you rember where we t?" Heart demons were tricky bastards but important information was enough to trip them up. The confusion increased on Delenn's face.
She rembered him and first contact was an easily rembered fact for a cultivator. Normally, that was.
"My student first eting –of course I–" Pain lanced but the dull eyes did not brighten. The mory was gone. Like so much else, it was just gone.
"What about Annabelle? The Fiends? Do you rember the promise I made to you?" He kept hamring as sweat broke out on his brow. The heart demon was desperately trying to fulfill its purpose but he had beco an obstacle it could not ignore.
Knowledge was basic and Delenn had t so many people in her ti of banishnt but Lind had co through and freed her. He enabled her revenge and thus it could not simply remove him like the rest!
Thus, he was important to its purpose! It was trying to rebuild what had already been destroyed yet it could not. Heart demons did not create, they only consud!
"Lind, why can't I rember? Why don't you tell ?" The gentle voice made his heart hurt but he fird his will for what he was about to do.
"Master Delenn, it has been my supre honor to learn from you and be your friend. I am sorry I failed you when you needed
most." Mills was whimpering as the pain was clear in his voice. Erald light began to shimr around the weapons and he was finally ready.
"Failed ? You never–" Her eyes, just for a brief mont beca clear. Horror filled them but then it vanished. The final spark was gone and her Qi began to run rampant. Immortal Qi vaporized the buildings next to them like they were nothing.
The aura around the pair flared as ice and erald fused into a power that also destroyed the buildings around them. He had no ti to spare for that as the various weapons shot out as a draconic shape ford around it all.
The ghostly dragon made up of aura slamd into the Qi storm that Delenn had beco. A fierce aura slamd outward and the once deadpanned woman now beca vicious.
The 2 warhamrs whistled as she took on the weapons as if she could not be stopped! Lind felt fear grip his heart as he saw the results of millions of years of honing skills. He was powerful but he had no experience using his aura as he currently did.
Delenn, on the other hand, had nothing but ti to hone her skills and then thousands of years as his Clan's protector to iron out any issues.
Even though her soul was consud, the body rembered what it was taught to beco a reflex. A scream ca from her that had no humanity in it at all. The hamrs sparked as they slamd apart the weapons of ice and harmony.
He could only be impressed as her arms were almost a blur he could barely follow. Lind continued to create more or summon more weapons to maintain his aura but the strain on his body was increasing as Radiant Tier strength was not ssing around!
He began to bleed from his nose and Mills was pale behind him. Neither could continue but they had yet to harm the possessed woman in front of them.
"Well, I expected her to collapse but this was more than I hoped for." A voice suddenly spoke and Lind realized another person had appeared near him but he stood nonchalantly as a spear was used like a walking stick.
His dark robes were not dark naturally. Blood wafted off of him like a wave but it was several different people! The steel eyes and face were all too familiar to Lind.
"NEST!" The man looked in surprise at him but then smiled as he nodded.
"Ah, my manners, I am the forr Prince Nest of the Fionan Empire. Well, I suppose that is not quite accurate either. I have wanted to talk to you for quite so ti so this little eting was my best attempt." Confusion flooded Lind's mind but he was unable to spare energy as Delenn began to advance.
"Hmmm, she is very stubborn. It was actually a few close calls as she chased . I really am impressed but she was of no use to . You had made her incompatible with ." A dark aura flared briefly that shattered both the Battle Aura and Delenn's rampaging Qi.
Her body was skin and bones as it collapsed. Her eyes focused on Nest and a deranged focus as both warhamrs vanished.
Nest actually looked shocked as he was sent flying! His left arm was ripped away and his stomach took the other one. Yet, his body endured. Blood pooled below him but Lind grabbed both Delenn and Mills to escape.
His instincts were now screaming at him to get away from the man. He was not human at all!
He launched skyward as his body beca covered in scales. He was downing elixirs like they were water as he needed to get away. He could not tear through space as it was solidified by sothing far stronger than him.
He had not been obstructed from entering but leaving was no longer possible.
A trap! It was all a trap and Delenn with the Soulmancers were bait. Soone knew a lot about him and prepared a trap! Was the inverted mountain a ruse? Was it all lies?
The feeling of danger did not fade as Lind looked back and could feel a pair of eyes staring at him.
[Run as far as you like, I will catch up shortly.]
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