Chapter 625: Terrifying Youths
In a dark, cavernous area barely illuminated by flickering torches, a lone figure stood with a slender blood red sword clasped in her hand. Her blood red hair flowed down her back, while her piercing gray eyes flickered about, peering through the darkness.
Her sword suddenly flashed forward, creating a brief red blur before it was instantly sheathed in the scabbard on her waist.
Creak!
A creaking sound filled the cavernous area as a door opened and light flooded in from the other side. The light illuminated the expansive cavern, revealing a scene of pure carnage all around the girl. Dozens of cultivators, all in the Peak Heaven Tribulation Realm were strewn about, none of them in one piece.
"What is it?" the girl asked coldly as she stared at the one that had opened the door and entered.
"You have been summoned by the Three Ancient Elders," the timid female who had entered replied sheepishly. She clearly feared the girl before her, despite being one of her aides.
"The Three Ancient Elder's?" the red-haired girl mused before a smile appeared on her face. "If it's them summoning me, it must be something important. Maybe I'll finally get to have a bit of fun again, whatever it is. Take me to them."
"Right away, Miss Bloodrose."
...
Graaahhh!
A pained cry flooded a dreary swampland, as the sound of shattering bones filled the air.
"Hehehehe!" a malevolent laugh followed afterwards, clearly belonging to someone enjoying themselves. "You only have yourself to blame," a voice followed afterwards, "thinking you could sneak through our lands like this. It seems as though you pathetic humans have started to look down on us monsters."
"No...pleas-" the sound of begging was cut off as their head was crunched beneath a black foot. Despite the fact that the figure was a Peak Heaven Tribulation cultivator, it stood no chance against the one who had killed it.
The one who had crushed the victims head looked down with disdain, as if the blood staining his foot was sullying it. However, he reached down and placed his finger in the blood before touching it to his tongue, an expression of delight appearing on his face.
"Humans are a pathetic bunch, but their blood is by far the best tasting," the figure said out loud, a look of ecstasy on his face.
The creature's skin was pitch black, and it had a humanoid body. Two large wings jutted out from its back, although they were folded closed at the moment. The creature had two forwards pointing curved horns on its head, and sharp fangs for teeth. Its fingers ended with sharp claws on each finger, making it look incredibly fearsome. However, while it looked incredibly fearsome, it also looked regal and handsome, making whoever looked at the creature feel an odd and conflicting sensation.
Another nearby cultivator, injured to near death, was crawling through the muddy swamp. The creature walked with a menacing smile towards the injured human, before it's yellow eyes with vertical pupils shone through the low light of the swamp as it noticed the arrival of new parties.
"What is it?" the creature asked with displeasure, "a party of humans have ventured into these lands, and I'm quite enjoying the hunt at the moment."
The figures arrived before the creature, revealing themselves to be similar in appearance, only older, less regal and fearsome.
"Your Royal Highness, your father the king has summoned you," one of the creatures said respectfully.
"My father huh?" the youthful creature replied, a smile appearing on his face. "Alright then, I'm sure it's for a good reason."
He turned towards the injured human underneath him and lifted his foot above their head. The human, a man who appeared to be in his twenties, cried out in fear as he pleaded for his life. The smile on the creature's face widened as he heard the begging, as if it was music to his ears.
"Unfortunately, I can't play around with you, but when you go to the underworld, remember the name of the one who sent you there...Vargul Plaagoth!"
Crunch!
...
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
One calamitous shockwave after another blasted over a rocky wasteland, destroying the spare vegetation that barely covered the land. The land as far as the eye could see was a barren wasteland, hardly suitable for life. However, within this barren wasteland lived a feared race of powerful warriors, who excelled and enjoyed living in such an inhospitable place.
The shockwaves continued to blanket the land, uprooting boulders and cracking the earth. Closer to the source of the explosions, the earth was riddled with massive craters and fractured earth. It was like the apocalypse had arrived.
Dust blanketed the land for miles in each direction, obscuring what was going on in the heart of the dust clouds. The thunderous explosions eventually died down, returning silence to the desolate wasteland once more.
The dust cloud eventually faded away, revealing two figures at the very heart of it all. One of the figures was a massive scaled creature, appearing like a four armed dragon without wings. It was an Ancient Dragon-Lizard, a lizard-like creature that had a small trace of dragon blood in its lineage. Its body was over a hundred yards long and thirty yards tall, and it was famed for its incredible power, as a singular strike from its claws or swipe of its tail could shatter mountains.
The creature was nearing the Dao Transformation Realm, although it had yet to break through and instead lingered at the half-step Dao Transformation Realm. Before it was a humanoid figure, five yards tall.
The figure was bare chested, with a robe-like loincloth covering the bottom half of its body. Powerful muscles bulged over each inch of the figure's body, like it was physical power perfected. The figure stared at the creature before it, which no longer moved.
Massive holes marked the sides of the creature, while a gaping blunt force wound had caved in its skull. Blood flowed down the figure's mostly naked body, although almost all of the blood belonged to the creature and not himself. His knuckles were slightly red, indicating that he had not used a weapon in the battle with the terrifying creature.
Bang!
Bang
Bang!
Three muffled bangs rang out next to the figure, and his head turned to inspect the three figures that had arrived before him. They were all around the same size as him, and each had similarly powerful looking bodies.
"Zulos Stonefist," one of the new arrivals said to him, his voice deep and guttural. "The Council of Warlords have summoned you. Follow us."
Zulos Stonefist turned to look back at the massive dead lizard before him. He walked around towards its tail and reached out, clenching his one hand onto the end of its tail. He started walking back towards the three figures, while the massive lizard whose weight was beyond comprehension was dragged slowly behind. The four figures walked into the distance, while the lizard's corpse carved a massive trench into the barren earth.
...
In a faraway place, a series of majestic looking palaces rested at the top of a beautiful and picturesque mountain range. The palaces were dark blue and purple, while stars and other celestial objects were painted on the surface, giving the area a mystical and ethereal air.
The palaces seemed to stretch as high as possible into the sky above, as if wanting to be as close to the stars high above as possible. High up within one of these palaces, a lone figure sat cross legged in a dimly lit room, his eyes closed as he held a crystal object in his hand. He wore the same robes as Ainsel, only far more profound and intricate in design and quality, indicating that he was a member of the Heaven Scrying Sect.
An intricately designed contraption rested behind him, moving and circling about in a mesmerizing fashion, like the celestial objects in the sky moving about. The man's face was furrowed in deep contemplation, as if something was troubling him. The crystal object in his hand was illuminated brightly, as blurry images seemed to appear and fade away into obscurity.
The man's eyes opened, and a gloomy look quickly appeared on his face.
"A grave calamity will soon befall the youths of our Honorable Alliance," the man muttered, his voice grave. "I must warn the Alliance."