Chapter 91 Chapter 91 - Hell on Earth (1/2)
CHAPTER 91
HELL ON EARTH
Ava stared at the staff in her hands with incredulous expression; it was a mix of joy, astonishment, confusion, terror, pride and somberness. She realized that this staff alone was nearly as strong as a Defensive Artifact of the Second-tiered Sects in the valley.
Such realization shocked her profoundly. Though she had some anticipation for the weapon crafted by the sly youth, they were nowhere near as high as what he delivered. However, by now, he'd long since departed. Even though she kept eye on him, and usually had at least dozen guards watching his every move, he still somehow managed to slip away.
It was then that she recalled she was completely unable to even perceive him unless he willingly released Qi vibrations. An odd smile appeared on her face as she stored the staff carefully into the storage ring. She then swore to herself that she would find him once again, and force him into her Clan. Letting go of such treasure was simply a sin against heaven.
**
Lino was currently well outside the valley, back at the bottom of the mountain which separated two sides. He appeared nondescript to everyone, a complete, ordinary mortal youth with rather shabby clothes and somewhat decent looks. However, his eyes brimmed with strange, almost archaic light as he quickened his pace.
”... I wonder what was her expression? Aii, what a shame I couldn't witness it.” he mumbled, smiling wryly. ”I best learn some disguising method when I leave Hope Town for good. Otherwise... haii, that woman will chase me to the ends of the earth.”
As he reveled in his greatness with delight, he sensed a strange feeling of uneasiness creep up inside of him. It grew stronger by every passed second, till the point that he couldn't help and feel anxious over something. Such phenomenon was most often described as the cultivator's 'sixth sense'; as one moves on with their life, they leave behind endless treads connecting them to their past. These Fate's Twines, however feeble and unimportant they may seem usually, are deeply linked with the very notion of 'sixth sense'.
Not even Freya, Fate's Child, was able to explain it properly; it's almost as if one of the threads you left behind was tucked at by external force, and that tug pulled at you, causing strange feelings to emerge for no reason. Though Lino wasn't much of a believer, he'd already experienced the strange oddities of Fate, and was fully aware that Fate itself was actually a very corporeal thing, unlike what some may believe.
The feeling of uneasiness grew ever so stronger the further along he walked. By now, he was entirely certain something terrible had happened on the other end of the mountain. He was also almost pushed to the point of spreading his wings and simply flying over there, but he held back. Though scarce, there were still people moving along the mountain.
Still, he kept increasing his pace until he was virtually in full-sprint. Luckily, as a body cultivator - an Empyrean no less - his stamina and endurance wasn't something ordinary people could even begin to fathom. Even cultivators could at best venture a wild guess, but as to how close they'd hit to home, it was unknown.
While Lino was running back, the other end of the mountain - where Hope Town, alongside nearly twenty other similarly sized-towns as well as Sects and large-scaled Clans like Su Clan - was currently experiencing what can only be describe as hell on earth. Millions of Demonically Possessed, hundreds of thousands of Great Demons, hundreds of Devils... it was an attack akin to nothing they had ever lived, heard or even read about.
Currently, Hope Town was entirely encircled by all sides with an army closing in to innumerable. What was perhaps even worse was that, inside, there weren't even a hundred cultivators left. All of them were currently standing atop the walls that certainly could do little to help them against the incoming siege. Aeala, Freya, Fish, Kraval, Lucky, Shaneine and Smite were among the cultivators that stayed behind, their expressions extremely ugly.
”... they really abandoned us, huh?” Smite said, sighing bitterly.
”That's one lesson we'll never forget, at the very least,” Aeala said, her expression as cold as winter, eyes bereft of any emotion but fury. ”Have you had any luck contacting Lino?”