Deep in the bowels of the fleet of ships, a small group had gathered. They were from all walks of life but they were very low level power wise. They were only Immortals and had hidden in the shadows of greats, trying to get a bit of the fa to rub off on them.
Yet, their skills and abilities fell short of their perceived due. They felt slighted when no one had actually done anything to them.
In short, they were the perfect targets for the Fiends or their agents. They would be the ones to leave a door unlocked or an array eye slightly out of alignnt. They were the ones that would leak secrets gleaned away because they were invisible to the greater cultivators.
Most of the group were humans but a couple of demons were there as well. They were perhaps the worst of the bunch as they had lost in duels or battles honestly. There was no question about their ability but they still wanted to believe they had been cheated in so way by their foes.
Honor demanded they grow stronger and try again but instead they had fallen.
"Were you able to get what we need?" The humans looked at the demons. Of all their number, they were the most impressive. They could actually achieve access far beyond them.
Immortals were not treated well even at the end of the world. Still, the group believed they were special. They would be raised up in the world that ca after.
The claims of Lind Frey were treated as lies. Even the threats of the Great One were just propaganda to strike fear into their enemies.
It never occurred to them that they were less than ants to the Great One and the Fiends. Pawns had their uses but they were ultimately to be set up for sacrifice.
The ones striving to break out of their failures by external help never realized they were being used because they held onto the false promises given to them.
The 2 demons smiled as small artifact plates appeared in their hands. They distributed them through the group but then froze. A chill flew down all their spines as a set of footsteps ca from the wooden stairwell to the hold.
A woman was revealed with short green hair and a whip in her hands. Her violet eyes were cold and even the demons wondered if hell had co for them all.
"My husband is a very focused man. He knows small things can lead to revelations but that applies to the Fiends to the extre. They plan long term and that ans looking for the very powerful is not the only thing to find." The whip glowed before multiplying.
The crack was heard after all the plates were destroyed! Blood also flowed freely from every person in the hold.
"La–Lady Shoti, we were just–" A young girl started to plead but Shoti just looked at her as if she was already dead.
"He wanted to give you a chance. You had only just been contacted and brought under them. You had not yet done anything besides relaying information." Her words made them all go pale.
They had assud they were missed in the purge. The Fiends had not called on them because they were too weak and the other forces were too busy dealing with the Divine Fiends and their true forces.
Still, they had not truly understood the woman in front of them.
"The really pathetic thing is the Fiends did not co up with this plan of yours. Blowing up ships enroute to the final battle? Sneaking around and thinking we are not monitoring every artifact, herb, and Qi stone as everything counts now." Each word was another hamr on their coffins. They knew it.
One of the n tried to act but his legs vanished followed by another crack. Blood flooded the deck and all of them froze. They were just Immortals before a Divine Realm. The feeling of helplessness made them feel rage with nowhere to go!
They wanted to rise up but they were only reminded of their inadequacy. She looked at them and a flick of her wrist started the bloodbath.
There were no screams as they died in the hold. Shoti looked on as blood coated the wood and tal of the hold. She was spotless. It was as if the blood could not touch her.
A gentle hand touched her shoulder and Shoti turned back to see a sad looking Qing there. The coldness broke as a mischievous smile spread on her face.
"You were not–" Shoti froze as a surge of power built up behind her. She reacted instantly. Her whips multiplied and a shield snapped into place.
The ship groaned as it was then covered in sigils and Dao Grade power trying to contain the explosion. Blood began to seep from Shoti's face as the backlash defending Qing and herself were not holding on!
How could Immortals cause that kind of attack?!
She almost stumbled when prismatic flas engulfed them. The pressure vanished before they were pulled into the sky. The ship had been ripped open but it was not the only one. Her eyes went wide as she realized the other groups had been pulled into it too!
[Ethry?!] The massive form of their little Sister was above them looking grim. The dragon looked at the fleet that was now full of broken ships.
It was easily over a dozen but only a few were cripplied. The ship Shoti had been on was heavily damaged but still usable. The explosion had been contained in the hold which was designed to restrain forces if needed.
Others, however, were clearly more random.
It was only then she grasped what had happened. The Immortals were turned into explosives! Her killing the conspiracy group on one vessel triggered them all!
[Lind had all the Harmonic Dragons move suddenly to evacuate all ships. There were so that likely did not know who they were working for. The thrice cursed Bastard waited to do this!] Ethry's anger was clear but Shoti focused on the revelation that Lind felt sothing first.
It was clear that no matter how cleanly they swept their numbers, there had always been a final danger hidden among them. The self-destructive thods of the Fiends had long been known but the current incident was clearly to make the highest impact on the final army.
Lind had moved to reduce the risk but the loss of the ships was not good. They were effective weapons and it would slow them down to–!
Shoti froze as a massive spike in aura rose from each damaged ship and before anyone could react, they began to repair themselves! She had seen so self-repair functions in many artifacts or weapons, but they always required the pre-requisite materials to activate.
She watched as Qi was used to condense and manifest material from energy! She had never heard of that ever! Lind finally appeared and seed pleased with the results.
[I was not certain it would work with such extensive damage but I am glad.] The Master Tiers looked down at the ships and all could see that the engines were prioritized over anything else.
Once that was repaired, the hull and other functions began to repair even faster.
Shoti wanted to know what happened but Lind seed to be holding sothing strange in his hands. She could see it but she doubted few others could. She had been exposed directly to that kind of energy and she recognized it was different but of the sa root.
She stayed quiet but what was he doing with that?! The group began to discuss the event and confird only about ?? of the known group of low level Fiend agents were the cause.
Just like before, they learned that those that had incidental contact had beco a danger as well. It seed it had been triggered by Shoti's attack for certain but they had no idea why it had not gone off until then.
Lind theorized they had successfully cut off any thread the Fiends had but a failsafe had been triggered.
None blad her. Shoti, however, felt like she should have considered it.
The ships were repaired and only a few innocents were injured that were not ensnared as the source of the explosion themselves.
She was now back in her cabin but she was not alone. Qing was with her as well as Ethry.
The shadow of Cyntilla lood in their hearts. She was with them from the beginning.
"You need to stop trying to take on this work, Shoti. It is breaking you." Qing held her in her arms. Ethry held her hands as both looked at her in concern.
"Cyntilla and I did this work. Lind tried to stop us but we both knew he was not ready back then. He is now, yet he has too much to do. I just–" Ethry put a finger to her lips and the young woman seed to feel larger than her lithe fra would suggest.
"You have been doing more since big Sis died. You have been keeping us out too. Neither of you did that before. You ca to us and vented or just asked for comfort. Annabelle too was there for you." Shoti flinched at the truth of those words.
The pair would not let her escape as she finally spoke the truth. They were about to face the final battle, any distraction would be bad.
"I miss her. We spoke to each other about things we knew would make you all uncomfortable. I just–I just did not want to bring them to you all." A small huff ca from the door.
The trio looked up to see the rest of their sisters starting hard at them. Shoti smiled weakly while she saw Qing shake with a laugh.
"I am in trouble, aren't I?" Shoti knew the answer but then a voice entered her mind.
[We are all with you, my love. Co to us anyti.] Warmth filled her as Lind's presence faded to the background. He had changed a lot but the gentleness for them never had.
He really would listen no matter how dark the path they had to walk. They were on their way to the Bastard that had taken so much from everyone. It was ti to put to rest all doubts.
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