Chapter 678 Speak Of The Devil
Chaos ruled as the battleground shuddered with the raw force of clashing cultivators. Steel met steel in flashes of deadly brilliance as the Battle Maiden Sect disciples stood firm against the savage onslaught of the Crimson Slayer Sect.
"Skye! Enemies on our flank!" It was Selene, a seasoned Battle Maiden, her shout barely discernible over the cacophony of war. Yet, Skye, the eye amidst the hurricane, caught the urgent cry.
"Regroup! Form the Iron Veil Battle Formation!" Skye barked, her voice cleaving through the noise. Her blade, a wisp of deadly silver, whirled through the throng of enemies. Each step she took became a fortress, bolstering the faltering right flank.
In the heat of battle, Eris, positioned at the crux of the confrontation, picked up on Skye's command. She marshaled her troops, channeling her cyclone-like cultivation. The destructive gale she summoned sliced through enemy lines, changing the direction of the whirlwind that was the battle.
With the shift in formation, their comrades who had been under duress breathed a collective sigh of relief. The Iron Veil formation was a battle strategy Skye had painstakingly drilled into them over the past months. Now, the training was paying off.
"Ambush from the rear!" yelled a Battle Maiden named Eos, panic evident in her voice.
Without missing a beat, Skye swung her head around, catching sight of a fresh wave of Crimson Slayer Sect cultivators closing in. "Astra, Leonis, hold them off!" she ordered, her gaze unyielding.
The two women nodded, immediately stepping back to meet the new threat. They ignited their cultivation techniques, fire and earth energies intertwining and slamming into the oncoming enemies.
As the disciples defended their rear, Skye turned her attention back to the primary confrontation. Her sword danced in her hands, tracing lethal strokes of silver in the air. Every slash sent a Crimson Slayer Sect disciple sprawling, and the space around her started to clear.
"Lila, Liana, provide cover!" Skye's command cut through the cacophony. Lila and Liana, two disciples close to her, sprung into action. Their cultivation techniques exploded forth, a protective barrage of water and wind energies that shielded their comrades and sent enemies reeling backward.
With a brisk motion, Skye deployed her own cultivation technique, a pulsing wave of silvery energy that radiated from her, pushing back opponents. It was a sight to behold, her power now considerably greater than what it had been just three months ago.
"Press forward! They're faltering!" she called out. Her voice was like a battle cry, clear and inspiring amidst the chaos. The Battle Maidens rallied alongside her, raining down a flurry of attacks, killing any enemy that appeared before them.
"AHHHHH!! DIE, YOU BITCH!"
Just then, an enemy cultivator screamed and lunged toward Skye. But she was faster, her blade meeting his mid-strike. There was a brief moment of struggle, a contest of raw power. Then, with a swift movement and a flare of her Qi, Skye swung her sword, creating a silvery arc through the man's neck, decapitating him.
The battle raged on, intensity cresting with each passing minute. Skye stood firm in the midst of it all, an anchor in the storm of conflict. Her blade shimmered in the twilight, etching deadly arcs of silver as it cut through Crimson Slayer disciples.
Sweat and blood mixed as the clash of titans echoed across the sprawling hills. The once serene plains were now a canvas of strife and violence.
Attack, Sisters! Form groups of three to five! Always have each other's backs! And kill every last one of these sons of bitches!"
Her commands cut through the din of battle like a sharpened blade. "Elara, provide cover from above! Talia, Ariadne, support the center!" A web of strategy unfolded as Skye's crisp orders echoed across the battlefield.
Without hesitation, Elara, another disciple, took to the sky. From her vantage point, she let loose a rain of Wind Bolts, thinning out the oncoming wave of Crimson Slayer Sect cultivators.
Meanwhile, Talia and Ariadne moved to the heart of the confrontation, their earth and water techniques merging to form a protective barrier around their comrades. They worked in perfect synchrony, not allowing for any faults in their defenses.
"Keep pushing, we're breaking their ranks!" Skye roared, her voice filled with determination. Her blade moved like an extension of herself, every stroke pushing back the relentless tide of foes.
Suddenly, a particularly brutish cultivator lunged at her, the air around him crackling with violent crimson energy. "You'll die here, wench!" he snarled.
A cold smile played on Skye's lips. She parried his clumsy strike, spun around, and with a swift, brutal motion, plunged her sword into his chest. The man's eyes widened, and then he fell silent, collapsing to the ground. Just another dead fool to add to her expansive collection.
Meanwhile, Eris was holding her ground, her Wind Cyclone Technique wreaking havoc among the enemies. She was everywhere and nowhere, a tempest of lethal force that decimated the Crimson Slayer Sect disciples.
"Luna, Iris, fortify our left flank!" she commanded, her voice barely audible over the howling wind of her cultivation technique.
Yet, the Battle Maidens heard her. Luna and Iris quickly moved into position, their cultivation energies of frost and lightning merging to form a shimmering barrier that repelled the attacking cultivators.
Back to Skye, a new challenger approached her, an enemy cultivator with eyes that burned with hatred. She met his gaze head-on, her eyes filled with unyielding resolve.
"Brace yourself!" The man charged, his spear crackling with deadly energy.
Skye didn't respond. She simply waited for her blade at the ready. As the man neared, she sidestepped his attack, spun around, and swung her sword. The man let out a gasp as his head tumbled from his shoulders.
The battlefield was a maelstrom of clashing energies, a testament to the brutal reality of war. Yet, through it all, the Battle Maidens held their ground, united under Skye's leadership.
But the tension was far from over. Somewhere in the distance, a burst of chilling laughter echoed, piercing the cacophony of battle. Zehir... his entrance was imminent.
As if on cue, Zehir descended upon the battleground, a chilling smile on his face. "Are you scared, little maidens?" His voice dripped with scorn, a mocking tune amidst the symphony of war.
Across the blood-soaked battlefield, Skye raised her silver blade, her face hardened. "Take him down! Don't let him kill any more of us!" she shouted back, her voice full of defiance.
Zehir moved like a phantom, his blade a shadow that crept up on his enemies, removing their heads with ease. The Battle Maidens fell one after the other, their horrified gasps cut short by his chilling efficiency.
Skye lunged forward, her sword meeting Zehir's in a shower of sparks. "Don't falter! Show this man that we won't break so easily!!" she growled, straining against his overwhelming force.
A smirk played on Zehir's lips. "Oh, I'm counting on that," he retorted, his blade striking out faster than a blink.
Eris, Luna, and Iris, seeing their leader engaged with the enemy, rushed in. Their combined techniques of wind, frost, and lightning blended into a tempestuous attack aimed at Zehir. Yet, he danced around their strikes with ease.
"Is this all?" Zehir mocked, his chilling laughter spreading over the battlefield.
Every disciple that fell, every cry of defeat was a blow to the Battle Maidens' morale. Zehir's laughter echoed across the battlefield, a cruel, derisive sound that only amplified the growing despair.
Although he preferred to fight someone strong, he found a sadistic joy in knowing that every single person here was related to Mira in some way and that he was reaping their lives like cattle.
'Not only did that woman run away during our fight, but she's caused all kinds of trouble for me! I could be cultivating right now, but no! I'm forced to come out and trim the weeds! All because some old fogey is losing a bit of money to a little girl.' Zehir grumbled.
Still, he couldn't help but smile at the thought of fighting Mira again.
'Only someone of her caliber can make my coming-of-age ceremony bearable. However, since you won't come down the mountain yourself, then it seems I have no other choice but to force you out!' His grin widened as he mowed down whoever was in front of him.
At this point, he didn't even care whose side they were on. Anyone who got in his way died. It was as simple as that.
Suddenly he paused, with his hand around some guy's throat. In the distance, he sensed numerous powerful presences approaching, one of which was very familiar.
Crushing the neck, Zehir tossed his corpse to the ground and ascended into the sky with a growing smile.
"Hahahaha! Speak of the devil, and he shall appear!"
***
[A/N: I know this recent arc has been fairly slow-paced. Originally, I didn't mean for it to be like that. I planned for this war to be over a bit faster, but it was my first time writing a battle of this scale, and I wasn't exactly sure what I should focus on.
I knew that I wanted Mira, Nova, Seraphina, Everly, Rayna, and Eden to be left out of the main war since then, I could expand the world and make it seem a bit more lively while also preparing for what I plan to do with the Battle Maiden Sect in the future.
However, as time passed, more ideas came, and the more I wanted to try new things. Wars are very complex, especially in a cultivation world where people can move mountains by themselves.
Honestly, there's a whole bunch of stuff that I left out that I wanted to explore as well, but I felt that, by now, the arc had become more tedious than anything, and it was time to move on. Still, I had fun writing it, and I learned a lot. If I ever do another war arc (which I don't have any plans on doing, at least not in this fashion), it'll definitely be better than this one.
We'll get back to Mira and the main plot next chapter, but I really wanted to take this time to explore something different.]