Chapter 241 - Battle Between Transcendents
A chilling breeze swept across the battlefield after the death of these several hundred-odd soldiers. The instinctive chill did not come from the cold winds of the night itself but their inborn fear of death.
Despite having the numerical advantage of tens of thousands of troops, and a Transcendent on their side, they did not feel like they could win at all.
The Grand Elder proceeded to stroll forward at his own leisure pace with the Blood Pool hung above his head. Each footstep was like a drum that banged on the hearts of the Durham soldiers and Valaran soldiers in his immediate vicinity.
The pressure that was exerted by the Grand Elder's presence made them think twice of surrendering to the enemy.
The quick-witted ones immediately threw away their helmets and armor. These steel pieces of defenses no longer assured them of protection but shackles like an invisible grip on their throats.
Without their armor and weapon though, they began to wonder how they should fight.
Step, step, step… The Grand Elder continues to stroll forward without pause.
When a certain distance was reached, the blood of the dead soldiers began to seep out of their bodies and congregate towards Blood Pool in a grisly manner like the veins in one's body.
The soldiers of Durham and Valaran all had sharp changes in expression. Even the blood of their own brothers was not spared.
This… is the person we are serving? This person simply does not view us as humans at all!
The soldiers of Durham and Valaran began to sway in their determination. Was it too late to surrender?
If they surrender, there was a chance that they would be killed on the spot while trying to free, but if they manage to survive, at least their future was guaranteed.
Whereas siding with this Fiend, even if they win the war, the future was bleak under the tyranny of these bloodsuckers.
"If you feel you are standing on the wrong side then step forward and join me. I will not pursue your act of transgression against my kingdom."
The Queen's words resounded across the battlefield again. Ruling by oppression and fear could only get a person so far. It was a means but never the way.
The enemy soldiers no longer hesitated and began fleeing towards her like they had been pardoned.
Fortunately, their luck was good. When the entire army surrendered, neither the Grand Elder nor the sect members of both sects in the far back attempted to stop them.
No one dared to interfere as the two Transcendents were about to do battle.
The Grand Elder simply smiled coldly at the soldier's fleeing figures. These ants were just clearing the field for the imminent battle between Transcendents.
The amount of blood he collected was enough to make even his own Sect Master weary. He was confident and no longer cautious of the Queen.
Elizabeth did not have any hopes for these soldiers to be useful in battle. Them surrendering was already the best outcome she could hope for.
Too much blood has already been shed and these soldiers stood no chance against the sect members of the Bloodfiend Sect and Illusory Butterfly Sect.
She understood their predicament and granted them another chance to choose. Perhaps, she had become softer after having her son and husband back.
The 2000 troops rushing over from the Grassland Region finally caught up to her, while the surviving soldiers of Crawford had also retreated safely and got joined up with the 2000 troops for reorganization.
Looking at how well prepared the enemy kingdom was to equip their entire army with steel armor for this war, even an idiot could guess that the two sects had been scheming for an exceptionally long time.
The annual tribute of alloys decreased until it stopped entirely was not due to the depletion of their mines like Crawford Kingdom's mines had, but because they had been secretly hoarding it for themselves!
The enemy was long prepared to drown the Crawford Kingdom in a sea of fire, but they had held themselves back until now.
Elizabeth's piercing gaze narrowed in on the Grand Elder in the distance.
Whatever motive they had for plunging the Crawford Kingdom into chaos no longer mattered at this point. Such an evil cultivation sect had to be destroyed.
Countless ownerless weapons and armors on the battlefield rose to the skies with a lifting gesture before she twisted and bent all the steel pieces into sharp pointy projectiles.
Without warning, she fired them all at the Grand Elder.
The battle between Transcendents had already begun. The Grand Elder waved his hand in response and summoned the Blood Pool in front of him.
The steel projectiles sank into Blood Wall like bullets plunging into the ocean, losing its momentum drastically but failed to stop due to the Queen's great power.
The Grand Elder's relaxed expression stiffened at the sight and immediately transformed his Blood Pool into a solidified Blood Iron Wall before the steel projectiles were finally halted in its tracks.
"Hmph! Attacking without notice, as expected of a Crawford Royalty. You're all a bunch of savage thieves." The Grand Elder sneered with great hostility in his tone, but inwardly he had become more serious after that brief exchange.
Complacency was the death of all men.
A portion of the Blood Pool was divided and wrapped around the Grand Elder like silk before it solidified and hardened into a full suit of armor made purely out of the blood.
Afterward, the Grand Elder tossed away his own sword and formed a Blood Iron Sword as his weapon. Metal objects were useless against the Queen and would even hinder his own movements.
"Hmph, I don't know what enmity you have with the Crawford Kingdom, but the war had already started. Spare me the useless nonsense!"
Elizabeth's gaze grew colder. The Grand Elder's action was like a declaration of close-combat challenge.
Withdrawing her treasured sword from its sheathe, she lunges straight down at the Grand Elder.
Her speed accelerated due to gravity and clashed with the Grand Elder in the blink of an eye.
Boom!
The force of the clash traveled to the ground and cracked the earth beneath the Grand Elder's feet before another invisible force rippled across the surrounding surface and shattered it into fine dust!
A large crater left behind as the two retreated from the repelling force generated by the powerful clash.
The Queen retreated over twenty yards, while the Grand Elder only retreated ten yards despite being the one on the defensive.
One could immediately see who wielded superior strength in this single bout.
Supposedly, the physical limitations of humans peaked at 10 thousand jins once they reached the Transcendent Realm. Without the aid of Body Forging methods, 10 thousand jin was the physical limit of Awakeners.
However, the destruction caused by the two Transcendents was not something that could be generated by the clash of physical strengths alone even if the Grand Elder wielded greater physical strength.
It was not just a clash of physical strength but a clash of laws!
The Transcendent Realm was the stage where Awakeners truly gain insights into the Elemental Laws!
They were no longer bound by mortal limits and able to power from heaven and earth. A truly accomplished Transcendent would be able to summon the wind and rain on the continent!
Elizabeth was moderately surprised that her sword strike augmented by the Metal Laws failed to shatter the Grand Elder's lousy weapon formed by blood.
Although it had not been long since she entered the Transcendent Realm and had not gained much insight into the Metal Law, a weapon augmented by her Metal Law should have had unmatched defense and sharpness!
Furthermore, her treasured sword was refined from Magisteel, Star Meteorite, and Obsidian Crystals. One could say it was a top-grade weapon among top-grade weapons.
If Leon were present, he would have classified the augmented sword as a high-grade spirit artifact. That is say that the Metal Law was able to augment the quality of a weapon by a whole grade!
The Grand Elder had been in the Transcendent Realm for much longer and knew more about the Transcendent Realm than Elizabeth.
His comprehension of the Blood Laws was even a grade higher than the Queen. There was no way his Blood Iron Sword would shatter when the clash of laws would render their advantages useless.
After the two had retreated from their clash, the Grand Elder did not wait for the Queen to take the next initiative again.
He harrumphed coldly and raised one hand and flicked downwards. The Blood Pool that continued to hang above them began to spread and formed a solid dome over the crater and trapped them inside.
Elizabeth realized she had fallen for a trap, but she was not too worried. Although she was isolated from all the steel projectiles and equipment she could manipulate on the battlefield, she still had her sword and the Metal Law.
Even so, she was not in a rush to attack again and studied her opponent more seriously.
The Grand Elder glanced at the small chip on his Blood Iron Sword before it disappeared and regained its perfect shape in the next instance.
His face darkened when he recalled the Queen's previous words. He felt his anger rising at the face that the enemy they have a blood feud with is not even aware of their blood feud. It was like while they were scheming to destroy their enemy, their enemy could not even care less about them.
The Grand Elder felt like the efforts of his sect all these years were being denied and it filled him with fury even if he knew the reason for that is because they had kept their origins very well hidden!
However, it had already come to this point. There was no reason to hide it any longer. It was either they succeed in destroying the Crawford Kingdom or they face sect annihilation while trying!
Grand Elder recovered his calmness and said in a slow and unhurried tone, "You don't know what kind of enmity we have? Perhaps, you will know after hearing the name Denholm Royal Family?"
"Denholm Royal Family? What? Never heard of it." Elizabeth went blank, frowned, and then shook her head nonchalantly.
The Grand Elder's mood suddenly became abysmal.