High above the valley, the man's expression twisted.
His chains had failed, his domain had failed, and even the pressure he exuded couldn't stop her advance!
Everything he used was completely incapable of slowing her down!
One had to know that as a cultivator at the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm, he should be able to easily crush her with a single thought! The difference between realms wasn't just an increase in strength, no, it was an evolution in the level of life! The concept of 'fighting above one's level' was one thing, but the pressure a higher-level practitioner could impose on a lower-level practitioner shouldn't be so easily shrugged off!
"…Fine!" His voice dropped, becoming cold and sharp, as his hand moved to his side.
Shing!
A blade slipped free from somewhere within his robes, glinting in the moonlight.
This was no ordinary sword! Its short, narrow body was covered in countless layers of red runes that violently rippled, each inscription shifting along its edge as if alive, reacting to the surrounding spiritual energy like some kind of eldritch beast! The moment it was drawn, the air trembled, and the space around it constricted, as though the world feared being cut!
The man stepped forward mid-air, his foot coming down with a heavy dong!
Then—
Swoosh!
—He vanished!
A moment later, in a flash, he reappeared directly in front of Petra, the blade already descending with a ferocious momentum! The air distorted, and everything became sluggish. As the strange weapon fell, one could see the bizarre red runes squirming free from the blade's body and trying to dig into his flesh.
Petra tilted her head, her face showing no change in emotion.
But unbeknownst to him, her eyes flickered with a deep darkness.
The blade slid past her cheek, slicing a strand of emerald hair that slowly drifted away into the night.
Bang!
The blade's momentum, which seemed to suddenly carry a mountain, brought down his hand, 'uncontrollably' embedding itself in the ground!
He couldn't stop his swing, even if he wanted to!
Boom!
After he missed, he was left completely open, incapable of even letting go of the small sword.
Petra stepped forward.
She didn't draw a weapon, nor did she counter; instead, she just looked down at him with a strange, almost confused emotion.
"Hm!?"
The man was suddenly filled with a profound sense of confusion.
It happened so fast that even with a peak fourth-order cultivation, the man still didn't understand what happened to him in that instant. Even the memories of the swing of the sword seemed to fail him, appearing as if he didn't know what he had done.
But it didn't matter!
Petra pointed forward, her finger only a sliver away from his brow.
Looking closer, the tip of her finger had transformed, or more specifically, the end of her fingernail had extruded some kind of hardened substance that flickered with a red light to mimic a small dragon claw.
Like a small dagger, Petras' finger gently tapped his forehead.
Then—!
A deep, uncontrollable tremor ran through his whole body!
He shivered, then—
"Ah!"
His grip faltered, throwing away the strange blade as an indescribable sense of pain exploded throughout his veins! Whatever force refused to allow him to drop the weapon was instantly dispelled, and an agony so great that he could never have imagined in his life tore into him all at once! It exploded in his head without warning, sharp and violent, spreading down his neck and through his limbs, filling his entire body in an instant like molten metal!
"Agh—!"
His body spasmed, the sword forgotten as his body began to command him to tear himself apart!
His nerves screamed as his muscles convulsed!
His mind flashed white as his brain began to break!
But it did not stop there!
As his brain began to fail him, 'it' reached his mind, stretching deep into the depths of his sea of consciousness, and tearing it apart from the inside!
"AH! AAAH—!"
His scream tore through the valley as his thoughts fractured, his focus collapsing under the overwhelming surge of suffering. His vision blurred, his control slipping as the pain still pushed deeper—
Eventually, it passed through his sea of consciousness and reached all the way into his soul!
His body convulsed violently, sweat poured down his face as he dropped to one knee, trembling uncontrollably as everything began to fade! He forced himself up, only to fail and fall!
Again—! Bang!
Fall!
Again—! Bang!
Fall!
Again—! Bang!
He collapsed again and again, no longer capable of discerning what would work!
Everything was collapsing from within!
"…Ngh—!"
His breathing turned ragged as he struggled, his limbs refusing to respond, yet he still clenched his teeth, forcing himself upright into a half-kneeling position, lifting his head to glare at Petra.
His eyes were bloodshot, and his body was covered in blood.
Petra was in front of him, peering down, completely indifferent.
Like her, Luna stood not far away, the two little girls looking on expressionlessly at the dying man.
For a very brief moment, he looked at his daughter, a long-forgotten feeling flashing from the depths of his soul. Unfortunately, an instant later, any feelings he would have found had been drowned out by the uncontrollable wave of pain washing over his dishevelled figure!
Gritting his teeth, he urged his stiffening body to raise his hand.
Petra watched him as he reached out, his hand slowly finding its way back to the strange sword that was embedded in the ground.
It was not intentional; it was an instinct...
The sword rose again in his trembling hand as he poured everything he had left into a final strike, forcing his body to move, forcing his will to hold! It didn't matter anymore, or at least, that was what he was screaming in his last semblances of sanity.
Petra had no idea what that weapon was, but the aura she felt from it was strangely familiar, as if she had felt something similar before. After a flash of enlightenment, she remembered that it seemed to contain a similar aura to the twisted red skeleton in the Darkstone Mine from a long time ago!
Clang!
The blade was knocked aside by Petra's boot.
Swoosh!
It flew away, landing quite a distance, before the runes flickered and died. The sword began to smoke, a swirling black mist bleeding out of the blade before it dissipated into the void.
A moment later —
Crack!
The blade cracked, forming fine chips that ran along its length.
A moment later, the grey gas that had been sticking to it dissolved into nothingness.
Petra watched this from the corner of her eye, confirming something that she had suspected since entering the Azurefell Family. She didn't know what this 'Guardian' was, but it was definitely a 'manipulator type' throwaway background boss…
She just shook her head and stepped forward.
It didn't really matter…
The man raised his fist, seemingly in hope of a final attempt!
The battle had closed on such an underwhelming note, and he couldn't accept it!
Swoosh!
His fist slammed into her face!
Bang! 'The adult punched the child!'
She didn't move, not even an inch!
His pupils shrank.
"…What—!" Even while suffering, he could still understand that the sturdiness of her body was far, far beyond what a Golden Core Realm cultivator should have! Although he had lost the ability to think, he suspected that Petra had the durability of at least a fifth order!
And indeed, he wasn't far off. With the use of Petra's mental energy, or the 'second skin' she was training, her durability, although not as unreasonable as it would be if she went 'full tank mode', did in fact possess the durability of an early fifth-order cultivator!
Petra raised her little fist, then she—
Ahem! What followed wasn't a battle and will therefore be censored for our younger audiences!
-
Time passed, and soon silence returned to the valley…
Behind Petra, Luna stood still, her hands clenched tightly at her sides. Despite the grotesque mess of mangled flesh, she didn't look away, not even for a second! She watched everything; her gaze fixed on the man who had defined her future, her failure of a father, quite literally collapse into nothingness!
As it ended, something seemed to shift inside her.
It was not grief…
It was not relief…
No! It was something deeper, something more ethereal…
It was fate, the shattering of 'ties!' Even with Petra's passive, some 'ties' were difficult to destroy.
Petra released what remained of the man and let it fall to the ground. Luna watched as the man who claimed the title of her father disappeared into nothingness, ceasing to exist.
There was a moment of silence—
Then she stepped past him, and without a word, she walked away as if he had never existed…
* * *
From the shadows, a frail old man watched in silence as the battle came to an end.
His gaze lingered on Luna.
Their figures, advancing towards the small temple in the deepest parts of the Azurefell Family, grew faint beneath the pale moonlight, swallowed slowly by the fog until nothing remained.
He shook his head, the movement slow, almost weary…
Without raising a hand, he pinched his fingers and traced a faint, incomprehensible pattern in the air. A subtle ripple spread outwards as he performed a quick divination, peering into the unseen threads of fate, cause and effect, and future of the Azurefell Family.
After a moment—
"…As expected," He muttered.
The old man let out a slow sigh, lowering his hand as the ripples faded and failed.
He simply turned away, disappearing into the darkness…
He was unseen by Petra, signifying a cultivation level that was completely unimaginable!
* * *
Turning back the clock—
The main residence had already begun to collapse in countless places. As the surrounding battle went on, this could no longer be stopped.
Although many people were spared, just as many were killed.
This was particularly unsettling for the outside help that had been called, because the vast majority of deaths were these very outsiders! Although the Azurefell Family didn't know why the ant army wasn't killing indiscriminately, this didn't stop the misunderstanding from being born. Some had already retreated, some were suspicious, and others directly questioned the family's intentions. Regardless, even the Azurefell Family was confused as to why they were only incapacitated, and those who knew the source of the trouble (Petra and the Twins) would definitely not speak up!
Mm, anyways!
Looking away from the battlefield and towards one of the few remaining buildings that still stood—
In a large hall, many voices overlapped in a chaotic storm as an emergency gathering was pulled together at the last minute. It wasn't organized, nor was it dignified, but those that were not immediately fighting, the Elders, top branch leaders, and many scattered disciples all spoke at the same time, their usual composure long since shattered.
"What is happening out there?!"
"Why do they still seem to be increasing in numbers!"
"The defensive formations have already collapsed! What do we do now! Why can't we run?!"
"That swarm—those insects—where did they come from?!"
"Where is the Ancestor!?"
"Where is the Patriarch!?"
There were many questions, but none were answered…
Bang!
"I said where are they!? Do none of you know what happened to the twins!?" Roared a particularly bald elder, his voice cracking a nearby pot as his gaze swept viciously across the room.
Silence followed his voice…
He looked around, his glare particularly piercing.
No one could meet his eyes.
Suddenly, a stuttering voice called out weakly, "...E-elder, the Patriarch hasn't been seen since the first meeting… w-we really can't find him! Only he knows what happened to the twins!"
There was another moment of silence, and only the distant sounds of battle could be heard.
The bald elder, hearing this, felt his temples throb…
Bang!
"Damn it! Why now of all times! Why do this now!"
Nellio stood near the edge of the gathering, his expression dark, his thoughts racing as the noise pressed in from all sides.
His mind was lost in thought.
Was Lalume and Nenl's decision to run away, correct..?
Unlike him, who was the current young master, without the curse, those two could run to the ends of the earth without a worry in the world. Unfortunately for him, he was not so lucky.
Suddenly—
"The Guardian—wake the Guardian! Its our only hope!" someone shouted!
That single sentence sent a rising ripple through the room.