River of Fate: Emerald Alchemist, page 31
He chuckled, but the sound came across strange against the background of his aura. Instead of making him seem friendly, it was eerie. As the sound touched the shadows, it twisted into two parts, becoming grating on one side and a strange howl on the other, like a midnight howl over graves, but the elder didn’t pay it any attention.
He just turned his attention to Verse.
“It’s beneath me to come here and kill someone who is not even at the Aligned realm,” he said with a frown, “but the sect demanded it. You can count it as your honor. Let it not be said that I disrespected an Imperial Knight.”
He let out a harsh laugh.
“You’re clearly not weak, even though I can’t see where your strength is coming from. Avoiding our assassins for so long proves that, not to mention the ones you killed. I am interested in how you did that, and in how you blocked their talismans from returning to the sect.” The elder shook his head.
“I can tell you’re only at the peak of Essence Condensation, so I’m curious how you managed to kill this serpent, which was clearly at the peak of the Aligned realm. Beasts like that are strong, especially this species. It would have given even me some trouble. Was it an artifact perhaps, or a talisman?
“Out of respect for your great imperial title and impressing me,” he continued sarcastically, “I’ll give you a choice. Tell me your secrets and hand over the beast core from this serpent without ruining it. Then I’ll give you a quick death. Otherwise, it will be slow and painful.”
“There is no need to make bargains.” Verse shook his head. The elder’s words didn’t change his expression, except to make him smile slightly. “You won’t be getting the serpent’s core, nor anything else. I assume you have some sort of status in the sect. Tell me, isn’t it beneath the dignity of a Primal Spirit cultivator to act like a common thief? Without those robes you’re wearing, I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.”
His words were mocking.
The sect had tried to kill him twice already. This was the third. He had no intention of allowing them to leave here. It would just be creating trouble for the future.
With a flick of his hand, a soul talisman flew away from his arm. It was focused around two bright red runes that roared with fire. The draconic words for “Flame” and “Seal” were fused into its foundation, lending it strength that resonated with the natural world.
When the talisman reached the entrance to the cavern, it expanded into a barrier of flame and sealed the exit. Crimson-gold lines of force covered the opening with leaping flames as it began to draw energy from the flames in the walls, growing stronger by the second.
Within moments, the exit was sealed by a dense barrier that would give even a Primal Spirit cultivator some trouble. With the combination of the draconic language and his Dao of Fire, as well as support from the fiery energy of this place, the talisman was much stronger than normal.
It was also directly opposed to the sect’s ghost cultivation techniques, so it would be harder for them to break through it.
“I don’t know where you’re getting your confidence from, but it’s not going to help you.” The elder glanced at the entrance and shook his head. He wasn’t bothered by the barrier. “Even a Primal Spirit-level talisman like that isn’t going to save your life. You’re just delaying the inevitable.”
He raised an eyebrow before he turned back to Verse.
“I am Elder Corpsewind of the Crimson Shade Sect. Enemies who die at my hand become part of my aura and serve me for eternity. It will be your honor to join them.”
As he spoke, howling ghosts rose out of the wind blowing around him. There were hundreds of them. Their features were twisted and thin, with wide jaws filled with fanged shadows.
Smaller ghosts were trapped inside those jaws, screaming as they fought to get out. They were the source of the howling that filled the cavern.
The ghosts surged toward Verse, their bodies stretching out like tangled branches. Their hands were tipped with claws as long as sabers and they held a deadly chill as they reached for him.
If they struck, the wounds they made would be spiritual as much as physical. They were also filled with corpse poison that would try to petrify his flesh and corrode his bones.
This elder was no joke.
Fortunately, the two assassins weren’t moving yet. They probably didn’t want to insult the elder by interfering with his attack.
The howls of the ghosts grew louder as the aura pressed toward him, filling the space in every direction.
Normally, he would have burned away the aura with his own, but under the suppression of the elder, his flames could only protect him at a short distance.
Without hesitating, he pulled out a handful of things: a half a dozen Cleansing Rain Pills, a defensive talisman at the Primal Spirit realm, and an Amethyst Harrow Pill. He tossed all of the pills into his mouth as he jumped to the far side of the cavern and put as much space between him and the ghosts as possible.
Corpsewind didn’t bother saying anything else. He just waved his hand, which had transformed to look like a gruesome skeletal claw, and sent the tide of ghosts hurtling faster toward Verse.
With the bit of space he gained from dodging, Verse let the energy from the pills dissolve through his body, starting with the Cleansing Rain Pills. He trusted in their effectiveness and his own constitution, but they were only Rank 1, so he decided to get ahead of the curve by using a lot of them.
The poison looked unpleasant.
He activated the talisman, surrounding himself with a dense layer of steely grey light. The defense was aligned to Metal and the shield was half a meter thick. It wouldn‘t hold up forever, but it should be able to take a few of the elder’s attacks before disintegrating.
Then he let the Amethyst Harrow Pill dissolve. It flowed through his body in a rage of dragon fire and poured out of his skin, surrounding him in a field of amethyst flames that surged out against the elder’s suppression.
It only gained a short distance more than his own flames, just enough to cross outside the talisman’s shield, but where the amethyst flames met the tide of ghosts that were reaching toward him, howling screams resounded.
The ghosts’ claws melted away in the face of the pill’s aura and they shrieked as they drew back. It was like they’d met their antithesis.
If the pill had been a higher rank, it might have washed the ghosts away in an instant, but since it wasn’t, their claws only disintegrated when they came within range, marking out a clear space about a meter around Verse.
The pill’s energy boiled through his veins as it rushed out, but it was being quickly consumed by the number of ghosts. It meant he needed to move.
“You won’t be able to survive with pills and talismans forever!” Corpsewind was incensed. It was an insult to him as a Primal Spirit cultivator that Verse survived for even a moment in front of him, and he was determined to correct it, even if he had to attack directly.
“Now die!”
He reached out with his skeletal hand, which grew in size as it stretched across the cavern. It turned into a grasping claw of bone ten feet across that was surrounded by a cold and poisonous white mist. The tips of the fingers were jagged bone spikes.
It looked like a hand of the dead was stretching across the cavern.
At the same time, the elder’s aura intensified. Grey winds blew around the hand, swirling like fog above tombstones. The pressure on the room doubled, making the ghosts howl in fury as they swarmed toward Verse, charging into the amethyst flames.
They screamed as they burned, but the flames weren’t strong enough to eliminate them immediately. They piled on, trying to freeze him in a deathly chill as the elder’s hand approached.
It was difficult for Verse to move under the pressure. Even with his strength at the Primal Spirit realm, the ghosts were weighing down on him like a frozen river. The amethyst flames raged as they burned them on every side, but the pill’s energy couldn’t keep up with the numbers that were pressing in.
This was one of the problems with facing ghost cultivators. They stored up strength from the spirits of all the enemies they’d defeated, making them stronger than normal if you gave them a chance to activate everything.
If he had his own Primal Spirit aura to counter the elder’s, it wouldn’t have been as problematic, but he only had his pills and talismans to help, and they weren’t quite up to the task. He only managed to move a few steps to the side before the elder’s attack arrived.
The bony hand closed around him in a crushing grasp, making the world shake like it had been struck by a giant hammer. The sharp fingers dented the edges of the talisman shield and made it crumple inward.
For the moment, the attack was blocked, but it made Verse stagger to the side as he let out a growl. The talisman shield was holding and he could move slowly, but it was like lifting a mountain with each step.
He quickly grabbed two more Amethyst Harrow Pills and ate them to fuel his waning aura. The amethyst flames surged, roaring outward with fury as they worked to incinerate the ghosts.
Immediately, some of the pressure they’d brought to bear fell away, giving him the chance to fight.
There were lines of soul talismans rotating around his arms, and with a quick flick of his hand, he sent three of them to support the defensive talisman around him. Draconic runes for Flame and Shield fused into the steel-grey light, giving it an inner layer made of crimson flame.
Emerald flames surged up from his skin as he pulled out the Flowing Gold Spear. Around his neck, he hung a small ruby shield. It was the defensive artifact he’d taken from the first set of assassins, and it seemed appropriate to use it now.
The pressure around him increased as the elder scowled and tightened his grip. Sections of his shield began to melt away, hissing as they were corroded by the poisonous mist around the claw. The fingers began to slice through the layer of steely light, heading for his chest.
Verse ignored the attack as he sprinted forward, tearing at the air in front of him with the golden spear. Given the difference in their auras, he couldn’t stay at a distance. He had to get close.
The elder’s hand was still outstretched and it dragged on him, but Verse was too strong to be held back by a single hand. Crimson and emerald flames wrapped around his spear as he leapt across the cavern floor and stabbed toward the elder’s heart.
“Fool!” the elder shouted as he raised his other hand to block. A glowing white mist shield appeared in front of him, just an instant before Verse slammed into it.
The spear pierced deep into the mist, tearing a massive gouge out of it, but a moment later, the elder jerked the bony hand holding Verse to the side, releasing its grasp as it hurled him across the cavern.
Verse flew out like a ballista bolt and slammed into the far wall with a massive boom. The wall shuddered as cracks ran through the obsidian and a sheet of loose rubble fell free. The shield around him took the brunt of the attack, but the shock of the impact rattled his bones.
He slid to the ground, where he growled as he forced himself straight again. The shield around him was flickering on its last legs.
“A talisman is only a talisman,” Corpsewind snapped from across the cavern. “It might give you the strength to face me for a moment, but soon it will crumble. Then I will rip out your soul and feed it to my ghosts. Count yourself lucky to have these last few moments.”
He was irritated that Verse had blocked even one of his attacks. With that, he reached across the distance again. Ghosts howled as another skeletal claw shot toward Verse.
This time, Verse didn’t plan to let the ghostly aura trap him. The flames of the Amethyst Harrow Pills were still burning strong and he leapt forward again.
This time, however, he didn’t head for Corpsewind. He charged straight toward the two Aligned realm assassins behind him. They’d been quiet until now, unwilling to interfere with Corpsewind’s attacks, but that wouldn’t last for long.
It was best to take them out of the picture and reduce the variables.
When they saw him coming, however, they instantly split up. They weren’t planning to just stand there and let him attack. They shot quick glances at the elder as they moved away, waiting for his command.
“Kill him.” Corpsewind’s order rang out. He was furious that his initial strike hadn’t killed Verse, but he wasn’t stupid. “Don’t hold back.”
Now that he’d been reminded of his other assets, he was going to make use of them.
The two assassins instantly spread out to the sides, trying to flank Verse. All around them, a blood red mist poured out into the cavern. It hissed in the air as it gave off a faint stench of blood and decay that spread through the area.
Just from its appearance, it was a much stronger poison than the ones he’d seen the assassins use before. It had to be the sect’s real blood mist technique, capable of ripping out the blood and life from whomever it touched.
Verse pivoted in place, targeting the assassin on his left, and continued to rush forward. This time, emerald flames surged out around him, bolstering his strength and increasing his speed.
Even with the talismans and pills to help, he needed everything his bloodline could offer. There was no point in holding back. A powerful roar echoed around him as he closed in and brought the spear down.
The assassin tried to dodge, but his cultivation was at the Aligned realm and compared to Verse, his movements were as clear as day. He was only able to slide to the side before the spear arrived.
The point was covered with a blade of emerald light that pierced through the assassin’s chest and tore a massive hole. Then Verse’s knee arrived, slamming upward into the man’s stomach and hurling him backward off the spear like a meteor.
The assassin’s body was nearly broken in half. He flew through the air and crashed into the far wall, where he slid down in a lifeless heap.
Crackling red talismans and a grey mist exploded upward from his bones, just like from the ones Verse killed before, but they were only another cloud of poison in a cavern that was already filled with it.
The talismans flared like dark stars as they searched for an escape route back to the sect, but this far down in the earth, the spiritual pressure of the chasm was as strong as a protective ward.
After an instant, they burned out and turned to dust that rained down on the floor.
The attack was successful, but the time it took to execute meant Verse was standing in the same spot. It was a window of opportunity for his enemies.
The other assassin raced forward with two dark blades in his hands. The blood mist around him surged at the same time, creating an arc that cut off Verse’s escape.
Verse spun in place, his spear lashing out to meet the blades. The weapons collided in an explosion of black and golden light. The assassin grunted in pain as his momentum stopped like he’d slammed into a stone wall.
Verse pushed through the block, continuing the sweep of the spear. The movement picked the assassin up off his feet and tossed him backward in an uncontrolled tumble.
“How are you doing that?” Corpsewind growled in shock, his eyes widening for the first time as he took in Verse’s physical strength and the emerald flames burning around him. His skeletal claw paused in the air as he stared at Verse. “That is no normal aura! There’s no way you’re only an Essence Condensation cultivator. What are you?”
“Just a knight,” Verse replied with a tight smile. “Did you think the order was that weak?”
He decided to put the entire responsibility on his title, making it seem like that was where his strength came from. It was as good an explanation as any, since he wasn’t going to reveal the truth.
He turned around, facing Corpsewind and the assassin who had recovered his balance. His defensive talisman had dissipated in that exchange, leaving him to face their attacks with just his body.
The blood mist the assassins had created was lingering around him, making his skin burn with a fierce itching sensation as his flames fought with it. It felt cold and violent, and there was something almost alive in it.
It was constantly striking him in a thousand places and trying to find a way in. Here and there, it managed to seep in through scratches, where it burned fiercely as it met his inner flames. He could feel the cool presence of the Cleansing Rain Pills there as well, slowly washing it away.
He wasn’t sure how they’d created that poison, but it was another unpleasant feature of the sect.
“Do you take me for a fool?” Corsewind growled. “There is no way that is an Imperial Knight’s aura. It’s not even the correct color. You are more than I gave you credit for. I’ve changed my mind about you. Death is too quick a solution.
“Since you killed one of my assassins, the least you can do is replace him and become one of my corpse puppets. I’ll refine your body with a thousand poisons and you’ll be the pride of my collection. Meanwhile, your spirit will be trapped in my wind, unable to do anything except howl in despair as you serve me.”
As Corpsewind spoke, his aura was surging toward Verse, trying to fill the space with a tide of ghosts. The elder’s delay was only a trick. He was trying to get enough time to pin Verse down again.
Before the aura could pressure him, Verse swallowed his last two Amethyst Harrow Pills and another handful of Cleansing Rain Pills. That was all he had time for, however, as the elder’s attack arrived.
This time, it was much more vicious than before.
The skeletal hand shot through the air toward Verse and the ghostly wind howled behind it. On the side, the remaining assassin threw out dark blades as he tried to cut off Verse’s escape route. Billows of red poison filled the cavern, creating dangerous walls that hemmed him in.
As the bony hand approached, Verse’s bloodline flared. Silver scales appeared all across his body as multicolored flames poured into the spear in his hand. The spear groaned in response, its structure beginning to warp.
