Chapter 272 - A Grandmaster Makes a Move
"Constrain."
OONG!
Multiple bloody lines began to chase the celestial disciples in the bloody world as the undead also made their move. Vigorously poisonous draconic breaths left the jaws of the Bone Dragons while blazing blue fire was released from the undead phoenixes. Most terrifying of all were the Specters, which released an engulfing eerie ghastly light that went on to attach onto the bodies of the celestial disciples.
Their mobility was heavily impaired by the lines of blood chasing them down, and now to their horror, they found their bodies attached in what felt like a sticky substance that continued to sap the life out of their bodies. This was the eerie ghastly light that the Abhorred Lich Emperor's Specters released, the Lich itself standing on top of one undead phoenix as it continued to wave its Skull Staff and directed the forces around them.
The golden spears, nor the golden chains could block these spiritual attacks from the Specters, the celestial disciples finding themselves cornered in just a matter of seconds.
"Fates protection!"
"Fates protection!"
They powerfully spoke as a golden light went on to cover their bodies, the ghastly light from the Specters momentarily breaking contact, but the golden light did not last long enough as it was quickly broken through, and the sticky feeling of life being sapped out of their bodies returned.
Even the Vampyre Prince was looking at these newly appeared Specters with slight apprehension as even he himself was not confident in fully dealing with spiritual beings.
He would have to unleash some of his ultimate abilities just to survive or injure them. His mind changed even more when he thought about the being behind this legion of undead that he had been traveling with.
His strong confidence in his own power still reigned supreme as he observed the faces of the Celestial Disciples visibly aging as their life force continued to be drained helplessly, his gaze turning sour as he felt the strong smell of blood coming off of them reducing as time passed. He turned towards the undead Skeleton Knight near him as he spoke.
"Hey, your little pets are draining all of their life force."
"...Isn't that the goal?"
Noah, who was safely hidden a distance away in the Spiritual Land replied quizzically to the Vampyre Prince as he heard the voice ringing out once more.
"Leave one for me to take care of."
The Skeleton Knight which Noah was looking through looked at the Vampyre that was licking his lips as if he was looking at the most perfect meal ever made as he shook his head and sent a command for his undead to focus their attacks on only one celestial disciple.
The disciples wanted to get more words out as they found their lives actually hanging by a thread, their gazes were that of confusion and fear as nothing in their training prepared them for a situation like this.
Nothing in their teachings of fate had allowed them to foresee this catastrophic event occurring to them. The bloody world they were in continued to constrict them tighter and tighter as the attacks from bone dragons and the undead Phoenixes rained down. For one of the Celestial Disciples, their lifeforce continued to be sapped away by the terrifying Specters that they could not defend against.
It was a terrifying and hopeless sight as in only a matter of minutes the golden light that the disciples were releasing had all but faded away, their body looking aged and ancient as gray hairs could be seen on their head. The disciple looked like they had aged more than a hundred years in a matter of minutes as immense fear crept in.
The other disciple felt even more suffocated as countless bloody lines tied up their limbs, making them immobile as a devilishly handsome Vampyre neared. His cold hands touched the neck of the immobile celestial disciple as he felt the fearfully pumping blood through the major veins and arteries, his eyes being clouded by a layer of bloody light as he opened his jaws widely and sank his teeth in.
Noah observed the wildy joyful expression on the Vampyre Prince's face as he felt goosebumps in the Spiritual Land, with his attention quickly being taken away as he noticed something above the blood world.
Invisible to the n.a.k.e.d eye, a golden aura had descended into the First Realm of Hell as it looked to be searching for something. It stayed in the air above the blood world briefly as it began fading soon after, having not found what it was looking for and not being able to remain there any longer.
Unsuccessfully the golden light could only fade away once more. At the same time, another 2 celestial disciples had fallen in the First Hell.
Far in the distance across multiple planets, in a Celestial Star where a powerful Grandmaster was watching golden circles floating on a board, an expression of great disappointment and slight fury had appeared in his face as he had lost two more pieces.
Two pieces were lost, and yet he wasn't any closer to finding out exactly who was responsible for the recent events. His gaze was one of pondering as he raised his powerful hands and made a few calculations, standing from the calm monastery he was in as he gazed far off into the distance.
The Grandmaster was an old schemer and monster, having gone through a great deal of things and being very experienced. He was thinking of the best way to quickly nip a problem in the bud as he thought of the being trying to unravel fate. He was still indecisive as the choice he made now would actively go towards the plot of this being.
The Celestial continued to ponder when he felt a slight tremble from one the two golden circles still floating on the board, and he watched expressionlessly as his own disciple, Drax, met his death. His expression did not remain bland for long though, as finally, with the death of this disciple, a new signal was sent back!
The grandmaster's aura captured this signal as he finally glanced upon the being that reaped the life of his own disciple, his expression changing as he came across the blurry image of a ferocious Infernal.
The image gradually cleared as the Grandmaster used various abilities to lock on to the target which should have been caught by a technique the moment he killed his disciple, and his expression turned grim as he used his expansive experience when looking at the image of the Infernal in front of him.
His experience was wide and vast, quickly coming to an understanding that an Aberrant had risen in the First Hell!
Aberrants were powerful Infernals that later on went on to become Generals or Scions of the Infernal Lords, with the most powerful Aberrants actually gaining the title of Infernal Lord itself if they grew powerful enough.
A dangerous light passed through the Grandmaster's eyes as he wondered.
'Was this the plot of the one interfering with fate? Allowing this Aberrant to rise into an Infernal Lord in the future?"
A few thoughts passed through the Grandmaster's mind as he stared at a single golden circle, the largest one that represented the most powerful Athena, that continued to shine brilliantly.
The rapid set of events nailed the decision the Celestial did not want to carry out as his aura blazed outwards from the Monastery.
OONG
"I'll be going out briefly."
A few words spread out from him and into an unknown location in the Celestial Star as his body shot out of the monastery surrounded by resplendent medicinal herbs, and he tore through the atmosphere of the star before he quickly appeared above in space.
He gave a brief glance to the shining star below him as his aura grew even larger, his gaze one of calmness as a golden aura wrapped around him, and he streaked across space in an unbelievable speed towards one location- The First Realm of Hell!
This was something extremely shocking as Celestials such as himself never moved personally when it came to issues, using their mysterious skills and abilities to manipulate the workings of fate behind the scenes, occasionally sending out their Celestial Disciples to act on their behalf.
Even if they had to personally accompany them, like in the case of a Grandmaster accompanying Athena to closely watch her mission that concerned a certain destroyed world, they would not personally act!
This was because they were very proficient in the Law of Fate, and knew the immense effects that came with every action that beings like them took. For the sake of maintaining Order, they enjoyed using proxies as they could keep their hands free of karma and continue to conduct things behind the scene.
The action of this Grandmaster to move out personally was heavily considered in his mind as he knew it could have unintended consequences for the future, but he still made the decision to go.
He had expected one or two of the disciples he sent out to possibly face their deaths, but never four of them, and never had the thought that he would not even be able to find out the identity of the killer until only a single disciple remained alive.
This killer...was actually an Aberration in the First Hell, a being that held the qualifications of becoming an Infernal Lord in the future!
He could not let this Aberration continue to grow, and even more so, he could not let the vibrant Athena face death in its hands. Others could be sacrificed. Others could die. But not her. To achieve the goal of destroying this Aberration early while also ensuring Athena's life, he would have to personally move this time.
His gaze was determined as his vigorous power that was multiple levels above the Void Rank streaked across space at speeds much faster than even light itself.