Chapter 42
Severing the Darkness
There was silence, heavier than any mountain, as the group of six stared at the newcomer who'd appeared seemingly out of thin air, threatened their pursuer, and then killed him within the blink of an eye.
It ought to have been impossible--no, it was impossible. The young woman was merely at Core Formation Realm. She did not kill him--that feather did.
Xiaoling had seen quite a few things in her life, including her Master wounding someone at Peak Soul Ascendance Realm while he was only at the Middle Stage. However, she'd never seen or heard of either a cultivator or an artifact with the capacity to cross so many realms. All artifacts that could threaten the Soul Ascendance Realm cultivator had to be wielded by someone at least at the Avatar Realm.
And yet, there was no mistaking it--the young woman was just at the Core Formation, and she achieved the impossible.
Just as the young woman turned toward the forest and began to leave, Xiaoling called out to her.
"Wait, please!"
"What is it?"
"We have a couple of wounded that won't make the trip back to the Sect," she pleaded, kneeling abruptly. She was breaking all conventions known to a martial artist, bowing toward not only someone over a decade her junior, but also someone far, far, far weaker than her. More importantly than that, however, she was breaking her pride. "I beseech you, could you please ask your Master to help my Juniors?"
"Please, Senior!" Lya joined her suddenly, kneeling as well.
"Please, Senior!" though Xu Liang seemed a bit confused, he also knelt down, mimicking Lya. The issue was that he was most-decidedly older than the woman, causing everyone to look at him oddly for a moment.
"P-please, Senior...!" even the young LIng'er knelt.
Mei had already passed out by now, and Song was struggling to breathe fully. If they were turned away, those two would most-likely die, Xiaoling knew, and she would soon follow.
**
Leo yawned, looking at the rather impressive destruction he'd imposed upon the world. It was only the visible lack of trees, but he felt quite inspired through the physical labor. He'd cut down all the rotten trees and even dug out their roots. Though he didn't know why this specific part of the forest was the way it was, he wanted it to heal and become like the rest. Whoever was buried, he felt, deserved at least that much.
Thanks to the help from his furry friends, he'd all but gathered all the required wood. There were still some twenty long logs waiting transport, but for all intents and purposes, one of the requirements for building a longhouse was ticked off.
Feeling jubilant, he was just about to head back home and begin cooking dinner when Blackie suddenly came running from the woods. She behaved a bit differently than before, howling lowly toward him and biting into his robes, trying to pull him with her.
"Hm? You want me to follow you? Okay, okay, let's go!" he picked up the sword and put it into the scabbard before following Blackie.
On the way, the two were joined by Milky, Hoot, and one of the newcomers that had begun lurking about the camp just a couple of days ago, a silver-furred wolf with a pair of beautiful, gem-like red eyes. Leo had named him Howly, keeping in line with the rest.
The wolf followed them from the back, seeming somewhat skittish, but when it came time to chomp down on the stew, all that shyness evaporated. It had only dawned on him while he watched the wolf eat boiled vegetables that none of it quite made sense. Why were carnivores eating herbs? Was his cooking really that delicious and transcendental that it caused animals to change their most innate behavior?
He quelled his ego quickly before it had a chance to sprout, attributing it all to the magic of this world. Animals here, even if they resembled the ilk he knew, weren't one-to-one replicas. They were different, and have evolved under different circumstances. Perhaps, a long while back, Howly's ancestors had no choice but to eat grass and such.
Even Red came along, perching himself atop his other free shoulder.
There was likely something of significant importance that caused Blackie to call on him, and he wondered whether it had to do with Yue. She was due to return soon, and seeing Blackie speeding between the trees and howling at him to do so as well caused a slight stir in his heart. Though he reluctantly took her on as a Disciple, now that he'd employed himself in that role, it would be amiss not to give it his all. If she was in danger, and he slacked, failing to rescue her in time, it would be a sour note on his new life.
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As such, he sped up as well, using the 'Simple Steps' that he'd gotten quite decent at. He could now run for just about two hours before falling over comatose, which was how he was able to quickly transport the massive logs of wood back to the camp.
The trees blurred in his peripheral as he focused on Blackie carving out a path to follow. It was a strange sensation, whisking past the scenery at such a speed, and yet not feeling at all exhausted.
"STAY BEHIND ME!!" Leo's ears perked up as he caught the distant yell of an unfamiliar voice.
His heart grew heavier still as he sped up even more.
Speeding past the trees, he focused on the direction and finally caught sight of faint figures in the distance. Strangely, there were quite a few people--but Yue was decidedly amongst them. She was at the rear, clutching at the feather in her hand, seeming unwilling to use it.
In front of her was a woman who seemed to be in her thirties, bloodied and beaten from head to toe. Her silver hair had been stained red with blood, and though her knees were shaking, she stood resolutely in front of everyone else.
Amongst those behind her, Leo recognized a pair--Lya and Song. The former was lying flat against a tree, barely breathing, her eyes weeping with red, while Song lay beside her, seemingly unmoving. Besides the two of them, there were a pair of older kids--a young woman and a man in their early to mid-twenties. The woman, too, was lying comatose on the ground, while the man was standing above her, guarding the three, though it appeared to be purely by instinct as his eyes lacked the conscious glean to them.
He, too, was bloodied from head to toe, perhaps even more so than the woman at the front.
Right then, Leo caught sight of what caused the mayhem--opposite of the group was a ghastly apparition looming at over ten feet tall, smoke and vapors embossing a thin, skeletal humanoid frame. Its skin was pale beyond color, and its face was hidden under the thick, black gasses, a pair of scarlet eyes glowing within. It was hunched ever so slightly forward, its arms curved and extending into sharp, sickle-like forms where hands ought to be.
Leo's blood froze for a moment, but he ignored the fear in his heart and pressed onward. It wasn't just Yue or Lya or Song or the others beside them that were in danger. Were that thing to rampage freely throughout the forest, wouldn't all his furry friends fall to it? What worth was it, cultivating in this world, if not to protect those close to him? To do something he was unable to do in his life on Earth?
"Dammit..." he heard the woman gasp as she fell to her knees, seemingly unable to hold on any longer.
"Ke ke ke," the creature cackled eerily like a person, raising its arm and swiping it outward. Leo saw red liquid appear and shape itself into an extended blade that flew toward the group, seeming ready to swallow them whole.
Drawing out his sword in one fell swoop, he tethered it to a thread of Qi and threw it outward; he'd been practicing the control while cutting trees, and had gotten quite decent at it. Even if there were some sixty yards of distance between him and the monster, he was confident in hitting it. The question was... was he strong enough? Perhaps they were in such dire straits because they were fighting with the monster for a long time, weakening it.
With such desperate thoughts, Leo watched the sword fly, abuzz with the holy color of gold.
**
Xiaoling was angry and bitter--it was always one thing after another. Just as she thought they would be saved after the girl accepted to take them to her Master, this happened. The girl they saved from the attackers, Ling'er, began behaving oddly after some time in the forest.
It wasn't long before the faintly childish girl began to morph and distort, her skin and bones breaking and reshaping into... whatever that was. No, Xiaoling knew what it was--it was a Demon. Or... something like one, at least.
Were she at her peak, she would have actually been able to defeat it with relative ease--after all, 'technically' it was only at the peak of Fusion Realm, like her. But she was hurt, drained, and essentially incapable of attacking even once. All she could do was use what was left of her body to block the attack.
However, before the red took over her and her entire world, she was a glimmer sweep past her--it was a sword, ordinary-seeming, coated in a sheen so holy she felt reverence bubble inside of her heart. It was as though a godly presence had descended upon the mortal realm, and she found herself forgetting to breathe. The world, for a moment, turned so kaleidoscopic that the was certain she'd glimpsed the truth behind the machinations of the world.
The sword easily cut through the Demon's attack and struck its head directly. It was as though glass cracked and then shattered--the Demon screeched in pain and horror, its entire body suddenly engulfed in golden fires as they began to consume it until there was nothing left but the fading flickers of ash.
"--Master!!" Xiaoling was pulled out of her stupor by the call of the girl with the feather, Yue. She watched the sword buzz midair for a moment before spinning around and flying back whence it came from. She followed it with her eyes, and soon lain them upon a figure emerging from between the trees.
It was only for a moment, but just like the sword, the man's frame was embossed with the golden light, with the purity that should not exist. Soon it faded, however, making her wonder whether she'd imagined it or not. In its stead was a figure--tall, broad, cloaked in tattered robes. It was a figure of a middle-aged man with long, black hair and thick, black beard.
He put away the sword into the scabbard and smiled.
"Are you alright, Yue?"
"Thank you, Master!" the young woman knelt toward the man.
"Hm. Can you walk?"
"Yes."
"Run back home and make some space in the huts. They seem to be quite hurt. Blackie, show her back."
"Yes, Master!" the young woman soon sprinted, followed by a strangely familiar phantom the shape of a house cat.
Xiaoling was at a loss for words, and could only keep herself just barely from passing out. She was the only one, desperately hanging on the last thread of consciousness and meeting the gaze of her savior. His eyes were warm and strangely kind, as though not of this world.