XIV | THE DUAL DESTRUCTION
Li Xin leaned into his wyrm’s neck, feeling its scales dig into his skin. His arms ached from holding a dead carcass and the reins, his legs clasped, gripping the beast’s sides. Snow let out a sound as Yuhong spurred her on, putting more distance between them and the Abomination. Li Xin glanced back at the Abomination. Its eyes glowed with malice, its mouth dripped with blood.
Above them, the sky was dark, with ash and smoke. Li Xin searched for a sign, but a struggle as they were hidden behind the clouds. Not yet, he thought, not yet. He turned his gaze to the figures in black robes, standing in a circle around a foul offering. They were chanting words he did not understand, but he felt a chill in his bones. They held a severed finger in their hands, larger than any man’s. It was rotten and black, and from it rose a dark mist, like the breath of death.
The crowd, their eyes darting against the abomination. They were conflicted. To face the beast was to invite its fury; to stay was to await its hunger. They breathed in shallow gasps, murmurs spreading.
One of them lost his nerve and hurled a clod of colossal earth at the creature.
Old San snarled, smashing his black staff on the ground. A wave of darkness swept over them, plunging them into a colorless void. As Old San speculated, the staff had the power to copy a space and project it into the minds of those within its reach. He felt it; the size of the space depended on the wielder, but it could not be smaller than ten palm leaves. The larger the space, the more essence it drained from the user. And the user could will a living who to affect, in this case Old San’s team and the abomination, that was still roaring and shaking the earth.
“Quick!” he barked, feeling his essence plummet. “Stop them!” he was furious, as the metal and iron in his body rattled and clanged. They were in the void for only three seconds before they emerged. He glanced at Er and shoved a coarse emerald pill to the hole on his neck. It was a pill that would replenish his qi, a rare and costly concoction that would cut his life span.
Er lifted his hands high, his palms facing forward, and within was the finger.
By the blood of the fallen, I command you to burn! He chanted, over and over, as the abomination writhed and shrieked, its flesh tearing and peeling on the barren earth like a worm under salt.
Old San, the reason he was ironed cause of lightning itself. He looked and said, “Young Master Gu, come, let us carve the mark on your flesh.” He clutched Aegis’s body with a vice-like grip and dragged him like a ragdoll. Li Xin, hovering in the air, saw this and clenched his jaw. They could not delay it no longer. He descended to the ground and laid the corpse he was carrying. He traced some strange symbols around the body.
Young Master Gu grinned under his hood, his heart racing with anticipation. “Thank you, Old Master, my father—” he cut off as he tasted iron, blood spewed from his mouth, a feeling of a gaping wound in his chest. “Old… Master…” he gasped, a trickle of blood escaping his lips. A monstrous serpent of black had burst from the earth and ripped him apart.
Qi looked at the fallen thud as he tried to form a small barrier around. “You… Old San, have you lost your wits?!?” He roared as Er lightly staggered from the chanting, he wondered what the old man had swallowed or if he had taken a blow that rattled him, but he did not help in dealing with the close battles. “His father will have our heads!” He flung his sleeve as he yelled.
Yi evaded a gust of razor winds with needles, a charge of an armored rhino, and a blade to his back. “BASTARD! YOU’RE GODDAMN CRAZY.” He glanced behind and then wounded by an arrow, he saw what madness he had done. His arms were laced with golden veins. He smashed them to the ground and pillars with blades sprang up.
“You shall not die, not yet,” Old San said as fingers were dug into broken forms, clutching both bodies, walking slowly towards Er. The wind had torn off his hood, revealing his chest and form, edged with metal.
Er had a vague notion of what he meant to do, but he was not certain. “Think again, old man,” he said warily, sweat dripping from his brow. The Abomination lay still, asleep, ripe for the killing. He looked at Old San, headless, inscrutable. He’d been with him for long and could not fathom how he lived with such a condition.
Old San’s voice was calm and confident: “This is what we’re going to do,” his steps were neither slow nor fast.
Er looked at him with disbelief and fear. “And then what? We’ll be chased like prey… killed like rabbits!” he exclaimed as he could feel knots within his stomach at the thought.
Old San smiled coldly. “Do you really think they’ll bother with us after this? We’ll be long gone before they realize what we’ve done.”
Er felt a surge of dread in his chest, knowing what Old San was planning.
Qi had reformed a small barrier; he met his gaze with a stern expression. “You said it yourself; you can’t do this alone. You need me, and us,” he said, emphasizing each word.
Old San nodded, not denying it. “True, but don’t worry. They won’t suspect us so soon. Not like the other, his father doesn’t give a damn about him anyway. The sucking we’ve been doing will be for naught,” he put out, eyeing the abomination.
“Is this all for nothing? His mother will not rest until she hears reasons, be he worthless or not!” Er stood behind him, his eyes fixed on the kneeling Old San as he forced them to swallow the rough pills, each one a bitter bite of death.
“No, that is not my meaning. We are but granting his father a favor by ending his life, though not truly, as he shall be serving us and be our weapon. His father will put a feeble show of pursuing us, and care not for his son’s fate,” Old San said, as he traced an invocation on their chests while their lifeless forms lay side by side.
Er let out a weary sigh at his words, and lifted his eyes to the sky. There, the last cry of the sun, amidst the shifting clouds of ash, he saw the twin moons, both had yet to fully form. He recalled the saying from the old passed to young of their land, that when the moons ascend, no one shall speak false or the white sisters will spill their blood. Many had perished by their wrath, or so it was said. Even little doubted the truth of the legend.
Old San sat in a lotus pose between them as he sought to forge and impose a bond of thrall and lord that would give him sway over their bodies. Their flesh twitched and spasmed, but then a surge of fury filled Old San’s mind as he beheld Aegis’s form. He tore off his blindfold, and snatched a small black hook earring. The man’s shape shifted from Aegis to an unknown human.
Er’s eyes melted, he felt his throat parched and raspy, as if he had swallowed sand. A grip seized his heart, as he glanced at Old San, who was quivering with rage.
What madness was this? The boy’s corpse had vanished? How long ago? No trace of disturbance at all. Old San seethed inwardly as his fists clenched the air in fury. It must have been when the boy fell, he was swiftly shifted away by the sword-wielder. That was the only reason he could think of, he stood up and forwarded.
“ZARA’NATHUL!” Old San roared as he thrust his hands forward, grasping the abomination’s jaw. A dark spark flickered, then engulfed, as it ripped the flesh from the bones in a heartbeat and branded a black sigil on his palm.
Old San felt it clawing at his mind, trying to seize his body. He quickly stabbed it into Young Master Gu, who writhed madly as if possessed by demons. And perhaps he was, for he bore the mark of many from the Abomination itself. Er watched this, knowing they would have no chance to slay it without Kuro Sagul’s one of many fingers.
Young Master Gu’s body burst from within as he changed, becoming a smaller version of the horror as strands of hair hung from his body, lower jaws jutted out, and horns. His shape was now twice the size he once was. He was now brawny and able to soar as fleshed wings thrice his size sprouted, the mind of the horror was instantly roused, though remained silent.
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Old San, took both staves and his former head. Tying it, he strode past Qi and Er, who trailed behind him. They made their way to the end of the dome within, where they were the last three standing; both had already fled. Only hundreds of brave ones awaited them outside, some shouted at them, some conversing, some mute, but no matter, they were all fearless left, then he gazed at Li Xin afar of whatever eyes he possessed, both hands locked as the corpse before him shone with light.
“Slay!” Old San bellowed. As the dome was shattered, they engaged, and the Abomination began its rampage.
The beast tore through the horde like a hot knife through butter. Blood sprayed across as the courageous screamed and cried.
Old San, commanded the abomination, urging it to rip and tear, while Qi and Er fought back-to-back. Er left his cloth, as he was constantly swimming within the earth as a form of green mist. Qi, on the other hand, wielded a giant sword; it was blocky and blunt, but he slammed and struck with ease.
The Abomination roared as it was hit by a beast the same size and seared by many, its body oozing blood and puss. It roared; it was not enough; it was too strong, too powerful. Very few had even used lesser god contracts.
Old San rushed towards Li Xin, dread filling his chest. He had no idea what he was bringing after all.
Li Xin was muttering as his hands were clasped, and a white light enveloped the carcass.
He beheld it, a gleam of silver and blue, as a monstrous serpent emerged from the earth, its body curling and squirming as it wrapped around Li Xin. Its scales were steel and sparkled like stars. Its teeth were the length of knives, and its eyes blazed with a fierce blue fire.
A golden blaze drove them all back as Old San’s charge was halted by a golden form with rings as wings. He was hurled thirty paces, and he landed with a tumble, a chuckle, with a nod of his head. He wielded the obsidian staff, as luminous serpents flew towards Li Xin.
Another burst of light consumed him, as a golden shape emerged beside Old San both trading blows as he tried to evade while sporadically shooting luminous serpents. A lotus flower blossomed behind him, a sudden blast of fire, there were now three. “Zhenyuan!” Old San cried for the abomination as he felt the depth of searing pain; half of him was scorched and the other was struck by a fist of gold.
Old San was devoured into the void, but he had already been inflicted. He fled but kept stumbling and rolling as his ankles ached; he could sense the joint; it was not what one desired in this plight.
He escaped the void with both staves, and a storm of petals cut him from all sides for a brief moment as he was seized by a large grip. They were swiftly brought down by a wyrm; now only eighty brave ones remained; they were forsaken by the sudden movements of the Abomination.
“Er!” he cried as his eyes darted all around, and then one of Er’s mists hurled a black finger.
Old San shifted his weight to his left leg and snatched the finger from the Abomination’s grasp. He held it aloft and cried out, “Oh fallen one, hear my plea and grant me strength. Give me one of your Conquerors to command as my own!” As he spoke, he felt a gust of wind from his northeast. He leapt aside and avoided a slash, a silver-clad man swinging a scythe of red and black. He retreated as an arrow whizzed past his ear.
Old San lifted his head and saw a storm of beams descend upon him. The Abomination roared and shielded him with its body, vaporizing the beams in an instant. Five totems of white sprang up around them, forming a circle. They rose in the air and felt a crushing force of wind. Two golden figures emerged and unleashed a spiral of light. They were swallowed in the void. The Abomination seized him and fled, as the finger in his hand twitched wildly. They escaped the space, only to face a towering oceanic wave and a feeling of a scythe’s grim kiss from behind.
The Abomination wrapped its wings around him. He felt its blood seeping through his flesh from the gash that the slash had left on its back. They had barely risen above, when a wyrm swooped down and clamped its jaws on the Abomination’s tail. The Abomination roared and shook it off, but its flight was faltering. Its wings flapped weakly, as if the wind was resisting them. He looked up and saw a barrage of blue beams raining down from the sky. They hit the Abomination’s wings, tearing them apart. They plummeted to the ground, spinning and tumbling, as everything at this moment howled in his ears.
The finger rolled and exploded in a cloud of black smoke, as a pillar of pale light pierced the sky and the earth. The blast sent everyone flying, as the pressure was intense. The light gathered and formed a tall winged creature. The Conqueror’s body was terrifying. It had a wide, muscular torso, with pale crimson skin and coal rocky flesh, ashen wings, and horns on its elbows. Its face had two spikes, a wide mouth, and one eye with throbbing veins. It landed next to Old San, as if awaiting doctrines.
Old San had been wounded by the blast. The wound was not severe, but the pain was excruciating. He felt the blood seeping, and a dull pain in his arm.
Old San rose to his feet, feeling pain all over his body, he leaned on the two staves. He lifted his head and gave everyone a mocking smile, or as close as he could manage. The Abomination had healed its wounds, and stood beside him like a loyal protector. The Conqueror looked at him with a single eye, waiting for his command.
“KILL THEM ALL!” He bellowed as both creatures spread forth their wings… and so began the cleaving.
The battle was a blur of chaotic painting of crimson fire. Everything seemed to be moving faster and faster. The Abomination was relentless in its attacks. It was like a storm, destroying everything in its path. Its flesh wings were wide and razor-sharp, its teeth and claws like blades.
The Conqueror's rocky flesh was impenetrable and its breath was destruction of crimson. Its roar shook the earth and the skies, and its single gaze was death.
As they were overwhelmed by the duo, the brave ones tried to flee. Some made their beasts and creatures to delay the rampage, but their efforts were futile.
Old San laughed maniacally with metal, watching as his enemies fell before him. He reveled in their despair and agony, as he crushed their bones and tore out their organs.
The Conqueror's flames scorched their flesh and the Abomination’s fangs ripped their bodies to shreds.
They were like a pack of wolves, tearing apart their prey, feasting on their remains.
The Conqueror let out a deafening roar as it unleashed its fiery breath. The flames engulfed a group of fleeing crowd, and burned their flesh and bone.
“HAHAHA! DIE!” Old San, his voice filled with malice and hatred. If he could control his face better, it would be twisted into a grotesque expression of anger and glee.
The battle raged on, the beasts and creatures were slain and their bodies littered the ground like trash as abysses were carved out on the earth.
The Conqueror sprang like a lion, reaching for the woman who wielded fans. But his arms dropped limp, as the scythe-man snatched her away. A blow and a roar came from behind him, and he vanished in a flash. The scythe-man landed far away, and the Conqueror’s mouth sparked and sputtered. He unleashed a torrent of beams of fire, carving a deep pit in the ground.
The Conqueror's fire was thwarted by a golden being’s fist, as big as him but with rings for wings. Another grabbed him from behind, but he did not flinch. His eye bulged with rage, and he let out a scream of blood and fury. He vaporized them both, and flew higher into the sky. There, a pegasus dodged and darted, avoiding his blows from above.
The pegasus and Its rider flew fast and agile; feathers were sprinkled, as the Conqueror chased after them.
They zigged and zagged, up and down, trying to shake the Conqueror off. But the Conqueror was relentless in spewing crimson.
The Conqueror wheeled in the air, making the winds quake. He had turned back and alighted behind and beside Old San with a great noise, who was gazing at Li Xin. He was yet performing some manner of art. Old San wondered why he could not shift the body as he had done with Aegis. He knew Aegis was gone, but he knew not what being would be here this time. Er and Qi came behind him, all the brave had fled at that hour, they were weary and limp, hoping their limbs would not fail them.
Old San bade the Abomination slay Li Xin. It took wing and made the earth quake as it went, but it was hindered by a golden shape. A blow and the golden shape were broken, but lotus flowers burst around it and petals flew and smote it on all sides like a storm of blades. A blast of wind and the Conqueror sped forth and passed by, but strong gusts slowed it somewhat as a flying wyrm struck and fled.
The Conqueror fell to the earth and sprang forth again. He met wind pressure against him, and his one eye glared with blood as he beheld a man, somewhat old, with a staff of wood. The Conqueror bellowed with fire, but fire met him also, from a horse and a fat man. They were cast aside, but the Conqueror was stayed for a brief while. Then wolves of black appeared and ran at him.
The Conqueror made all quake with a bellow as it ran thirty strides and the man was hurled and slain as only a pair of legs stood still. He pressed on towards Li Xin but the Conqueror swerved as he saw a man in silver raiment, white sleeves, and a girdle of red, bearing a scythe with a blade of crimson and a haft of black.
Li Xin’s body was now drained of qi as another shape was called forth within the cloth of the corpse and took its place. When Aegis fell unconscious, he had swiftly changed him with another man far from the field of battle, for both had the mark of swift shifting. This corpse had it not, so summoning Aegis back here cost much time, and he could not but frown. Aegis lay still unconscious; two false gods wrought havoc here, and the Blessed Daughter was nowhere to be seen. What was this chaos? He looked at the sight before him.