Chapter 497 Heart-Sung Defiance (1/2)

CHAPTER 497

HEART-SUNG DEFIANCE

Hundreds of pillars of the earth, each shaped exactly the same -- sharpened toward the topmost end to look like a sword -- shot out of the earth in a set of concentric circles around an elderly figure, his robes flapping madly in the violent, roused winds. On the top of the pillars, countless bodies hung, eyes rolled up into their skulls, listless, some still spasming. Blood trickled down the pillars' sides, dyeing the earthly brown in a deeper shade, giving it a tinge of crimson.

Cain shot back right after, avoiding a singular bolt of lightning that exploded where he stood, churning out a ring-shaped electric net that drove through the pillars, collapsing them.

Sweat trickled down his forehead madly, his breathing rapid and shallow, eyes jostling in their sockets, looking left and right without a break, Qi in him burning like a bonfire.

His bald head felt cold, doused in the falling rain that had turned into a downpour minutes into his fight. It slowly began to wash away the stench of the corpses and the dye of the blood from the surrounding lands, though it would take a rather long passage of time for these parts to be cleansed.

He rocked his right arm upward, jerking it so quickly that he broke a bone, causing a wall of earth to jolt out from the ground beneath, taking a direct hit from a burning flash that melted right through it in a singular breath. That breath, however, afforded him an opportunity to dart backward, shooting over a squad of cultivators that had just joined the battle.

Without giving them an opportunity to prepare, he clasped his hands together mid-flight, intertwining his fingers and crushing them almost until they broke. The earth beneath the newly arrived shook and trembled all of a sudden, a claw-like protrusion beaming out around them and collapsing inwardly, swallowing them all whole, turning in the end into a closed fist of thin fingers and long nails. Blood slowly began to trickle from its edges, and it almost seemed, from a distance, like a bleeding flower.

He landed haphazardly, nearly stumbling back over his own tiredness. Coming to a stop, he slumped over slightly, holding onto his broken arm, breathing rapidly. He glanced up, noticing that they had begun encircling him once more.

Despite the white mist that had descended upon the Mountain Pass and the surrounding area, blocking the view past a few dozen meters, he could feel them. The earth beneath his feet pulsated with the rhythms of their hearts. Some were calm, some were worried, some were apathetic, some were cold, and some terrified. Such a massive mix, yet they all had to push onward equally. They all had to die for the desires that had nothing to do with them.

”... give it up, old friend.” a familiar, heart-soothing voice reached him all of a sudden, startling him. Snapping his eyes to the side, he saw a similarly balding figure crawl out of the mist, '6' etched onto his forehead.

”W-why are you here?! D-did Hannah lose?!” Cain exclaimed.

”For some reason,” Six said, sighing. ”She kicked Seven and me out before the battle began. Though, she is stuck with One. So, I imagine, she can't be doing great.” Cain sighed in relief; at the very least there's still hope. Everyone, everyone can die, but Hannah can't. That would signal the end of everything. ”Why put up the pointless fight? Surrender, and there might yet be some joy in your life.”

”... I've gotta give it to you,” Cain smiled faintly, shaking his head. ”I never, not even for a second, suspected you were the great Watcher. You had us all fooled completely. Though, I guess, it's expected.”

”--you can still save them,” Six seemed to be pleading, sighing as he spoke. ”Your--no, our Clansmen. It doesn't have to end this way.”

”Today I'll die,” Cain said, looking up all of a sudden, though there was nothing to be seen there besides the white mist that covered the world. Thick droplets of rain continued to belt his naked head, cooling him. ”That is my destiny, Sylver. I'll die on these wet, bloodied plains. As good a place as any, I imagine. But, most importantly, I'll die content. You won't. Seven won't. None of you will.”

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