Meanwhile...
Dylan was watching everything unfold in a row of bushes. He was being hidden by the bushes and trees that were slightly elevated with a slope that leads to the Main Road where the intense battle was currently happening.
The battle in front of him was something he never would have thought he would witness in his wildest dreams.
These were the cultivators he idolized.
He had been lucky that the area he decided to use to watch everything was unaffected. The sword aura that Victoria, the darkness energy from Byron, the strings and hell-bound energy from Yumi and the cloud-like power that Alistair were using had not touched him.
This was also due to the fact that he was watching everything behind Kaiden and Michael. So this area was something that was being safe guarded by Victoria and Alistair
'The way the kind lady uses her swords is amazing! She's so fast! I have never seen anything like it!' His eyes glimmered in admiration.
Although most of the time, he doesn't really comprehend what was really happening in front of him.
'The army said that the older guy wearing the armor is the City Lord! I can't believe I'm seeing the Soaring King Alistair Cloudsoar in action!' As someone who has lived near Soaring Cloud City, Dylan has also heard of the legends that Alistair has done.
"The black cloaked old man and the black haired girl are both scary. I think they're the causes of every weird thing that has been happening around us. Especially the older guy since he's the one who use that darkness power to kill everyone in the army just now..." Dylan thought as he looked over to who seemed to be responsible for the fight
"But it's really strange..." Dylan said, raising his head and observing the sky.
The sky was blotted by thick clouds that spans from horizon to horizon. The thick storm clouds from earlier is gathering and creating a vortex of sorts.
It was as though several hundreds of lightning snakes were currently nesting within it, eager to get out of the clouds embrace!
'Are they that focused in the fight that they can't notice what's happening above them?' Dylan thought as he looked at the terrifying manner by which the clouds twisted and created a vortex like that in the sky.
'Though, the entire sky is covered by clouds and there hasn't been any thunders that resounded from those storm clouds.'
"There's something weird about those lightnings though. It's as if...." Dylan said while he looked at the sky dazed.
"Hey, what are you looking at?" A female's voice resounded from behind him.
"Who?!" Dylan said in shock.
When he looked back, he saw that it was just Leila who had been following her earlier.
"You're the one from that flower field earlier?" Dylan remembered who this girl was immediately.
"Wow! What an amazing clash from these cultivators!" Leila exclaimed in admiration to the fantastical powers and skillful exchanges that those cultivators had.
"Shhh!" It was Kris who finally caught up to them as he covered Leila and Dylan's mouth.
He whispered in a very controlled way but it was evident that he was quite stressed about the situations they are currently in, "Are you both crazy?!"
"This is a battle between Mortal Severing Experts! Just a residue from their attacks is enough to vaporize any of us here! So, be quiet and don't do anything stupid!" Kris tried his best to suppress his concern and anxiety but there was nothing he can do as he was already in this situation.
"Mhm." The two nodded in agreement.
'Why the hell are we in the most dangerous area in the span of ten thousand kilometers?!' Kris was scratching his head, in what they should be doing.
He then looked to Leila and asked exasperatedly, "Why did we have to come here...?"
"You know, I didn't ask you to come right, brother?" Leila said as a matter of fact cause there was nothing of that sort. It was purely due to Kris' worry and concern for the safety of her younger sister that he followed Leila here.
"Ugh, stop being difficult! We are in a very serious situation here!!"
Kris was trying his best not too raise his voice as it might attract the attention of the high-level cultivators that are currently attacking.
"Hahaha, I'm kidding." Leila joked.
"Haayst... so what is the true reason?" Kris body slumped forwards in defeat.
"It was because of that guy." Leila pointed at Kaiden who just got up.
"Him?! You put yourself in harm's way just to see this man?! Do you like this-" Kris grew angry the moment he realized that the reason that her sister went to a dangerous place was for a guy?!
He could not help but raise his voice. Only for it to be covered by Dylan who whispered,
"Shhh! We're in a battlefield with Mortal Severing cultivators so it's best to leave our mouths shut!"
"?!" Kris' brows twitched because he knew the kid was right and that's the exact same reason he told them to shut up earlier. He could only nod as he took a deep breath.
"I know. They have probably long sensed us approaching but they are either too immersed with the fight or they think we won't be able to make any impact to the outcome anyways..." Kris logically concluded.
"I see. That makes sense." Dylan nodded.
"Anyways, we got sidetracked. Leila, why did you come to meet that guy over there?" Kris continued.
"It's because something was telling me that we are kind of similar..." Leila said with a mysterious glow in her eyes.
"What do you mean "similar"? What is this something you're talking about?"
"I don't really understand it myself. I don't know who that person is. Suddenly, a new yet somehow familiar voice was telling me to come here. It kind of sounded like..."
"Like? Sounded like who? That sounds completely ridiculous, Leila. You cannot put yourself in harm's way just because of-" Kris wanted to press for information even further.
But before he could, thunder bellowed from the vortex up above:
*Rumble* *Crack*
"What is that?!" Kris took notice of the humongous vortex of storm clouds while flickers of lightning could be seen swirling into the axis of rotation.
"..." Leila could only stare in awe from the sheer devastating presence of that cloud.
"You're both only noticing that now?" Dylan asked as he saw their befuddled expressions.
He could not help but think back to what Leila just said, 'I came here because I wanted to thank the kind lady and I also wanted to work for her so I can get more of those pills that she has for my sister...'
'But somewhere along the way, I also felt something was calling me like what Leila was feeling... But to me it wasn't a person but something... it felt like something in those clouds is calling me... Is that the reason why I noticed it first? What is happening to me...?'
Dylan wondered what the source of this peculiar feeling was.
*BOOM!*
Then, suddenly a strong tremor happened which caused the ground they were standing in to collapse!
The three of them were caught off guard. Kris was able to react on time and wanted to save Leila but he could not grab her hand because the ground below her crumbled faster.
Dylan and Leila could only fall along the slope.
"AAAAAAAAHHH"
===
*Badump*
'What's this feeling...?' Victoria suddenly felt something was off while she was clashing with Byron. Her right sword was currently blocking Byron's staff which was corroding the sword's energy while her left sword was being restricted by hands that were emerging from the ground.
She was still being overwhelmed.
"Hand of Corruption!"
Byron was about to reach out with his hand to launch another attack but Victoria used her feet and kicked Byron in the chest so she could evade the attack and launch herself backwards and reposition herself.
After somersaulting, her hands were now angled like a "V" and was now in a better position to attack. She gathered her energy as she once again attacked with:
"Heavenly Cross - Second Sword - Twilight Blades"
Using the energy generated from this attack, she was able to get out of both the corruption and the entanglement while simultaneously launching an attack. The sheer force of the attack cause the earth to shake as well!
*BOOM!*
It created one large "X" shaped sword scar in the ground itself!
That exchange momentarily stopped their intense clash as they also heard the sound of thunder bellowing from above them.
*Rumble* *Crack*
At that exact moment, they heard the screams of Dylan and Leila who had just fell from the grounds collapse.
"AAAAAAAAHHH!"
'Kids?' These high ranking cultivators only paid a side glance to them before reverting their attention back to their opponents.
'Those little mice has been peeking for quite some time now.' Yumi mused.
Then, the two fights started clashing again!
===
Dylan and Leila had stopped rolling because Michael was able to catch them.
"Thank you, Sir." Dylan and Leila politely said after standing up themselves.
"What are you kids doing here?! This is a very dangerous. Stay close with me and I will evacuate you two." Michael reprimanded as he said.
"We apologize, sir." The two nodded while apologizing.
Michael wanted to ensure the children's safety but he then noticed that Kaiden was now standing as well.
"I have to save you this time, milady..." He was even walking towards Victoria now.
"Sir Knight, you're not in any condition to walk!" Michael tried to get Kaiden to behave but he was also very concerned with the kids that found themselves stumbling.
"I need to save her..." Kaiden said without paying any mind to what Michael was saying.
Leila took this chance to get close to Kaiden who seemed to be the reason why she was called here by the mysterious voice.
Dylan also grabbed Leila and said, "What are you doing? We should be leaving now."
Leila knew that what she will say might sound weird. But she thought, 'If we really are similar, then maybe he'll know why...'
So, she tugged on his sleeves. The moment she did ethereal energy started emanating from her. She felt a sense of kinship.
This feeling gave her more certainty and said, "Do you also have visions?"
Those words caused Kaiden to stop as the glows in her eyes dissipated and he turned back to look at her and asked,
"What did you... just say?"
===
*Rumble* *Crack*
"?!"
"Hm?!"
Victoria and Byron had to pause with combat. The same happened with Alistair and Yumi!
"Is that a heavenly tribulation?" Alistair deduced as he had already experienced that as well. But it was not just him who thought of that it was also the case for Yumi and Byron.
They were very familiar with what was happening.
This was because it was something that all cultivators at their levels had to undergo. Once a cultivator reaches Mortal Severing Realm, they reach a point where they are no longer just mortals with powers. They metamorphosize into something greater!
The very act of transforming one's very nature was an act of rebellion against heaven's mandate. Thus, to establish natural order, heaven's wrath is materialized to the heavenly tribulation.
But nature is fair if the individual is able to worthy enough to withstand its wrath, the lightning which was originally a punishment becomes a blessing that supplements their growth!
The lightning tempers the body if withstood and it helps create an immortal body. The residue of the lightning that lingers in the body also helps to supplement.
Each stage of the Mortal Severing involves a baptism of a heavenly tribulation.
That's why Alistair, Byron and Yumi looked at Victoria like a monster. Because she somehow had attained a body that could withstand Mortal Severing Innate Energy without the tempering of the Heavenly Tribulation lightnings.
All of them instinctively looked at Victoria, 'She's the only who has recently reached Mortal Severing lately.'
Byron and Alistair were already backing up as soon as they concluded that this was Victoria's Heavenly Tribulation.
'Is that supposed to be my heavenly tribulation?' Victoria thought.
'Why did it have to happen now?!' She thought.
Even Byron could not help but wonder at the magnitude of those tribulation clouds, 'But the scale of this Heavenly Tribulation is far greater than anything that I've seen in my life. It's several times bigger than usual....'
*Rumble* *Rumble* *Rumble*
As if to answer everyone's thoughts, the vortex suddenly became faster and bigger. It was dragging the entire cloud-filled sky and creating an even larger vortex!
At the center of it all, the lightning inside grew in both size and ferocity!
It was directly below Victoria. It really seemed to be her heavenly tribulation. The space around her seemed to be locking and it is forcing her to lock down.
'The space around me is being isolated?'
Sensing this, she had a feeling that she can no longer move from the area that she was in.
'So, the heavenly tribulation really only isolates the defiant...'
*Rumble* *Rumble* *Rumble*
"What is happening?!"
At this moment, everyone felt miniscule. Those clouds were emanating power that seemingly came from a God!
'This heavenly tribulation is not normal...' Alistair said.
"Why are you stepping back, master?" Yumi asked.
"Yumi, do as I say. Fall back for now. Do not touch the princess! Even I cannot afford to interfere with heaven's mandate. Else, we would incur heaven's wrath and die a gruesome death through heavenly lightning."
There was an unwritten rule during Heavenly Tribulations. It is to let the cultivator withstand it or let him die from it alone. That is his own trial to bear.
There has been many reported incidents of an individual undergoing heavenly tribulation being attacked. All of those incidents led to the incineration of the perpetrators through an even stronger barrage of heavenly tribulation lightning.
Mere mortals have no right to intervene with the judgment of the heavens.
"Mhm." Yumi nodded, knowing the implications of his words. She said under her breath, "So, I guess we wait it out..."
'What a rather peculiar situation this is... To think that a Heavenly Tribulation would happen right now so we have to stop fighting the princess.' Byron thought.
"But that does not necessarily mean we cannot secure a favorable advantage as we wait for the heavenly tribulation!" Byron faded into darkness!
He reappeared behind Alistair and attacked him!
"Hand of Corruption!"
"You-?!"
Alistair tried to block Byron but to no avail, he was only in the Early Half-Saint Realm while Byron was somewhere in the middle stage of the Half-Saint Realm. He was by far significantly stronger than him!
"Noooo!"
Alistair was using a defensive sword art but Byron's Hand of corruption was corroding his cloud energy and enveloping his body!
"Bye bye, old man!"
Yumi also acted immediately. She used her Hell Threads and trapped Alistair with her Hell Coccoon!
*BOOM* *CRACK*
In an instant, the Heavenly Tribulation Lightning also struck down!