Chapter 2216: Crimson River |
The tide of blood Ki Song had turned into was vast enough to fill a sea, rushing forward like a crimson flood. The glistening red river moved above the ground, twisting in the air like a living creature — the flowing wave of it rose high above the battlefield, instantly dwarfing the stalwart figure of the King of Swords.
It seemed impossible that so much blood had been contained within the small and fragile vessel of a human body… and yet, reality was undeniable.
Anvil had met Ki Song's devastating blows without flinching, but he seemed reluctant to allow the crimson tide to touch him. As soon as Ki Song assumed her Transcendent form, scarlet runes ignited on his black armor, and he used his powers to levitate back, instantly creating distance between them.
The blood river breached that distance in the blink of an eye, though, covering hundreds of meters in a split second. Anvil continued to retreat, using his sevenblades to create a shimmering sphere of steel around him.
As he soared into the sky and the crimson wave pursued, it swallowed countless flying swords. Moments later, the swords dissolved within it, breaking down into streams of scarlet sparks. The sparks were then absorbed by the glistening blood, leaving no trace behind.
From a distance, it looked as if a glistening crimson ribbon was dancing fluidly in the air, gliding through the storm of swords. It was just that the immense scale of that ribbon was hard to fathom... its surface shone with a beautiful red glow when the sunlight fell on it, and anyone who saw that glow felt their own blood start to boil.
Sunny felt it, as well… Blood Weave seemed to respond to the presence of the Queen, rushing through his veins at greater speed than before. His heartbeat accelerated.
'They're going to obliterate the entire plain…'
The Titans were still struggling to free themselves of the sorcerous cages. The fury of their devastating struggle made the battlefield quake,and the surface of the ancient bone was slowly chipping under their feet… for those of the dead giants who had feet, of course.
Ki Song seemed less agile in the immensity of her destructive Transcendent form, though, so she couldn't turn quite as sharply.
Instead, the flood of blood simply crashed into ancient bone with the force of a devastating tsunami… if that tsunami was brimming with Supreme soul essence, wielded the Will, and consisted entirely of blood that belonged to a descendant of Beast God — who was the god of blood, as well.
Each time, the crimson tide drowned a portion of the battlefield and then reformed itself, leaving the battlefield broken.
A deep, reverberating groan resounded from somewhere deep underground, and Sunny saw a crack snake across the surface of the ancient bone.
It almost reached the point where the Seventh Royal Legion was positioned, the soldiers paralyzed by shock and awe of the deific battle. Many of them were already sprawled on the ground, unable to keep their balance in the middle of the violent earthquake, but Rain was still standing.
Sunny, who hid in her shadow, was far more powerful than any of the Song soldiers. However, even he was stunned by the harrowing violence the Sovereigns had unleashed to kill each other.
And they were only starting…
'Too powerful...'
[...ny… Su… Sunny?]
The voice was almost too weak to hear, but he did. It resounded inside his head, muffled and distant, but still undeniably familiar. He stirred.
Sunny stirred.
[Cassie? Can you speak again?]
There was a long pause, and then, her voice came to him again:
[The Queen seems… to be… distracted, a little. So, her grasp has grown a little loose.I still can't reach anyone else, but you… close…]
Sunny was indeed close to Cassie — this incarnation of his was, at least, no more than a hundred meters away from the spot where she stood side by side with Seishan. So, it was easy to understand why she could reach him with her powers, but not anyone else.
He had so many questions, and not enough time to ask them all.
So, he asked the most important question first:
[Are you alright?]
Cassie remained silent for a few moments. Eventually, though, the deafening burden of her silence was broken:
[...fine.]
Sunny let out a relieved sigh.
Her voice grew a little louder, as if she was straining to make herself heard:
[Listen… important. The Queen's Ascended Ability… transference. She can transfer any harm dealt to her body to one of the other puppets… untethered from it… every puppet she controls can become her primary vessel…]
He froze. Not too far away, the Lord of Shadows sighed and looked around subtly. The warriors of the Sword Army were all clutching the ground, and his was the only figure that remained standing in that section of the battle formation, still leaning lazily on his black odachi as his white hair fluttered in the fierce wind.
[That's pretty terrible news. How are we supposed to kill her, then? I am sure she has countless puppets squirreled away in every corner of the world.]
His thoughts turned somber. The fact that Ki Song could transfer damage to her puppets was already bad enough… however, the fact that she could not be killed until all her puppets were destroyed was much worse. Even if they somehow managed to obliterate every puppet present on the battlefield and cut down the Queen herself, she would still continue to exist somewhere else.
He started to consider the consequences of Ki Song remaining alive after the battle. If they managed to attain Supremacy, killed Anvil, and devastated her army of puppets… well, getting rid of her for good would still be possible.It would just take a lot of time and effort.
The Sword Domain would fall into Neph's hands. They would be poised to take control of most Citadels in the Song Domain, as well. Not all was lost…
His thoughts were interrupted by Cassie's voice:
[There' still… a way… to kill her.]
Sunny remained silent for a few moments.
'Her Flaw…'
As if reading his thoughts, Cassie spoke again:
[She cares… about her daughter. Ki Song can escape, but they won't be able to. We can… exploit… the weakness…]
Sunny sighed.
It made a vile, morbid kind of sense.
So… Cassie wanted to force the Queen to fight until the end to save her daughters. It was a dirty strategy, no doubt.
But it could work.
At least if Cassie was correct and Ki Song's affection for her daughters was stronger than her desire to survive.
He cautiously extended his shadow sense toward Seishan, considering her graceful figure for a moment.
[Alright. I will inform Nephis.]
The moment they would have to act was swiftly approaching. He hoped that they would win… he hoped that the others had done their part, as well.
[Something else…]
Cassie's distant voice sounded strangely reserved.
[It is about… Broken Sword. The real reason… he had to die…]
Sunny listened intently, waiting for her to continue.
When she did, time seemed to stop for a moment.
That… was definitely not what Sunny had ever expected to hear.
Reaching to him with her power, Cassie said:
[It was because… of Weaver.]
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