Wedding

The Shadows became notorious in the last few days before the finale. Their number was one of the largest groups remaining within the tournament. The Mythical realm and Central Formation realm cultivators weren't separated. The tournament was to decide the younger generation's ranking and fame purposes, not to win rewards or favors from the big shots. Thus, as the tournament proceeded, the number of Mythical realm cultivators dwindled.

From the last few, who fought against those in the Central Formation realm 1st stage while still in the Mythical realm 10th stage, the Shadows were some of those who lasted. They weren’t the only ones, but they did form a group with a few more individuals than those from other Third Step organizations.

In the end, they were still defeated when facing those in the Central Formation realm. However, the most intense fights followed suit. When only a few hundred remained, things got heftier. Through bitter fights, surprises, and furious shockwaves, amazing even the Fourth Step organizations’ leading figures. The last few days showcased the true strongest few among the hundreds of millions that participated.

Many were screened out in the first week, but those were still the numbers of cultivators who gave it a go, be it from organizations or itinerant cultivators. And then, there were Hexitia, Liliam, Pretieta, and Todoro from the Forbloffende Traes Sect.

Liliam finished in 10th place. He fought and lost to his inseparable half, Hexitia, after fighting in a silenced stage where the spectators watched the peak might between two high-end Shadows. When they started fighting, hundreds of moves were employed at once, nearly making even Godly cultivators believe they were seeing an all-rounder Supreme Art, but it wasn’t.

Just the sheer number of attacks, reactions, and strong bouts amazed every individual watching the tournament, including the hidden fellows lazying around out of boredom.

Their fight extended. Midways through deciding a victor, Hexitia used her Sky grade hidden forearm-long daggers in her sleeves to send darkish hurricanes with starry speckles. Liliam used dual short scimitars to cut his way through them as he momentarily let go of them to defend against Hexitia’s melee attacks. The darkish hurricane became thousands of kilometers tall and more than a kilometer in diameter, but it continued as they thrashed each other about.

Towards the end, it all returned to a melee between them. Hexitia and Liliam continued using their Sky grade weapons, but their sheer bodily strength at work, with most of their enhanced Neutral Energy exhausted, swatted each other’s weapons away after each long clash.

Whenever they fought, punching and streaking a kick with their legs tracing through the air, they would follow with their Spirit Sense and Soul moving their weapons flown away to return. Continuing their raw melee, they would separate for 1 second before rushing at each other again, this time with their weapons in hand, before engaging in another long bout.

At last, Hexitia stood tall with her upper back straight as her lower lip was stained with her blood. But so was her right-handed hidden dagger’s tip covered in Liliam’s blood against his neck’s apple as he sat on his bum, before her, with her right foot on his right thigh, stopping him from any movement.

It only took a conceding phrase for her to change from insanely devilish and thirsty to lively and contented as she helped Liliam up and hugged him cutely. Then, she helped him out of the stage before she returned to the center and sat cross-legged. But only Liliam and the other Shadows remaining in the tournament knew how more exhausted Hexitia was than him.

When Todoro Kalavera faced Hexitia in the semifinals, they dueled for a little before she surrendered. She wasn’t crazy enough to think she could deal with the First Disciple. Furthermore, it wasn’t necessary to show the Imminent Wrath Special Body in him.

At last, Todoro Kalavera met his future wife in the finals. Hexitia might have placed in 5th place, but she wasn’t seen any weaker than any of the 3rd and 4th places. On the other hand, the lovers’ ‘quarrel’ began without much preamble, the finals began.

To Todoro Kalavera and Pretieta Gori and the other Shadows, they just sparred before Pretieta decided to let Todoro have his win. He was the Forbloffende Traes Sect’s First Disciple, after all. Nevertheless, it was not quite like that for any other spectator.

The lovebirds were so used to sparring that they forgot how brainlessly aggressive they could be while fighting at ease. They caused shockwaves that expanded for hundreds of meters. Whenever they used energy, their hands seemed to become one with the air, but they only used their enhanced Neutral Energy. Beacons of energy flew into the pillars, whenever they were deviated. Or their attacks exploded and pushed them hundreds of meters apart, when they slammed with it against each other.

After rushing at each other from thousands of meters away, bashing each other the fuck out, and receiving tremendous attack after tremendous attack, Pretieta held her body with her hands on her knees, gasping for breath. That was when she surrendered and gave conclusion to the top Third Step younger generation folk.

The 3* Region felt extremely excited after these months. The Forbloffende Traes Sect definitely became renown. Each of their younger generation demonstrated such fighting capabilities that elevated the bar for every duel after their initial debut. The tournament turned more serious and heavier in the participants’ hearts. Thus, every fight revealed each other’s intricacies. Some people brought fame and interest to themselves, while others to their organization as well.

However, when everyone was ready to wrap this up and boast about the tournament personal seats to their knowns, a little person made an appearance at last.

“… I, disciple of my Master, Darkness, challenge anyone who wishes to spar with me!!”

Olivia Clark appeared in the middle of the stage Pretieta and Todoro, those lovebirds, cracked open here and there, leaving even a few craters around the edges. She appeared with a sword-whip pointed downwards with its handle heaved by her palms placed atop each other.

Olivia looked at nowhere, towards the empty area between a couple of bleachers’ sections. Her body was wrapped in a thin yet remarkable Sky grade with overly imposing black armor. Her blonde hair had grown past her bum, with a small yet feminine fringe covering her forehead. Furthermore, her hair strands were thin and smooth, rapidly moving through the air despite its soft caresses.

Olivia Clark’s appearance had been long known by the 3* Region. Although the other Regions weren’t too interested in knowing about her, nor remember her first appearance like the 3* Region does, the 3* Region in question always has the time and desire to see her and know what she’ll do next.

Now that she showed herself, hundreds of billions cheered to their heart’s contents in the bleachers, causing the array formations to keep it down, so the citizens wouldn’t get migraines tomorrow. The crowd was absurdly shocked. Not only because of her cultivation base, but because they realized that was the reason she hadn’t participated…

… Sect Master Darkness’s disciple had become a Silhouette realm 7th stage cultivator!!!

Then, after a minute of silence, eerie and overwhelming, a minotaur Beast stepped onto the stage with a loud ‘THUD’. He landed 20 meters before Olivia, but with his size, it looked like he was right before her. His cultivation base equal to Olivia, she continued ignoring him like he wasn’t in front of her before her eyes became clearer.

Then, she slid her right foot to her right. She kicked the tip of her sword-whip into the air in the same direction before bringing its edge onto her right trapezius muscle. She tilted her head to the right for half a second before moving it to the left. Then, she lowly spat out, “Get on.”

The minotaur roared to the skies, summoned 2 enormous battle-axes, and swung his shoulders up and down as he took 4 steps forward, enough to stand 1 meter before her. His snout could just open widely and devour her tall yet not-so-tall body. But— Olivia swung her sword-whip’s handle upwards. It glimmered a few times through the sky as everyone watched with baffled expressions.

While some necks shrunk, not knowing why Olivia Clark moved like this, she jolted her head to the left with her right arm extending to her right side. The sword-whip flew to her right, whereas her right hand’s opened, relaxed fingers were coiled by the sword’s whip, as its tip faced her while flying away. Then, ever so slightly, she knitted her eyebrows together and looked at her opponent about to swing his left-handed battle-axe at her small collarbone.

The mere change in her expression caused tremors through the minotaur’s head, but it was too late. Olivia formed a fist with her whip coiling around and threw it onto the minotaur’s head. A tremendous sound exploded along with the battle-axe, followed by the minotaur’s left arm turning liquefied after its bones were thoroughly comprised.

She didn’t leave it at that. As the minotaur was wholeheartedly shocked, his eyes about to pop out of his sockets, she stomped her feet against the ground and flew up. After flying 20 meters above the minotaur’s head, she suddenly looked downwards. Then, under everybody’s shocked, wide agape mouths and eyes, Olivia swung her right fist downwards.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Her sword-whip flew across the sky, streaking in an upwards arch as darkish energy dropped onto the minotaur’s nape. In the last moment, she diverted the lethality of her attack towards the minotaur’s surroundings. But at the same moment, the stage was broken in two.

With a large crater in the middle, leaving only a minotaur with his eyes rolling in their sockets, nearly dead but still breathing, Olivia remained in the air as she returned to her waiting pose from before. Her sword-whip didn’t look silly anymore…

Knowing this had to be upped, a female Human with a cultivation base at the Bight realm 8th stage sternly stepped 200 meters before Olivia. She seemed serious like hell and apprehensive of Olivia. The latter immediately looked at her new opponent. Then, she nodded in a greeting.

Her opponent took 2 claw gauntlets. Olivia’s green glinted before subsiding. Then, their duel started. In this fight, instead of using sheer brute force and a mighty move with her Vigor Energy put into it, Olivia fought with sword mastery and the whip’s clever use.

Amidst their fight, Olivia’s opponent started sweating and breathing heavy once every few seconds, but Olivia kept her steady, impassive expression as she suddenly changed it. This alarmed her opponent, who immediately launched her Spirit Aspect and a Supreme Art, as she came from a Fourth Step organization to watch the young ones.

The Supreme Art blinked, and the claws turned fiery golden for a second before emanating a brown aura. Then, the Human attacked with her claws facing down. At that moment, Olivia lowered her stance, slid her left leg backwards from her right to her left, and her eyes flashed before her True Dominion appeared.

A second later, like a blink passing through, the Human and Olivia crossed each other’s paths without stopping. When the True Dominion was lifted, a darkish screen with smoke around dissipating, Olivia stood 200 meters from her previous position. In her stead, the woman stood in it, with her slouched shoulders and bleeding nostrils. Before long, she belched a puff of bloody smoke before collapsing in the air. Before she fell, a Goddess Fairy picked her up.

She gave Olivia a nod before returning to her VIP stands. Thus, the world quieted down even more, leaving Olivia alone as she patiently waited for her next opponent.

Olivia’s next opponent was another Human, male; this time a swordsman. They fought until his stamina started deteriorating as Olivia’s strikes became more flurried and connected. It was like she went berserk or on a frenzy, but she was completely at ease with her now iconic steady, impassive expression.

The swordsman admitted defeat before he was badly struck, but the duel ended with his body bleeding from 19 cuts, all exactly 1 cm deep and avoiding the bones.

Then, Olivia waited, this time with her hair more at ease. It rustled, and her blonde strands separated through the air as she felt warmed up enough. Ready to beat the incoming enemy while still suppressing her cultivation base, battle prowess, Soul, and Spirit Sense. She smiled at the prospect of fighting like this.

Then, a Soul Race member entered the fray. This one was different, though. He had an emblem showcasing he was from the Incantation Pavilion. It wasn’t a coincidence he was also a Soul Race member, like the Pavilion Head. The Neutral Existences are home of 30% of the exiled Soul Race people. 15% remain in the Universal Land, while the rest perish, going practically nowhere.

He was also a swordsman. Thus, when the fight began, Olivia narrowed her eyes as the Soul Race member didn’t bother speaking either. Their duel began with a Supreme Art immediately showing. Olivia’s green contents shrunk as her Vigor Energy rushed out of her body. Her skin became stained with darkness as her energy as a whole became darkish.

Her Vigor Energy didn’t even maintain its original surface and colors, directly turning darkish. It lashed out at the incoming moves from the Incantation Pavilion’s Supreme Arts. Energy-shaped cards, triangles, pens, scrolls, scriptures, and words with twisted aesthetics rushed towards her.

Wherever those things flew, colors were drawn from their edges and angles out of thin space. Before arriving near her body, or a strand of darkish energy as they moved above the destroyed stage, rushing about to gain just a little advantage, their perimeter became colorful with red or red brown colors before exploding.

When the Incantation Pavilion’s Supreme Art moves struck near Olivia, they blew up in distortion, as that distortion became like transparent, invisible worms. They rushed towards her like hungry maggots but were smoked into nonexistence by slight trails of darkish Vigor Energy she left behind.

When the same struck the darkish energy, which were like shapeless limbs stretching out their ‘hands’ to stop them from bombarding Olivia, they were engulfed, without doing much noise or damage. The stalemate continued for countless minutes before the Soul Race employed an offensive Soul Art. Olivia sent her whip out, striking his forehead the moment he attempted it.

Then, taking advantage, she engulfed herself in darkish energy before rushing towards him as countless small, thin tentacles captured his arms and locked him in place. Her opponent was startled, but he could only look at the incoming, terrifying sight. Olivia visually turned into a humongous darkish cloud charging towards the Soul Race member before trapping him inside.

From then on, the spectators, except Godly cultivators or higher, could only see slight shadows, illuminating and contrasting their silhouettes better with each blow every 1 second. Only their feet and shins were mostly visible when they weren’t striking a blow against each other. But whenever the light of their energy contrasted their bodies, it was a brutal sight.

Olivia Clark fought like Liliam and Hexitia merged into one person and became crazed, yet, each of her movements were eloquent, and her brief battle cries before every exchange left them feeling cold.

After 5 minutes, with the Soul Race member remaining on the ground with his knees against the broken ground for the last 14 strikes where Olivia became silent as their silhouette became impossible to distinguish. The cloud became darker and hid their silhouettes.

A few seconds later, the cloud dissipated swiftly, revealing an incredible sight as the Incantation Pavilion’s seats leaned forwards and wore anxious countenances.

“… … … …” The sight left in the middle of all the rubble and disordered air above where the stage once upon a time was… would become an image to remember from today, and until oblivion.

Olivia Clark stood before what could very well be considered a corpse. A Soulish corpse was usually only cut parts, but this one was sprawled on the ground and grass while its cut sections had a blue, gruish color coating the wounds as if it had bled.

What’s more, her right hand became darkened. If there was someone who mastered the [Chronicles of Life & Death] Art more than Heian Ciemnosc intended for those who learned it to do so before the Godhood Step, that was Olivia Clark. The Forbloffende Traes Sect’s Vice sect master.

Her fingertips were covered by a claw-like nail from atop, while a Soulish skin resembling a face remained stuck between her fingers. As if she suddenly realized she was now in public, her right hand relaxed, letting the patch of skin fall to the floor. Olivia Clark turned to her left, charismatically swinging her head in that direction like a command to the rest of her body, ever so suddenly.

Then, she looked behind her, where the Incantation Pavilion seats were located. Her darkened right hand remained in the same pose as before, only without the Soulish skin. Her greenly, star-twinkling eyes were deathly cold and terrifying, but her back was pried open, with her black armor broken, and her blood staining it from her nape to all the way down her tailbone.

Her bones showed as they moved like they had their own will. Flesh moved about as some blood spurted out. She bent forward a little, her neck also slouched ever so slightly, with her ‘bloody’ hand with new-found Soulish blood and the bloody hole at her solar plexus, also dripping blood. It all created a stark contrast with the darkness of the evening, threatening to put a stop to this beautiful yet bloody orange-red hue in the skies.

Olivia Clark’s image was augmented when she straightened her back and turned her face away from the Incantation Pavilion’s seats. Her narrowed eyes looked breathtakingly soul-stealing as she walked to her sword-whip, with its lower sides chipped away a couple inches towards the center. She picked her weapon with ardor before walking in the air towards the grouped Forbloffende Traes Sect’s people.

. . .

140 years after the gathering of the Third Step younger generation. At the end of the 12th month, on its last night. Change’s 892nd year, and the Sect’s 329th year.

The Forbloffende Traes Sect was holding a ceremony after the situation in the 3* Region was more than achieved. The trade between a lot of neighboring organizations was slowly bringing those organizations into the Forbloffende Traes Sect’s embrace. Meanwhile, their relations with the Fourth Step organizations were created and improved. The latter was something some couldn’t do even after the Change war.

The Vrida Region has achieved many riches, allowing it to prepare to build a rather special City for the future. The engineers, especially gold capes, didn’t know why Heian Ciemnosc wanted such a monstrosity of a City, but it would only attract benefits, so nobody said a thing about it.

However, other than the recent riches, Heian Ciemnosc was in the mood for another reason. His High Dark God cultivation base broke into the Atmosphere Dark God. It wasn’t expected, at least not that possible in his darkest eyes, but Heian Ciemnosc realized that intercourse with his disciple was already capable of helping him if Sara shared pleasure with them.

Furthermore, he felt his [All-Devouring Force Chronicles] innate Divine Art slightly closer to the 9th level. All of this was nice, but it wasn’t enough to make an event in the Mythical Tree of Evolution. Rather, it was because Mr. First Disciple and Miss role model official were marrying.

It was the least Heian Ciemnosc should do for them. They’ve worked their damn assess for the Sect. Furthermore, the now renowned Saon Gori had become even Tetor’s idol after fending off so many enemy fleets. There was no better moment to strike the Sect with a reason to feel prouder, belonging… and heartful to the Sect than this, and now.

During the day, the people all around the new, vaster inner territory moved. In the night, the beauty and the monstrous senior brother met at the center, where a cottage was, once upon a time.

The bride wore her mother’s wedding dress, a dashing snow white, glowing masterpiece. The groom wore a darkish suit, contrasting her beauty ever so well and passionate.

Under the glowing Mythical Tree of Evolution; the call of nature; Heian Ciemnosc’s blessing; the Sect’s eyes, witness; and, the shade of the dark night. The wedding united husband and wife during the very beginning of the blooming where the Forbloffende Traes Sect grows and sets their feet as tall as their whole creator’s feet were back those days…

… Where they shape the path ahead with their darkened hands and hearts… Where the last Change divides the past from the return of the world…

Such an empowered desire, goal, ambition, duty… How would the Shadow name it?

What will it be?

…