Chapter 256 - Burning Heaven Makes A Move
"Did someone say, ghouls?"
The notion of ghosts filled the entire army with dread, but when the words "the corpses are moving" were uttered, the fear in their hearts was diminished by half.
Reanimated corpses were something they could at least fight against with their firearms. Nevertheless, a minority of the soldiers still got spooked by the corpses coming back to life.
Sniff… hmm?
"There's a strange smell in the air."
A new pungent flavoring was added to the rich and heavy scent of blood that pervaded the area. A quick look around, and the soldiers spotted a wet patch on another shivering soldier's crotch area.
"What the hell, brother? C'mon, man. Did you really just piss yourself?"
"Not cool, man, not cool."
"Damn, son. Haven't seen an adult man piss himself before. How old are you?"
All sorts of attention and questions were directed at the soldier, much to his embarrassment as the wet soldiers blushed with shame, but one cannot blame him for this. He was one of the surrendered soldiers from the Valaran Kingdom.
The common people of the Valaran Kingdom had never been in contact with Extreme Misty Forest and was not familiar with it.
Before the wet Valaran soldier could answer, a loud authoritative voice rang in his ears.
"Silence! Retreat into formation immediately and prepare for battle! Underestimate these ghouls and you'll be sorry."
The soldiers were all spread around the several mountains of corpses, but once the order was issued, they immediately retreated with all-time seriousness.
Elizabeth floated in the air and looked on calmly as the commanders issued orders for defensive formations.
Time passes and the mountains of corpses began to wiggle more strongly. Soon, corpses began tumbling down from the top one after the other before they stood up with growling noises.
By this point, the soldiers were all in positions. The vanguard had their firearms locked and loaded. Little fear could be seen on their serious faces as they realized none of the undead ghouls had intact bodies.
Some were missing a limb or two and some were crawling on the ground with just their upper bodies.
…As for the headless corpses on the ground, they had not moved a single inch and remained motionless since the start.
It was not long before a round of fire initiated the battle between ghouls and men.
Elizabeth did not participate but spectated from above. A battle of this level did not require her personal intervention.
Rather, it was a good tempering experience for the Crawford soldiers and a chance for the surrendered soldiers of Valaran and Durham to earn merits to redeem themselves.
There was no doubt that such a huge army of undead ghouls would cause future headaches for the Human Domain if they were left unchecked. Thus, they had to be eradicated before the problem festers.
Even so, ghouls with incomplete bodies were the least of the Queen's worries. Even the Transcendent corpse of the Grand Elder of the Illusory Butterfly Sect did not concern her. It was one of the many headless corpses. There was no chance of it reviving as an undead ghoul through vengeful spirit possession. Undead
What did concern her was what killed them all.
The strings of webs were one of the distinctive traits of spiders, but she recalled that the spiders had all been eradicated back during Capital Crisis.
Upon further thought, she shook her head.
No one could guarantee that the spiders had all been eradicated when the underground was uncharted territory and infinitely vast as the continent itself.
There were far, far too many passageways to explore the entire first floor. They had only occupied the main cave that was almost as big as the Capital itself while leasing out a few passageways and underground plots to some interested nobles. The rest of the passageways were sealed off.
Even then, the spider queen had been killed back then.
What else could have been strong enough to slay a Transcendent and slaughter the entire army? Furthermore, it wasn't interesting in eating the corpses and left it as is.
Elizabeth had no idea what it could be, but Extreme Misty Forest had always been an unsettling place of uncertainties. It was not wise to overstay their welcome.
It could become dangerous if the thing that slaughtered everyone came back for them.
Once Elizabeth's thought arrived at this point, she was firm to leave once the ghouls were eliminated.
Fortunately, nothing unexpected occurred during the battle. The newly risen undead ghouls had not had any time to grow before they were slaughtered swiftly under the suppression of firepower.
Their missing limbs further made it difficult to maneuver properly.
Apart from their numbers, which was already less than the mixed army to begin with, the soldiers did not face much pressure when they engaged in close combat after raining bullets on the ghouls.
After the last ghoul had its head chopped off, Elizabeth did not want to linger in the forest any longer.
"Fall back into formation. We are leaving."
In any case, whatever they set out to do, someone or something had settled it for them. There were still problems to resolve back in the kingdom.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The soldiers with absolute obedience.
None of the soldiers wanted to stick around in such a haunted place either.
…
At the heart of the Valaran Kingdom was the Blood Moon Mountain.
It once went by a different name, but ever since the Bloodfiend Sect took over and made it their headquarters, the name was lost to time and the only thing that remains was deep-rooted fear that struck the hearts of the people when the Blood Moon Mountain was mentioned.
A dark, gloomy, and oppressive feeling surrounds the Blood Moon Mountain all year round and there was never a time when there was a shortage of disciples entering and leaving the mountain. At least, not until now.
Although disciples could still be seen, the number was only a fraction of the past and not a single inner disciple or anyone higher in the echelon of the Bloodfiend Sect could be seen for that matter.
In the Royal Palace of Valaran City neighboring the mountain, the king sat on his throne while listening to the report from his subjects on the matter but expressed no opinions.
The king was a 9-star earth-user, a powerful Awakener that was just one step short from Transcendence and was supposed to carry a strong presence, but none of that could be felt.
The eyes of the king were dull, uninterested, and without spirit, like he was just listening to another report on civil disputes and management.
He was already used to being a puppet ruler, a king without real authority while the eyes and ears of the Bloodfiend Sect were spread everywhere. They could even be secretly listening in on their meeting right now.
All the older generation royalties were killed in cold blood for resisting the tyranny of the Bloodfiend Sect while his wife, heir, and daughter were all taken away to the mountain as hostages.
20 years have passed since then. It was uncertain whether they were dead or alive.
"The Blood Moon Mountain is the quietest it has ever been. All the inner disciples and higher-ranking members of the sect are all missing. I suspect that they have all left to join the war efforts against the Crawford Kingdom, including the sect master himself. This could be our chance to liberate ourselves from their control, my King." The royal advisor said.
"Please give us your order, your Majesty."
The officials all bowed and said synchrony. They had all been living under the tyranny of the Bloodfiend Sect, but unlike the king, their hearts had not died yet and the flames of hope were still burning inside them.
The Valaran King looked at them with gloomy eyes and said, "And what orders do you want me to give exactly? What you said were just speculations. It's too risky and would just invite a meaningless death."
"But your family is still on that mountain, sire. Don't you want to save them?"
"My family are all dead! There's no one left to save!"
A rare trace of venomous anger sparkled in the king's eyes when his family was mentioned before it faded and become listless again.
In his mind, there was no doubt that they had long been played to death and wrung dry of their blood to aid those fiends' diabolical blood cultivation.
A devil's promise could not be trusted.
Even if his family was not used for cultivation, they would have committed suicide to not hold him back. Such were the words of his wife before they separated.
But without his family, there was no meaning in living.
The officials before him might still have a future if the Crawford Kingdom wins, but for his Valaran Royal family, there was no longer any future.
The Crawford Kingdom will most likely point their swords at his kingdom in the name of removing the evil fiends, and he will likely be removed as well.
The Crawford Kingdom would not allow such an incompetent king to continue running the kingdom. Communication had long been severed between their kingdoms and tributes had ceased. Whatever existing relationship they had between them had also ceased.
Death did not sound so bad. Perhaps, he would be able to reunite with his family.
At this point, he was simply waiting for death. The only thing stopping him was he could not die until he saw the Bloodfiend Sect fall with his own eyes.
The royal advisor opened his mouth, but no words came out. The king's heart was already dead. It was impossible to convince the king.
He bowed and quietly leave as did the rest of the officials. The king had given up, but they still haven't.
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Ishaan Kingdom.
Being the neighboring kingdom of the Valaran Kingdom, the Burning Heaven Sect had always been secretly keeping tabs on the Bloodfiend Sect's actions.
The news made their way back quickly to Burning Heaven Sect as they held a council meeting of the highest level to determine the direction of their sect.
"Sect Master, the Bloodfiend Sect has been severely weakened. Now is the chance for us to expand our influence on the Valaran Kingdom." An inner elder said.
"That's right. The Bloodfiend Sect has always been a thorn in our eyes. We should take this chance to destroy them once and for all. Those people have completely lost their minds and walked down the wrong path."
"I agree, the Human Domain will do better without them. Not to mention, they had completely disregarded the warning from 'above' and attacked the Crawford Kingdom. They will be destroyed sooner or later, but if we can save them the efforts of having to personally act, we could get them to owe us a favor. This would put us in a favorable position for the future."
The other three inner elders also chimed in.
The Sect Master contemplated silently as he stared at the map on the round table in front of everyone.
"Mobilize all the available disciples in the sect to the north. No need to recall the other disciples on a mission." The Sect Master said after some thought.
The inner elders were all excited. They could finally get some action!
"However! We will only be targeting the Bloodfiend Sect. Immediately recall all disciples back to the sect after the Bloodfiend Sect is destroyed." The Sect Master added.
The inner elders all froze with the same thought.
Why?