Blood And Energy
An hour later, farther into the Green Emirate Grotto's inland territory.
Whooosh~, thud thud. A Fighter slowly descended until it was a few meters above the heads of the Empire's soldier units. Blauw Ishikyy jumped from it, letting it float above them along the other Fighters whose Imperial Guards and citizens had already been brought to the frontline. Her feet landing on the ground showcased how heavy her equipment was, and she landed right behind her Frigate's people. However, the Warrant Officer had retaken command of the few thousand soldier units, with the royal princess taking a thousand under him.
“Ready?” The Warrant Office said as he looked at Blauw Ishikyy, and she looked at the other second-in-commands for this offensive, nodding at them before walking towards the few thousand soldier units before them. Passing through the crowd, Blauw Ishikyy and the other second-in-commands took position in accordance with the Warrant Officer’s accommodations. Blauw Ishikyy found her dear comrade in her unit, sighing in relief. She then stood before everyone else to stand beside the Warrant Officer and wait for orders.
“It’s about time. Now, let me explain to you.” Their Warrant Officer lightly said as every other leading figure in the Empire’s troops could see a cloud and some dots coming closer. This was to a civilian’s naked eyesight, but still, something to feel their bodies strange… truly strange. Blauw Ishikyy heard her commander speak as she watched the enemy approach. “As per your training. Don’t see this as the last time of your life, but as an ordinary day where you just have to move more and not train or cultivate. Just kill.”
“But since you’re not only soldier units,” the Warrant Officer gave a nod to Blauw Ishikyy before continuing, “You have the hands of thousands of those behind you. Observe and analyze, even if you think it is wasteful— or will affect your combat. This is not your fight, much less a fashionable duel. It’s the Empire’s war. The battles of many of our hearts, and the raining of many of our blood.”
“Wooh,” Blauw Ishikyy lightly knitted her eyebrows and separated her lips into a small circle as she and the others responded with a light calling. The Warrant Officer then nodded and kept quiet. Everyone knew what to do and how to follow. They just had to begin. They just had to know they were supposed to do it. The pause in action, the muffled bombing, firing, and explosive noises from behind them slowly drifted away from their battlefield, bringing pressure into a vast area in these empty plains.
“Enemy approaching! Less than 5 minutes before they reach us!” A voice reported to the minds of every leading figure in the army, about to fight and face a rapidly approaching enemy. They could see the enemy already with their array formations and Mortal weapons ready to combat. Thus, they began, and Blauw Ishikyy wasn’t left behind. She quickly commanded the thousand behind her with a slightly shaky breath, “Shields out, vanguard!”
Clank, sheen- twing~! Every soldier unit behind her, prepared and knowing their role, took a considerable tool with a severe, smooth outer circular appearance with a pair of obscure eyes, black shield that was as long as their torso, and at least 3 people’s wide, out of their Covert Space bags. Hearing all these sounds from every soldier unit under her surprised her, widening her eyes as she looked down at the ground. “!”
“... In position. Start circulating your Neutral Energy…” Blauw Ishikyy said, more stably and in a steel-like tone. There was no sound this time, but their bodies emanated a growing aura, and they slowly touched with each other without merging, as if individually preparing themselves to face the enemy. That was when Blauw Ishikyy nodded and heaved a soundless sigh of relief, letting out a visible breath from the cold as the snow her feet were sunken in started parting.
“Array formation, up!!” Her medallion transmitted her words, and only those immediately behind her heard her words aloud. The other several dozen leading figures standing within several kilometers to her left and right heard a muffled noise, as she did when hearing others start preparing their troops. Immediately, her troops exploded with a bell-like dragged sound that transmitted to the shoulder, back, and soles of every soldier unit, including hers.
Pshiii- shiii- shiiiift~ ffftt! From a fourth point of view, one could see how a web, made of octagons, surrounding a smallish space between each soldier unit’s body facing another. They all made a general glow appear at the center of their formation, slowly moving towards the center and the front, where Blauw Ishikyy’s helmet shone, and her crystallized armor was already activated beneath her skin. On the other hand, her soldier units wore their crystallized armor, intensifying the array formation’s links and the glow on Blauw Ishikyy’s helmet.
“...” Then came the waiting. Blauw Ishikyy’s eyes became stuck ahead, watching the enemy grow as her breath intensified, unbeknownst to herself. Her brightest, cutest eyes started morphing, and despite her previous use of Neutral Energy, leaving her with less than 55% of her storage after resting and taking some pills, her irises dilated as her pupils started turning into a rhomboid. But before her eyes took a Fauna’s eyes appearance, they became a little wider and gained an obscure luster, showing a primordial savagery that preyed upon the incoming soon-to-be hunted victims.
“Charge!” Blauw Ishikyy lifted her right-handed pike and shouted in a whisper. At the same time, a few other leading figures did the same, some shouting louder, some longer, and others simply raising their arm or arms, holding their weapons. With her left hand wearing the Colorful Claw her personal Imperial Teacher made for her, she rushed forward, immediately followed by every soldier unit behind her that was already adopting a lower stance.
When she lunged forward into the air, pouncing like the fastest quadruped Fauna, her soldier units were like juvenile Fauna, immediately picking their feet and lunging with her in the same general direction. Blauw Ishikyy didn’t even think of looking back as the sound and motion of every soldier unit under her were in her mind. She felt like an invisible, untouchable rope pulled her shoulders and collarbone backwards, but if she continued to dash forwards, it would only make her feel heavier without slowing her down or pulling her back.
Step! Step! Step! Step! Step! Step! Step! Step!...
Blauw Ishikyy and the rest of the vanguard from the 637,000 soldier units started rushing forward 2 minutes before the enemy army reached the main force. The 400,000+ Defiant cultivators behind started charging a minute later, and she could already see the enemy’s faces and mounts’ as they rushed their weapons and armor-crystallized bodies with furious expressions. These enemy troops weren’t only from the Grottoes but also from the Wyrm Lord Nation and the True Dragon House, especially the latter.
“Engage!!” Blauw Ishikyy shouted after she felt the insane discrepancy between time and space. She was still a few kilometers away from facing the enemy 10 seconds ago but was immediately at 20 pikes’ reach from starting the battle. Her tail waggled behind her as her hands grew claws, her mouth fangs and her ears and skin became armored with aquamarine, azure scales, hiding some of the already flashing enemy energy attacks flying towards her side.
Pshift- pshift, pshift, pshift, pshift~! SLAAMMM~! Clank- cuh- PSHK! Splassshh~!! Tiiiin~...
Blauw Ishikyy unhesitatingly threw herself at the enemy, wielding no shield tool but her body as her right shoulder connected to a female’s sternum. Blauw Ishikyy’s right arm's upper section passed through mounds before landing on the crystallized armor, immediately breaking it and forcing the enemy’s head to bloat into 2 as blood rushed upwards to her head, exploding her eyes into the air and her lips burst with unoriginal veins splurting everywhere like worms trying to escape from a frying pan.
On the other hand, enemy energy attacks landed on Blauw Ishikyy’s left shoulder and back as her right shoulder immediately broke through the enemy’s body, sending the rests that didn’t bloat or explode flying in the air. But the inertia from their slamming bodies followed her movements, impulsing and crushing the bodies inside out from the other enemy cultivators behind her first victim.
An area 3 meters wide opened before and around her as her soldier units joined in right after. Blauw Ishikyy became startled as she processed her first killing and the next ones after that. Her troops didn’t wait for her and stood, side by side, with her as the enemy rapidly filled the numbers. They were more than them anyway, and their flying mounts were already killing dozens of Empire’s soldier units as the battle started. However, they could see the rest of the Empire’s army charge forwards and could only think of how lucky they were that not everyone came at once.
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Blauw Ishikyy could see from the corner of her eyes as she looked at the ground how the enemy’s bodies were being broken, stabbed, and killed without stopping. She also witnessed enemy Mortal weapons or energy attacks go past her, followed by a momentary pause before the soldier units around her ‘returned’ the attack. When she slowly understood everything going on, she gradually lifted her head and gazed at a 2 meters tall Earth Elf swinging a hammer down on her head.
Pshift- clank- cuuuh- SLAM- splutter!
Blauw Ishikyy went back to the battlefield without further complications. Her face looked up, frowning, at the tall enemy. She simply opened her left claw, drove it upwards to palm the hammer’s head, and crushed it a little with her fingers and claws. The Elf was astounded, but before his body could react, Blauw Ishikyy pushed her left arm with Neutral Energy and smashed the Elf’s head into a pulp, returning it to its neck and torso.
Cuh- swish- thrust- whoooosh- swoosh! Ckrsheeeeeerrrrr~!
After the Earth Elf was taken down and his body wobbled to the side, only to be stomped down by the other Imperial Guards, Blauw Ishikyy swung her tail, rushed forth, and immediately cute through a line of enemies, penetrating 3 meters forward before stopping, stunning both sides as she maintained a lower pose with her left leg extended and her right one folded under her abdomen. She immediately followed with a hacking motion from up left to down right, cutting another enemy into 2 after impaling several more to death with their organs crushed, helplessly writhing in the snow.
Blauw Ishikyy turned around several times, blocking with her pike as it became cracked with each exchange and stopped a Mortal weapon from touching her directly. Only energy attacks and passing blades brushed against her skin before being reflected. Her left-handed Colorful Claw thrust nonstop after each block of her pike, sometimes launching claw energy attacks that claimed Wind particles for a moment and shot them into the enemy to open a slightly broader space further into the enemy ranks. She wasn’t stopping just now!
“She’s the princess! The royal prince- gawhk!” An enemy shouted after Blauw Ishikyy made her way 500 meters into the enemy ranks, evading enemy flying mounts and their raiders before throwing her current polearm with Water element embedded into it, exploding with a potency high enough to blast the mount’s bellies and impale the rider’s bodies, crushing their internal organs with her hectic Neutral Energy.
The shouting enemy found his neck punctured from many different angles, but looking down, he saw a strange claw tool holding his head up while his body fell to the ground. His Spirit Sense fluctuated one last time to find his neck strangled, with each claw taking a different direction as if his murderer had a rabid rage to destroy his life. Blauw Ishikyy’s eyes remained brightest and cutest despite the bloodthirst in them.
Swip! Phhshk! Swing~! Suddenly, behind her back, an enemy covered their hands with Neutral Energy and blood essence. Their eyes were terribly bizarre as they looked at the prize before them. The royal princess’s back seemed fragile, contrary to what they had seen the Imperial Guard massacring their comrades just now. They couldn’t believe this was the royal princess, and even more after seeing such a dainty back that looked lithe even with armor on.
“!” However, their abdomen was penetrated by a small thing. They looked down only to see a blurry tail paralyzing their body before a trident deepened their left eye’s hole, added one to their nose, and choked their throat. The enemy felt their body fly sideways before being tossed like trash. Then, everything went silent. On the other hand, Blauw Ishikyy continued to fight these imprudent traitors and collaborators… all deserved to die under the claws of the Azure Dragon’s Bloodline! Starting here and continuing in the future until they were all massacred into obedience!!
Click- boom~! Blauw Ishikyy did as she remembered, and seeing the trident impale itself in the ground, dividing the enemy’s head into several in the process, she activated her medallion with her Spirit Sense while focusing on it. Seeing a rather big explosion of nearly 100 meters in diameter happen, she praised her teacher while secretly feeling glad she sent the previous enemy far away out of fury from being yelled at by someone who wasn’t her mother or teacher.
“...” Up in the sky, Heian Ciemnosc shook his head, thinking this girl took after him after spending so much time together. Of course, she still had more of her mother inside. It showed as her aura became more glorious… and calling. The soldier units she left behind weren’t abandoned, as she had an even better view from the enemy’s lines after seeping in, and Blauw Ishikyy’s trained Spirit Sense and Soul could easily decipher the enemy’s communications from how close she was to them as they used their medallions.
However, there was something else that happened as she fought. It wasn’t just energies and Spirit Sense that she used while drawing her weapons and Artifact on the ground, flying, or in between. Something else was aiding her. And it was according to everything she belonged to. Her emotions, feelings, desires… bloodthirst… it was all summed up. Heian Ciemnosc curiously thought, ‘Is this Bloodline?’
‘But… so strange!’ Heian Ciemnosc tilted his head to the right as he thought, becoming more intrigued as he even tilted his head to the right, and his floating body rotated rightwards with the notion. ‘Why does it feel like I always do that, too? But… it’s too different. No wonder Shuna’s blood essence barely connected with mine… oh~.’
Heian Ciemnosc continued to stare and study as Blauw Ishikyy only continued to grow more and more unbeatable. She was like a berserk going off at it, ready to die and suffer endless grievous wounds, but without the dying and with barely some suffering. Half an hour passed as she commanded her soldier units and fought, not for her life, but to end theirs. Yet, she was like a beacon that slowly gave off a more and more powerful aura.
It wasn’t just to the Azure Dragon’s Bloodline. It was the entire Empire’s people on the battlefield, both cultivators and citizens assisting it… It was like a golden luster that guided their way in the unseeable path! But instead of finding a way to walk through, it was the path towards battling the enemy, annihilating it… she was guiding them into battle like no one else could. Like not even Heian Ciemnosc knew it could happen! She was like the memory they always held dear, like the only warming light after the dark and the peaceful night after life.
Before another half an hour went by, the real battle, going all-out, between Second Step cultivators in the initial realms, started. The majority was between the Neutrality and Neutral Encephalon realms. Some Broken Crystallization realm cultivators were on the enemy side, aiding however they could, but they were massacred more easily by the Imperial Guards. Blauw Ishikyy ended up becoming a sight to behold, and before that hour came up, a few others tried doing the same.
It was a dangerous act, but it was working, and those who didn’t perish trying started making catastrophic openings in the enemy ranks. It was like a clash between differently colored seas trying to impregnate the other with their properties. None was blatantly victories, and even when they were moving back and forth nonstop, the air and snow, up and down, flew with so much Neutral Energy that the Elemental particles converged around them while avoiding joining the battlefield.
This wasn’t a sign of disaster, even as hundreds of meters long techniques flew and Arts clashed and exploded everywhere. This was just nature, and only those with Elemental affinity could use potent techniques or Arts that needed them. But not just anyone with a mediocre affinity or a high-end quality one. Those who were adept would be faced with their Elemental attacks increased in efficiency and using fewer resources to employ them, while those who didn’t have enough knowledge and manipulation skills would be even weakened.
Who was the Azure Dragon’s Bloodline if not inherently proficient in the Water element? Immediately, to the True Dragon House, Wyrm Lord Nation, and Blue Emirate Grotto’s despair, the Empire’s legacy Bloodline started employing hundreds and thousands of long and augmented Water techniques, Arts, and array formations. The battlefield was filled with flying cultivators, and some citizens who valiantly threatened themselves by shooting at or killing a cultivator also added to the heaviness of the situation.
“Hyah,” Blauw Ishikyy’s scale-armored soles crashed someone’s chest into several pieces as the broken pieces of bones ravaged everything inside, and the enemy cultivator was sent flying 22 meters backwards. Right after, she turned around in the air, forced her body to face one side to another in a second, and hacked down at another that was preparing to send an all-out, last stand blow to kill her. The second enemy’s body was hacked into two, and the cut was so clean it showed their innards, brains, and bones divided before popping out of the body and falling on the snow.
“Hahh!” She was breathing heavily, a bleeding wound under her left eye seeped some more blue as her sternum’s open injury showed one of her ribs and her flesh tearing in pain. Her helmet had already been destroyed, and the crystallized armor beneath her skin had been broken through in several parts from her limbs and back. She bled from the energy wounds on her back, and the back of her hands was riddled with cuts, but the polearm she wielded now was only bathed in gore and blood.
Her left-handed colorful claw was slightly broken, but all its offensive capabilities were at their peak, so it was perfectly fine. As she breathed roughly for several seconds and the blood that was traveling through pathways it shouldn’t be returned to their esteemed directions, she twisted her neck and brusquely turned her head backwards to force her body back into the enemy army. They were now a smaller cluster that was being overwhelmed by the Empire’s army of less than 400,000.
When suddenly, she sensed something, and her face paled just as she was rushing back in like a tireless predator reuniting strength to catch yet another prey. Her face changed, and she resumed her dash, kicked the ground, sending snow flying in a 20 meter radius, and streaked right into the frontlines farthest away from her current position.
…