Desolate Era

by RWX

  * * *

  Book 18, Chapter 11 - Frenetic Battle

  The White-Faced Flood Dragon hurriedly raised one of its hands to block. Its hands were covered with scales and filled with sharp and long claws.

  The Unity Heaven Punisher chopped downwards with its hand like a giant axe, striking directly against the left claws of the White-Faced Flood Dragon with such power that the claws were knocked back down towards the White-Faced Flood Dragon’s shoulders. The White-Faced Flood Dragon couldn’t help but slightly stagger, but then it suddenly twisted about and used its massive, ninety thousand meter long tail to lash out lightning-fast towards the Unity Heaven Punisher.

  The Unity Heaven Punisher hurriedly raised a hand to block as well.

  BANG!

  It couldn’t help but be knocked flying backwards, rolling through the waters of the massive lake and kicking up enormous three thousand meters waves. It was as though a mountain had collapsed! However, the waves of the lake didn’t impact the Unity Heaven Punisher at all; it was as though an ordinary mortal had slipped and fallen within a muddy pool. It lifted itself up, causing the lake to once more shudder, then threw itself once more towards the Terrorbeast.

  The Xingtian Divinity and the Terrorbeast exchanged multiple attacks, the battle between them extraordinarily savage and violent.

  ……

  Within the Eight Dragons Cloudcity.

  The Xia Emperor, Ji Ning, and the others all watched the images intently, seeing the Heaven Punisher and the White-Faced Flood Dragon battle within the vast lake.

  “The Seamless Gate has used a primordial Terrorbeast, the White-Faced Flood Dragon, as the basis for their formation. The profoundness of this formation and its strength in battle is not one whit inferior to our Heaven Punisher Formations.” The Xia Emperor frowned. “Look; although the Terrorbeasts are slightly weaker than our Heaven Punishers in bodily strength, their tails possess enormous power and are even stronger than our Heaven Punishers.”

  Ning and the others nodded.

  “Look; they each just wounded the other,” the Xia Emperor said. “However, the power of Heaven and Earth quickly heals those types of wounds. Neither has truly wounded the other. Clearly, both sides have incredibly powerful bodies, and it is hard for each of them to truly damage the other with a single blow.”

  “One on one, it will be hard to achieve victory within a short period of time. The only way to win is through strength of numbers; that’s the only way one can kill an opponent quickly,” the Xia Emperor said. “If we can ‘kill’ one of them…if my guess is correct, those Terrorbeasts are formed from at least a thousand Celestial Immortals and countless Loose Immortals. Killing a Terrorbeast will be a tremendous victory.”

  Next to the Xia Emperor was a female Empyrean God dressed in armor. “In battle, the key to victory lies in strengthening yourself while whittling away at your foes. Whittle a little away this time, a little more next time…our advantage will continue to grow, and in the end we will annihilate our foes with a final strike. I imagine they can’t have too many of these primordial Terrorbeasts, these White-Faced Flood Dragons.”

  As they were chatting amongst each other within the main palace, suddenly…

  The battle scene within the midair image changed. The massive lake had been filled with with blurry mists, but suddenly a wind arose, resulting in a massive whirlpool of clouds.

  “The energy of Heaven and Earth is filling the place…?” The Xia Emperor’s face changed.

  “Eight generals, hurry up and assume the Heaven Punisher Formation!” The Xia Emperor suddenly barked.

  “Yes!”

  Ning and the rest of the eight felt their hearts clench. They, too, had been stunned by the sight of that enormous vortex. They could all tell that the enemies had to be setting up additional Terrorbeast formations and creating more White-Faced Flood Dragons. Clearly, the Seamless Gate had tried to lull the Xia Emperor into a false sense of complacency by initially sending just a single White-Faced Flood Dragon and using just a little bit of natural energy.

  Now, however…they were sending all of the White-Faced Flood Dragons they had!

  “Hmph, how vicious. So they are trying to deal me a harsh blow in our first exchange?” The Xia Emperor laughed coldly. From the massive whirlpool above the lake, one could tell that the White-Faced Flood Dragons that were taking form had to be within the region of that lake. Why, then, wasn’t anything visible yet? The only explanation was that they were all hiding with a portable minor world.

  Ning and the rest of the eight immediately flew out from the main hall at full speed, sending their coresense to their subordinates. Ning roared mentally, “Darknorth Army, assemble the formation!”

  BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

  A throng of countless Immortals came flying out from the eight military camps. The Immortals moved at incredible speed, and in the blink of an eye they gathered in midair. Ning flew towards his own Darknorth Army, and everyone joined together into the Heaven Punisher Formations as bloody runic lines appeared, along with an overwhelming battle-intent.

  Soon, eight towering, mountain-sized barefoot Fiendgods that were clad only in fur loincloths had appeared. The eight Heaven Punishers had all manifested, and their auras towered through the Heavens.

  “Hurry and reinforce him,” the Xia Emperor barked mentally. “Protect yourselves and annihilate your foes. The more you can kill, the better!”

  “Yes!”

  Ning and the others all assented to the order, and then all eight Heaven Punishers vanished.

  ……

  The vast lake.

  The Unity Heaven Punisher was still battling against the White-Faced flood Dragon Terrorbeast. Suddenly, an enormous vortex of natural energy took form above it, and as soon as it did, another power began to draw from that vortex, causing it to spin even more rapidly and grow even greater.

  “Not good.” The Unity Heaven Punisher could tell that something bad was happening. A moment later, the Xia Emperor’s voice rang out by his ears. “Careful; the Seamless Gate should have other White-Faced Flood Dragons, and they will most likely appear imminently.” These words from the Xia Emperor further solidified the Unity Heaven Punisher’s suspicions.

  With a furious roar, he knocked the White-Faced Flood Dragon flying backwards, then pulled away from it.

  As suspected!

  Three more mountain-sized creatures suddenly appeared out of nowhere, each of which had long, sinuous bodies with white humanoid faces, sharp claws, and black, scale-covered bodies that were more than ninety thousand meters long.

  “Kill!”

  “Celestial Immortal Unity?”

  “Unity, die!”

  The White-Faced Flood Dragon that had been knocked away, along with the three new Terrorbeast, simultaneously charged forward to assault the Unity Heaven Punisher, who had immediately moved to flee when he had knocked aside the first Terrorbeast. In but the blink of an eye, he ran across the surface of the vast lake and out into the wilderness, trying to buy as much time as he could. In fact, he didn’t even turn to face the Terrorbeasts at all; in terms of running speed, the Heaven Punishers were slightly slower, after all.

  BOOM!

  Right at this moment, when the two sides were about to collide!

  Next to the Unity Heaven Punisher, eight towering figures suddenly appeared, all massive Fiendgods that were dressed in fur loincloths. All eight of them were Heaven Punishers; the only difference was in the faces on their chests.

  ……

  “So he really did…Xiamang’s being quite cautious.”

  Atop the distant city walls of the Seamless City, True Immortal Whitepole and the others were watching the battle that was going on ten thousand kilometers away. Upon seeing the eight additional Heaven Punishers appear, they couldn’t help but feel irritated.

  The White-Faced Flood Dragon they had sent out had indeed carried a magic treasure that contained a minor world within it which had
many experts hidden inside; naturally, they would be able to unleash their power at a moment’s notice.

  However, as soon as they had begun to establish their White-Faced Flood Dragon Formation and activate the natural energy of Heaven and Earth, they could immediately sense…that the Xia Emperor’s forces seemed to be doing the same thing. The Unity Heaven Punisher was most likely carrying a minor world alongside it as well.

  In truth, however…their guesses were slightly off.

  This was because…what the Unity Heaven Punisher was carrying was the entire Eight Dragons Cloudcity!

  ……

  Four White-Faced Flood Dragon Terrorbeasts facing nine Heaven Punishers. The morale of the nine Heaven Punishers of the Grand Xia’s side swelled dramatically. They were all filled with tremendous confidence, because they currently held an absolute advantage.

  “However…we can’t be overconfident. Our every action involves the lives of a thousand Celestial Immortals and a hundred thousand Loose Immortals, as well as the overall course of this war.” Although he held an absolute advantage, thanks to the fact that his heartforce had reached the peak of the ‘ruler’ stage, Ning was still able to remain perfectly calm.

  “Unity, Loachwater, Dustfloat; the three of you, go slow down the three White-Faced Flood Dragons closest to you! As for the last White-Faced Flood Dragon…Darknorth, you and the other five join forces against it. You have to slay that White-Faced Flood Dragon!” The Xia Emperor gave the orders through coresense.

  “Yes.” The Unity Heaven Punisher, the Loachwater Heaven Punisher, and the Dustfloat Heaven Punisher all turned to face the White-Faced Flood Dragons closest to them.

  Whoosh whoosh whoosh! Ning and the other six turned to assault the final White-Faced Flood Dragon.

  The four Terrorbeasts of the Seamless Gate were all rather caught offguard by this, especially the final White-Faced Flood Dragon that was being assaulted by the six.

  “Hurry up and join forces to support each other!”

  “Join together to block them!”

  The White-Faced Flood Dragons all sent mental messages to each other and began to rapidly move towards each other. If the four of them could completely join forces, they would be able to defend against the nine Heaven Punishers. They might be at a disadvantage, but they’d be able to hold on for a brief period of time. Given the Seamless Gate’s abilities, they’d have ample time to rescue the four.

  Ning and the others expected this as well; their foes weren’t fools, and wouldn’t just fight in a random, foolish manner.

  “No matter what…they are in the wilderness right now, quite far away from the Seamless City. We have to kill them here; if we can kill one, we need to!” The Xia Emperor sent mentally.

  “Kill.”

  “Kill them!”

  The Darknorth Heaven Punisher, Allbeasts Heaven Punisher, Thousand Needles Heaven Punisher, and others all charged forward with explosive power.

  As the four White-Faced Flood Dragons were moving closer to each other, the Loachwater Heaven Punisher reached its target Terrorbeast, as it was very close to it to begin with. The mouth on the chest of the Loachwater Heaven Punisher grinned, a savage look in its eyes. So long as it could tie down even one of them, the chances of the other three would drop dramatically.

  “Come, then.” The Loachwater Heaven Punisher pounced forwards, and as it did it reached an arm up high, taking a stance like Pangu splitting the cosmic egg to establish Heaven and Earth. And then…he swung his arm down in a furious strike!

  However, the fleeing White-Faced Flood Dragon suddenly turned about, swiping backwards with a claw to block the furious blow of the Loachwater Heaven Punisher.

  BOOM!

  With an enormous explosion, something happened that was completely outside the expectations of the Grand Xia’s side. In this head-on collision…it was actually the Heaven Punisher who was knocked backwards! In fact, it rolled over in midair as it went flying backwards; clearly, it wasn’t even able to stabilize its body.

  As the White-Faced Flood Dragon knocked the Loachwater Heaven Punisher backwards, it immediately pounced forwards, lashing out with two claws at lightning-fast speed.

  Slash! Slash!

  The first claw, the Loachwater Heaven Punisher was able to just barely block through using its left arm. However, its body grew even less stable, resulting in an opening appearing before its chest.

  The second claw…tore straight through the chest of the Loachwater Heaven Punisher!

  In the earlier battle between the Unity Heaven Punisher and the White-Faced Flood Dragon, although both sides had been able to wound the other, the wounds were instantly healed; those were all minor wounds. This time, however…the claw from the White-Faced Flood Dragon actually carried such unstoppable power that with a rip, the chest of the Loachwater Heaven Punisher was completely torn apart! In fact, the many Loose Immortals and Celestial Immortals hidden within the body of the Heaven Punisher could be seen. Terror was on the face of all of them!

  RIIIIIP!

  As the sharp claws of the White-Faced Flood Dragon tore through the chest of the Heaven Punisher, it tore through the bodies of countless Loose Immortals and Celestial Immortals, killing them!

  The Loachwater Heaven Punisher could no longer be maintained. It instantly crumbled, revealing the countless, puny little Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals that had comprised it.

  * * *

  Book 18, Chapter 12 - Countless Casualties

  The countless Immortals of the Loachwater Army…felt nothing but despair!

  Although they were fairly strong, without a supreme combination formation like the Heaven Punisher Formation, there was no way they were even remotely qualified to exchange blows with a terrifying primordial Terrorbeast like the White-Faced Flood Dragon! And the White-Faced Flood Dragon before them was even more powerful than the other three Terrorbeasts!

  “Sssssss.” The White-Faced Flood Dragon hissed with cold laughter, its enormous claws once more sweeping forward.

  “Stop!”

  “Vile creature.”

  Two furious roars rang out.

  Two additional towering Fiendgods suddenly appeared out of nowhere. One was the old man with a fiery red beard, his entire body surging with flames. The other was a rather willowy maiden; although she was an Empyrean God, at this moment she chose to use a magic spell instead. With a rumbling sound, a large amount of black water came pouring out, tying down her foe and pulling away the surviving Loose Immortals and Celestial Immortals.

  “Hahaha…members of the Primordial Imperial Clan?” The Terrorbeast roared with laughter. Its draconic tail lashed outwards as its claws ripped forward, moving to massacre the Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals. The survivors all used whatever methods they had available, be it hiding within their Immortal estates or using evasive abilities. In short, they were trying to buy as much time as they could…but alas, compared to the White-Faced Flood Dragon, they were far too weak and slow.

  BOOM!

  The red-bearded elder, wreathed in blazing flames that soared through the heavens, chopped downwards towards the Terrorbeast with a massive warblade.

  The Terrorbeast, in turn, brandished a single claw to block.

  The two exchanged a blow that could cause mountain ranges to shake. The red-bearded elder was knocked flying backwards, and at even greater speed than the Loachwater Heaven Punisher had been. The female Empyrean God who had been next to him hurriedly moved forward to take over for him.

  ……

  Within the Eight Dragons Cloudcity.

  The levitating image was still displaying the results of the battle.

  The Xia Emperor, True Immortal Dongyan, True Immortal Skyfarmer, and the extremely muscular Empyrean God all had ugly looks on their faces.

  A cold light flashed through the eyes of the Xia Emperor. “That White-Faced Flood Dragon is far more powerful than the other three.” He mused silently to himself, “Can it be that it is formed with even
more Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals and the others? Or is the commander of the White-Faced Flood Dragon Formation an Empyrean God or a True Immortal?”

  There were many possible explanations as to why the Terrorbeast was so powerful.

  The same was true for the Heaven Punishers; if it was comprised of thousands of Celestial Immortals and many hundreds of thousands of Loose Immortals, its power would naturally increase dramatically. If a Pure Yang True Immortal commanded it, it would also grow more powerful…and if a monster like Ji Ning was in command, it would similarly become very mighty.

  And yet…

  Because of how powerful the physical body of the White-Faced Flood Dragon was, and because it was formed from an ancient formation, coresense couldn’t be used to penetrate through it. There was no way to see inside of it at all, and so no one could be certain as to how many Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals it held, or who the commander was. Although the White-Faced Flood Dragons all had difference faces, the Xia Emperor knew too little about the Empyrean Gods and True Immortals who battled alongside the Seamless Gate!

  The Seamless Gate, however, knew almost everything about the Grand Xia’s side. This disparity in information was one of the reasons that something like this had happened. If the Xia Emperor’s side had arranged for a Pure Yang True Immortal to take charge of a Heaven Punisher Formation, the enemy would’ve been able to find out right away from the chest-face of the Heaven Punisher.

  There was no way to disguise or change the faces on the chests, because they were naturally formed by the formation itself.

  ……

  Within the black citadel hovering above Whitepole City. Countless illusory chains continued to fill the area around the black citadel. True Immortal Whitepole and his comrades on top of the walls of the citadel all had smiles on their faces.

  “Hahaha…only when you know your enemy and know yourself shall you gain victory in all your battles. The Xia Emperor knows far too little regarding our Seamless Gate. Very few know about Empyrean God Venomsong; they weren’t able to tell from the appearance of that White-Faced Flood Dragon that it was being commanded by an Empyrean God.” The Hallmaster of Bloodcloud Hall sent mentally, “Azurefox, your idea of having Empyrean God Venomsong personally command a squad was a stroke of brilliance.”