The Bleeding (2)

"Eh-, e- elder?" One of the leading figures at the front said, shrinking his neck a little. Everyone else around could feel the person's helmet growing smaller this way, which made them feel like the person in question was feeling guilty. Nonetheless, the elder didn't wait for any second and immediately lashed out at the people in front of him, "I said all I needed to ask, so answer my questions! In this instant!"

"Y- y- yes, elder, yes!" The leading figures at the front of the small army nodded, quicker than a chick pecking on rice, before beginning to explain the situation to the elder. His voice was alarmed, but it sounded so honest and had so much fluidity, "Respected elder when we were arriving at the battlefield, where many of us turned out to be traitorous, we were already too late, and our people had killed off any rebel that wanted to save that Ciemnosc."

“By then, the army sent to intercept the criminals was already with Ciemnosc already in their hands. Their elder told us to directly go back and not bother around. They then began preparing for returning here. I’m guessing that elder became very frustrated at seeing many of our coalition forced die this way, elder” The figure leading person with a helmet continued to elaborate.

“We shouldn’t be that far away from that army. They should be visible within just a few minutes!” After saying so, another leading figure added, “Also, from the other small armies, it seemed like they also had traitorous people on their side. They fortunately were close to one another when the sudden attack happened. Though they lost many people, they ended up merging with the army, so it should be a much better result, possibly above 1,000,000 survivors!”

“... Alright, I understand.” The elder said, making their helmets blurring and fogging the lower sections of their helmets, also allowing those within the defensive positions the sound of a relieved sigh from most of those in the small army right in front of them. But then, the elder added, “But you still have not answered my other question: ‘why are none of you injured?’. Do you really expect me to believe that none of you are traitorous? With the things, you’ve just told me? HM?!”

“A- ah! Elder, please wait! Do not misunderstand!” - “Yes, elder, let us explain!” - “Give us just a minute, please, respected elder…” The elder got such a strong response from more than one individual and not just from the leading figures that it made the elder feel content with the result. He pointed at a certain person in the small army that wasn’t a leading figure.

“You over there! Answer this question of mine then!”

“Yes, elder!” A girly voice came out, but not caring about her youthful voice, she began. “Our acting elder actually left us way before we could arrive at the place we were supposed to arrive. We ended up taking more time tranquilizing everyone out and then resuming our walking there, elder. If it wasn’t because of them, we might have even panicked and not shown up at all!”

“As for us not being traitorous, even when the army that we barely managed to see at its worst, none of us had made a move when they were in such a weakened state. That army and the remains from the other small armies also trusted in us for such reasons, elder. Please do not commit the mistake of killing these 150,000 disciples and believers! Our coalition has already suffered enough casualties…”

“...” The elder, with a face that clearly showed he didn’t expect such things and that those things he’s just been told were out of his control, fell silent, and his whole appearance was seen by those in the defensive positions who began to lower their shoulders and relax their tensed muscles and mentality to kill their own people if necessary.

“Elder?” One leading figure said in askance after several seconds letting the elder contemplate. In the same way, the elder never used the power of his cultivation at the early stages of the Obsidiafying realm. He was really just questioning them, which is why the small army outside began to feel at ease, and those in the defensive positions hoped that the elder won’t give them any more trouble and let them in.

“Alright, you all get in, just don’t wear that stupid helmet. The shame can be washed off when that Ciemnosc is delivered to the higher-ups… Goddammit, why can’t they respond in a situation like this?!” The elder said as he floated a further 2 meters upwards in the air, turned around, and then flung his arm at the small army, giving them his back as the gates to the first defensive point began opening and becoming safe to go through with the arrays deactivating.

“... Look! It’s the army! They are returning, they seem to all surround a person!” Suddenly, as the 150,000 small armies finished entering the first defenses of the western gate, a person high up in one of the newly built towers in front of the gate shouted loudly. It was obvious that she was an acting elder, of the not so many that remained.

Step step step step step step step step step step step…

“...” - “...” - “...” - “...” Those from the army that were returning were naturally more than 600,000; in fact, they seemed to be around 1,000,000, about half of their first numbers. And as the small army that had just entered the defensive positions saw them having rallied up with some other troops, they looked at each other.

Pat.

At that moment, Ciemnosc felt a hand pat his back, his body shaken but just for a couple of seconds. He then began to slowly move his Spirit Sense towards his Covert Space bags, where his baby was.

“Elders, acting elders, please let us in!!” There was an elder who shouted at those from the inside, and from the tallest tower recently built, 3 acting elders and the elder from before came out to meet the elder and his army that had just arrived before the defensive line, just like the small army had done over several minutes ago.

“Elder Pla, it seems your initially successful army has dwindled more than what I was informed.” The elder from before that questioned the small army opened up his mouth to speak, while the acting elders beside him also floating in the air looked at the disciples and believers who looked haggard and desperate, on very bad conditions for being cultivators.

“There wasn’t just one single attack. Many more traitors kept on sending themselves to their deaths, right into our hands, elder Sac.” Elder Pla responded, seemingly with a very deep frown, and then hosted a huge silence where elder Sac and the acting elders around him in the air became the special guests. From behind, at the tallest tower, 4 more acting elders came out with curious faces, trying to look at their current, temporary leader receiving the army.

“...” - “...” The silence extended, seemingly forming a really depressive atmosphere. Within the first defenses, the disciples in charge of defending the gate began to murmur between each other, mostly wondering why was the elder not opening the way for their tired comrades and temporary allies. But, the silence was just one way of silently communicating, unbeknownst to those 4 acting elders behind elder Sac.

“Open the gates, do not let any more unknown evil forces attempt to free the criminal, do it already!” Elder Sac said, shouting his last few words before not turning around but slowly floating backwards with the acting elders beside him slowly turning around and also taking their respective weapons out.

“?” The 4 acting elders behind and the disciples in their defensive positions were all looking without much confusion, just inquisitively at the 3 acting elders beside the elder.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

“Charge!!” Elder Sac suddenly said, and with both him and elder Pla suddenly gaining huge grins, they began destroying the arrays all around the first line of defense as well as those 3 acting elders flying at their maximum speed towards the other 4 acting elders!

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In just a moment, sides were decided and the poor now actually confused ones that were the ‘rebelling’ side’s enemies could only act by instinct trying to activate the defenses and kill off the intruding, traitorous enemy!!

However, the 2 elders only had to send a flying burst of their translucent Power Energy from their hands or just their fingers for those arrays to be attacked at their weakest spots and then for such to be completely obsolete, becoming useless. As for the actual western gate, the 3 acting elders up against the 4 acting elders were done just for this matter.

But instead of going 3 vs 4, the 3 acting elders moved so that there was 1 acting elder ignoring the enemy acting elders and making his way towards the core of the western gate that was slowly losing bright as if it was getting deactivated. This was not just a sudden offensive but also an inside job! It was all on one, and the already dispirited enemy disciples couldn’t help but become even more dispirited!

But naturally, and seeing the incredibly precarious situation of the western gate’s array formations being deactivated, the 4 enemy acting elders moved to each intercept the other 2 acting elders and for another 2 to intercept that other acting elder.

Naturally, however, the 2 acting elders wouldn’t let the enemy acting elder succeed. They immediately went berserk, even becoming riddled with a couple extra unnecessary injuries here and there, all to face off not just 1 but 2 enemy acting elders at the same time, using as much Power Energy they could muster in small moments as possible just to impede these enemy acting elders from blocking or interjecting the key acting elder to…open entirely the western gate!

“Noooo!! Stop him!” - “You’ll stay with me, haha!!” Two acting elders closer to the western gate were being single-handedly blocked off by one acting elder, whose blood was beginning to fully decorate even the sclera in his eyes. While the other acting elder holding the other 2 enemy acting elders were even beginning to severely injure them, her top notch quality machete became a flesh-hungry object that her 2 enemy acting elders couldn’t free themselves from.

Slowly, in the slowest of motions, even the small army began attacking altogether at those enemy disciples who were even giving their backs to them in order to protect them, not realizing the possible allegiance of the small army itself - shedding blood left and right as a sudden larger than normal armored vehicle appeared in the middle of that small army… While the acting elder rushing to the western gate was just a few seconds away from flying right into it.

From the entrance of the first line of defense, where the elders were still getting rid of many more arrays from the subsequent lines of defenses from the inside to get out through the western gate, the coalition of the 4 major organizations killing off those in the defensive positions were getting more brutal even going as far as to accumulate all of their Power Energy before exploding right into a huge group of enemies with a detonating burst of Power Energy ‘failed’ tool.

It was all carnage, no matter where it was. Even the small army began advancing as well, with the extra large armored vehicle slowly becoming the most protected unit in the entire battle.

Swiiiiiiippp… … … katch- BOOOOOM~!!

The acting elder who was flying straight into the western gate, right as he reached the middle, the huge boulder-like mechanized object in his arms was suddenly crushed by none other, but his arms themselves, covered with Power Energy, and while his whole body began emanating a dangerous aura of Power Energy.

The next moment, a huge explosion went out, the gates that were the pride of the Self-Mutilating Honores Sect and seven more so among all of the other 4 major organizations’ territories. Height of 200 meters and an overall thickness of 20 meters. With walls 30 meters tall but 80 meters thick that forced anyone going out and in through all those 80 meters, they were now all gone with a cluster of pure energy bursting into smithereens everything it touched.

Including the self-sacrificing acting elder whose figure slowly disappeared, becoming engulfed by the pure white, translucent, and transparent energy in Ciemnosc’s eyes.

The dull crimson and obscure brown colors of the buildings within this 550 square km sect’s territory became opaque even as it was still daylight, and the closer to the explosion, the more opaque they became for just a couple of seconds - before the cluster of pure energy disappeared within just a moment.

The moment it happened, a 400 meters wide hole was made into the walls and gates that were before. Meanwhile, all of those on Ciemnosc’s side continued battling the suddenly paralyzed enemy disciples and believers who weren’t even sure of what the hell had occurred on their backs. The only thing they could feel was the sensation of their skin being ruptured or invaded before the sensations of their inner bodies being destroyed or stabbed slowly made them sober up.

However, by then, many other disciples and believers were already trampling on their bodies, already getting to their next kills of the paralyzed, dumbstruck enemy disciples and believers.

Those that were in the defensive lines closer to the gate were, of course, completely obliterated by the boom. And without even noticing where their death would come from, they immediately disappeared along with the rest of the walls leaving a large gap for the fearlessly small army that began advancing before the explosion and even continued to while it exploded and after it had exploded.

“Keep going!!!” One person, one cultivator, and his single shout were what stopped the ringing from the small army that was mindlessly marching forward, only resisting the weak blows from those nearby who tried to stop them. Immediately after, the small army’s eyes opened wider. And before anything else could happen, they sped up their way towards the outside!!

“Aaaaaagghhh! Die, you cowards, motherfuckers, TRAITORS~!!” One enemy acting elder that was rather close to the cluster of pure energy lashed out and swatted the acting elder, who was barely able to float in the air away. That acting elder’s right limb flew in a certain direction while the enemy acting elder faced the army at the first line of defense massacring enemy disciples and believers.

Whoosh!

While the 2 elders were already returning after having opened the doors for the small army to get out and were making their way back to the rest of the disciples and believers, the passing figure of that enemy acting elder made their eyes shrink. Attempting to stop him by sending their own deathly techniques, they were still too slow as the enemy acting elder seemed to have drawn inspiration from the acting elder who sacrificed himself with his body enshrouded not only with his own Power Energy but also from some remains of that cluster of pure energy.

“Get away!” - “Enemy approaching, holy shit! He’s going to blow us all u-”

KABOOOOOOM!!

Before the whole army could react, the enemy acting elder, without caring about the safety of his own disciples and believers, threw himself at the one who was being protected by many and still had his helmet on; right at the center of the army.

Thanks to facing the now gone western wall, however, they could already see the enemy acting elder coming and had already spread as far away as possible from each other. While ‘Ciemnosc’, at the center, simply took his own helmet out; slowly.

As he was revealing his face, not moving a single bit from his spot, with even some unaware enemy disciples and believers rushing at him in order to kill their ‘king’ of rebels, a kind of tool was being lifted up to his head level with his right hand, facing the incoming enemy acting elder.

“...” Watching from afar, within his commanding vehicle, Ciemnosc recognized Taldes’s face as he pointed that tool towards the incoming, enraged but now also confused enemy acting elder. It was just that the enemy acting elder seemed to no longer hold any control over his bursting body as it began its detonation, and his flight became twisted because of it.

When the boom went out, just 6 meters before and above Taldes at a diagonal angle, the tool in Taldes’s hand shone strongly with a light blue, but that also seemed to be aquamarine. Like the lights raining on people at a large party, as if trying to devour the slowly spreading cluster of a mix between pure energy and the enemy acting elder’s Power Energy, it slowly searched for and enveloped the bursts of mixed energy.

Finding it in just a moment, the tool then proceeded to make a screen of those very same colors and left the explosion blast of that mix of energy exploding within those screens. Unfortunately, perhaps the explosion was too much to take, and after what seemed to be the first tic of the explosion, the cluster of mixed energy was already breaking the screen from the tool all around… And in the next tic, it was broken, engulfing dozens and dozens of meters in radius…also engulfing Taldes’s body.

…trckrr trckrr, trckrr~!

“...” Ciemnosc silently looked around himself, the motor from his commanding vehicle sounding but not garnering any attention from him, his darkest eyes looking back as the fearless and seemingly tireless mix of disciples and believers on his side rushing up at the rest of the enemies once again. But then, he also began looking around him and to his front.

There were still many enemies around, so many that the current amount from the small army of before, about 150,000 in total, was now so little that Ciemnosc was able to see how some enemies were so desperate and rushing up towards his commanding vehicle as if they wanted to slash or stomp down with their weapons at his commanding vehicle as if that was enough to kill him; only to be easily disposed of by nearby disciples and believers.

Many of those from his side jumped up, deviating from incoming, dangerous projectiles and those who were practically trying to jump among the shoulders and backs of disciples and believers. Those enemies would then be struck down, but some of the fellow disciples and believers would also be struck down. Either by too many projectiles that they could not defend themselves against or by another enemy disciple or believer who managed to reach them and they were distracted or tired.

…