A heavy silence hung over the area, the tension in the air felt palpable to Searing Heart as it hung on his shoulders like a boulder. The taste of blood clung to the roof of his mouth like glue and his right hand was mostly numb, resisting such an onslaught of attacks from Origin Beasts and a powerful Godking wasn’t easy no matter how strong you were. But right at this moment, there was a voice at the back of his head that told him that he had to remove those ‘minor’ nuisances from his mind, there was something far more serious he had to focus on.
The tiger that the King of Demonic Deities, that Yao Jun had brought out, the mass of elements that held life and constantly changed between the various elements, that thing had swallowed all sound. Searing Heart had seen many things over his long life, it was inevitable if you were a Godking, it wasn’t a realm you could reach by just sitting in your room alone. But this… This was beyond anything he had experienced before, he didn’t have even an inkling of how Yao Jun conjured forth this thing, much less what it actually was or how it worked. But it was dangerous, probably almost as dangerous as the monster that had brought it into this world.
He swallowed back half a mouthful of blood, he’d love to get a moment of rest so that he could at least cauterise the smaller internal wounds that were starting to creep up in numbers. But the hands of the monster rose as he dreamt of that idea, a slender finger stretching out as it casually decreed doom.
"Come, let’s go tear it apart for Yama."
Yao Jun felt the space around him cringe slightly as the words fell from his lips, the large tiger at his side springing into action so that it could fulfil his command. It didn’t rush forward like you’d expect from a tiger, it simply faded away for a moment and then appeared behind Godking Searing Heart. The opposing Godking was blocking the entrance to the massive metal square that Third Starbreak planet had become, he’d return to that position no matter how much Zhuan Yi and the others chased him around. But even so, he couldn’t stop the tiger when it approached. It simply rose from the sharp edges that framed the entrance, separating from them as if it had always been there.
Searing Heart reacted instantly, perhaps as was to be expected from a Godking as strong as him. He didn’t even turn around, he simply unleashed his energy through his back, a blast of mud-like fire erupting from his spine and splashing against the metal fortress as it washed over the tiger. Perhaps it was because it was born from his Samsara, but Yao Jun could feel the intense heat wash over the tiger, fur that was currently earthen in texture and colour evaporating into ash and mist that rose into the sky. But even so, Yao Jun stood there relatively calm, his head slightly tilted as he peered through the murky flames.
"…Kaishi. Yes, Kaishi sounds like a good one, let’s go with that."
If Searing Heart could hear him then there was no telling how much anger would fill him, but Yao Jun still had the leisure to ponder over a name for this newborn creation of his, even as it was seemingly getting scorched to ash. But Yao Jun, if he ever was calm then it was because he had all reason to be. And now, now was no different.
The tiger, now dubbed Kaishi, evaporated under the immense heat of Searing Heart’s flames, only a few motes of ash left of it, each one gently dancing in the air. But the moisture in the air clung to the ash and became rain that fell down again, the droplets of water that splashed onto the fortress gathering together and once again forming Kaishi. Yao Jun saw Searing Heart’s teeth grit when he sensed the reformation of Kaishi, but before he got the chance to twist his body to face her, the others struck.
Zhuan Yi rose from beneath him, judging by how she had suddenly appeared he guessed that she had probably turned herself into a tick or something equally small to sneak by while Searing Heart was distracted. Meanwhile, Zhuyin struck from the smoldering heat that still lingered on the surface of the fortress, a crimson wave of fire rising from the marks left by Searing Heart. The others probably also struck, but a curtain of darkness washed over Searing Heart at that moment so Yao Jun couldn’t see exactly what form the attacks of the others took. Reliable as always, ensuring that his orders would be carried out.
His gaze slid away from the curtain that shrouded Searing Heart and the others, returning to the metal fortress that was his main target. An uncountable number of red roses still bloomed in the empty space around him, fluttering eagerly as they awaited their turn. Yama was still waiting patiently, not getting involved in the battle unless it was absolutely necessary.
The runes engraved across the entire fortress started to glow as Yao Jun looked at them, one of the Godkings within charging them up for another attack. Several dazzling bolts of fire shot out from the fortress, bouncing through the air as they shot at Yao Jun from a handful of angles, each one moving at a different speed so that he couldn’t just dodge them all at once. But as the attacks approached him, Kaishi, still standing on the side of the fortress, let loose a thunderous roar.
The sound wave it unleashed rippled through the air and washed over the bolts, dragging them into the Samsara that formed it. Fire became ash and warm wind which then became rain, temperate drops pouring down almost like a waterfall despite the lack of gravity. The rain halted just slightly beneath Yao Jun’s feet, quickly gathering up into a small lake as more and more water fell down.
When the water started to pool around him, giving the countless roses a place to spread their roots, only then did Yao Jun finally start to move. The fortress was waiting, but would it be sturdy enough to keep him out?
The curtain of darkness trembled violently so Searing Heart had probably sensed that Yao Jun was on the move, but Zhuan Yi and the others were doing everything they could to tie him down. Well, knowing them he thought that it was more likely that they were actually trying to kill him, a feat that wasn’t impossible with all of them working together.
As such, there was nothing left to stop Yao Jun’s advances, any attacks launched by the fortress were simply snatched away by Kaishi, just becoming another element to surround Yao Jun. Samsara was everywhere and dictated everything in the natural world, soulless attacks launched by arrays were no exception, they were just elements bound to return to Samsara.
Standing in front of the gargantuan fortress, Yao Jun was no different from an ant, barely worth noticing. But it was exactly this ant that was the worst nightmare of those within the fortress. Who in this universe hadn’t heard the tale of the man who broke Godpiercer planet? That planet had been much larger than this fortress, but not even it could escape destruction when Yao Jun decreed the end of its life. The number of people that got buried along with that planet is still spoken of as a bad nightmare that doesn’t feel real.
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"Kaishi, can you make a hole? It doesn’t matter how small it it, it just needs to go all the way in."
He didn’t need to inform the tiger of its new name, it turned its head the moment he uttered it. Seeing it nod its head was rather cute, it almost looked like a child eager to please its parent. But naturally, such a sight and train of thought was reserved for Yao Jun. Who else would look at a tiger this large and ferocious and have the capability of thinking something like that?
Kaishi faded away again after nodding its head, but judging by the cringing of space it was heading upwards. Yao Jun followed it with his gaze, quickly spotting its target and figuring out what it was going for. Kaishi reformed on top of a drifting asteroid, one that seemed to be formed from rock and ice, a subdued roar just barely reaching Yao Jun’s ears.
The asteroid, or perhaps comet, changed course thanks to the roar, the ice and stone falling under Kaishi’s control. The peacefully drifting asteroid was pushed down towards the metal fortress, quickly picking up speed as wind started to gather around it. Yao Jun saw some translucent layers of energy coat the asteroid so Kaishi had probably used the crushing and slicing aspects of his Samsara to strengthen the asteroid, simultaneously strengthening it slightly so that the force of its own descent didn’t tear it apart.
Perhaps as was to be expected, the fortress wasn’t just going to sit there and let itself get hit by that, the runes immediately alighting as the Godkings activated the defence mechanisms and launched their attacks. But now it was Yao Jun’s turn to protect the others, his glaive landing in his grasp and cutting through the air. Space was torn like paper, shreds of it launched forward under Yao Jun’s precise control.
Each shred acted like a miniature portal, the elemental pillars sinking into one and appearing from another. Yao Jun could just direct them away from his group like this, but why waste something as useful as this? He gathered the shreds and aligned them so that each attack was maintained in a constant loop, constantly shifting from spatial shred to spatial shred. He then tossed the various loops into the curtain of darkness shrouding Searing Heart, Ba-Shei would snatch them up and throw them at Searing Heart whenever he saw an opening, he would be smart enough to think of something like that the moment he saw them.
With the path opened, the asteroid Kaishi was riding was free to descend as it pleased, smashing into the side of the metal square and knocking it aside with a sound so deafening that Yao Jun almost thought he went deaf. The cloud of dust and ice particles that had formed after the collision was so large that it resembled a nebula, but it actually wasn’t enough to break the metal fortress.
The entire top had caved into a massive crater, ashen black scorch marks along the edges, but the fortress hadn’t fallen, a testament to its sturdy construction. But at the very bottom of the crater was what Yao Jun had asked for, a fist-sized hole that led into the fortress. And that was all he needed, the hole could be smaller than a pea and it would still be enough.
"Good job, this is exactly what I needed."
Yao Jun’s hand landed on Kaishi’s head, something that was only possible since it lowered it to meet his hand. The fur currently felt like fire, sparks dancing between his fingers as he ruffled it. There was a bit of distance between the fortress and Searing Heart now, he hadn’t been able to move along thanks to the curtain of darkness and the persistent attacks raining down on him. There was nothing stopping Yao Jun so he could crouch down next to the hole and direct his energy into it, his Qi turning into lightning that ran along the entire interior of the fortress.
Yao Jun spare almost no expense, he tapped into all the energy he could pull out from his universes, as well as from the threads of faith connected to him. Lightning poured out from him in an unending stream, dancing within the fortress and illuminating it as it covered the walls and ceiling like a gleaming spiderweb. But no one could enjoy the spectacle of this beautiful night-light, for the one who brought it out only ever reaped death, and now it was likely their turn to be harvested.
Yao Jun controlled the lightning carefully, burning away arrays wherever he encountered them so that he left only the purest of metal. He wasn’t used to controlling his lightning this finely, but if the asteroid had proven one thing then it was that he couldn’t rely on just brute force to crack this fortress. He allowed his lightning to dance along the metal of the fortress for a solid minute, thoroughly mixing it into the metal. He obviously wasn’t trying to melt the metal like this, it would be too heat-resistant for that even without the arrays. No, what he was trying to make was far simpler, a magnet.
In simple terms, running an electric current through a piece of iron would create a magnetic field that would magnetise the iron, turning even a normal chunk of iron into a magnet. Naturally, with how much lightning he poured in, and with how strong it was, this wouldn’t be your average magnet, it would be magnitudes more powerful. And the more powerful it was the better it would be, for right now he was planning on using one specific aspect of a magnet so the stronger it was the better.
"That ought to do it. Get ready, Kaishi, it’ll be extremely sudden."
Yao Jun stood up when he felt that it was enough, lightning still crackling from his fingertips. Kaishi wordlessly prepared itself, tensing up slightly so that it would be ready at a moments notice. Yao Jun gave it a second to prepare and then activated his magnet, or in this case, magnets. He hadn’t turned the entire fortress into a single even magnet, he had divided it up into sections and had turned them into individual magnets. When the poles were properly aligned then this didn’t matter, the building was already one who fortress so it couldn’t stick together harder. But what would happen if he reversed the poles?
The answer could be heard beneath his feet as he controlled his lightning. Creaking and groaning, metal crying out as it twisted and tore. If the end of the world had a sound then it would undoubtedly sound like this, a malformed melody of grinding and tearing metal sprinkled with groaning and a subdued hint of screams. Opposites attract, magnets followed this rule splendidly. But in turn, equals repelled, and the stronger the magnet was the stronger this repelling force was.
The fortress tore itself apart beneath Yao Jun’s feet, Kaishi swiftly picking him up and shooting into the sky as the gargantuan man-made planet exploded. The various segments that had become magnets shot away from each other, their edges bent and torn from the force they had to exert to separate from each other. Some of the shrapnel shot past him as well, some of the smaller pieces grazing his skin and leaving small cuts before they continued on their way into the emptiness of space.
With the outer shell removed, what remained of the city within became visible, millions upon millions of soldiers gazing up at the sky in horror as they saw Yao Jun. Even the fortress, designed to withstand enemy Godkings, hadn’t been able to hold him out. And now he would come for them, just like the demon he was.
"Yama."
A simple word fell from Yao Jun’s lips, but sometimes a single word was all it took to doom someone to death. The uncountable roses that had bloomed from Yama shivered in response to the order, finally it was his turn. They shifted away from the pooling water and descended upon the revealed city, roots burrowing through stone, metal, and flesh as they greedily sucked in any lifeforce or energy they could get their hands on. Yao Jun’s gaze was cold as he looked upon the doom that descended on the planet. This was just the first step, there was plenty more fear to spread, plenty more death to reap. And at the top of that list was the three Godkings that had been hiding within the fortress up until now.