Four bolts of light flashed through the western skies of the Lantis Republic, dazzling their way to the billowing central tower of smoke coming from the Heigui Enclave. As the only ones already heading towards the broken headquarters of the Heigui Clan, Shin and the rest were naturally the first ones to arrive. As they halted in the air, their eyes widened with complete horror and their usually steady spiritual energies wavered.
And who could blame them?
Heigui Enclave, renowned worldwide as the most defensive sanctuary there is. Home to the world's greatest defensive clan and the legacy child of the original Obsidian Xuanwu. Golden statues that could be dated back thousands of years were gone. Stone monuments that stood against the will of time… Burnt to a crisp. Everything that the Xuanwu Clan was known for… was wholly gone.
"T-This..." Longyu Tian, being the one most familiar with the Heigui Enclave, was the most shaken among the four. Her lips were twitching wildly, and her entire body lost all feeling. Ever since she'd become a Spirit Saint, this feeling of powerlessness had never been a problem. Yet, as she saw the once splendid island in ruins, the Saint of Time felt a pit form within her stomach. A pit that she could never recover from.
"How terrible..." Saint Atossa frowned, holding back her desire to retch. Although she didn't have any ties to the Lantis Republic, it was still a shame to see a monolith of the world fall into ruin. "They actually destroyed the Heigui Enclave this quickly… We've even rushed here as soon as we received the news."
"Mmmm..." Zishen nodded. His usual nonchalance was gone, and the Azure Dragon Lord was oddly silent. The Azure Dragons were pledged to defend Celestial Island, being the Guardian Beasts of the Lantis Republic from this day to their last. Just like the Xuanwus of the Heigui Clan.
The Azure Dragons had always kept a close relationship with the Xuanwus, some might say that they were the tightest-knit band among the Guardian Beasts. Thus, seeing the corpses of the black turtles made Zishen's heart curl up in anger.
"The fact that they destroyed Heigui Enclave this quickly can only mean one thing..." Shin, ever the analytical mind, put aside his rage and got to thinking. "Saint Heigui has betrayed us…"
"A Spirit Saint betrayal…" Saint Atossa threw her head up. "How long has it been since the last turncoat Spirit Saint?"
"Not within a thousand years, unless you count Spirit Immortal Dream's surprise massacre." Longyu Tian spat in disgust.
"Saint Heigui… I'd thought that you were a respectable human being… I guess my eyes were completely blind. If I had used my Future Sight even once..." The Saint of Time cursed her own ineptitude for judging one's character. If she had just used her signature ability once, perhaps Heigui Enclave could have been spared.
"It's not your fault, Aunt Tian..." Shin spun his Spear of Aiglos around, sending heaps of elemental energies flying down like a summer's rain. "We've trusted our own members too much. We were naive, thinking that no one would ever defect to the Black Masks. But that all changes today..."
Spreading his Domain of Dreams over the entire island, Shin sent forth all of his mana, putting nothing to chance. Vibrant colours descended upon the land, creating an illusion of ethereal mist shrouding the island entirely. Fluffy white clouds turned into looming grey ones, and the light of the heavens were blocked out entirely. And that wasn't all…
The Celestial Dragon enlarged himself into a colossal being, about twenty times its original size. It was even bigger than the Azure Dragon Lord that levitated next to it. An invisible pressure mounted onto any who dared to look up at the breathtaking creature as aurora borealis took over the cloudy skies.
The Celestial Dragon had returned, and it made very sure to tell the world who was their sovereign.
Every single element froze and bowed down to the king. It didn't matter if one was a Spirit Saint or a Primordial Beast. All had to lower their heads to the majesty of the Celestial Dragon, the being that was closest to the stars. Which was good news for the members of the Alliance, bad news for the Black Masks and in particular, their newly inducted member...
"Rarara! Shin Iofiel, huh?" Akai roared in pleasure. The Lion Chimaera was always up for a challenge, and what better challenge was there than the apex Prince that took the world and the Allfather by storm? "Rarara, Midori! He's mine! Don't you dare steal my kill from me!"
"Stupid..." The Gargantuan Treant rooted his right hand on his face. "We're… not… fighting… Suicidal..."
"RARARA! You're suicidal!" Akai rebutted his partner. "Rarara, we can kill them all! They're weaklings compared to our Immortal-Grade Spirit Armaments and us."
"No, Midori is right..." Saint Heigui interjected from the side. Without consulting the pair, the elderly man raised both his arms out and allowed a jet-black aura to seep out from his pores. All of a sudden, a colossal turtle, one that was about ten-metres tall and thirty-metres wide, covered all of the Black Masks' and protected them with Aegis protection.
"Rarara! What are you doing?!"
"Just watch..."
Midori had to hold back the raging Lion Chimaera to allow the Spirit Saint to complete his ability. In no time at all, a humongous turtle shell, one that was in no means weaker than the Sleeping Xuanwu Formation, covered the entire Heigui Enclave, protecting all who stood within its protection.
"The Tidal Shell..." Longyu Tian clicked her tongue in disgust. "To think that the Saint of Shell's ultimate defensive ability would be used to protect our enemies… The Lantis Republic will never forget this dishonour!"
"Tidal Shell… Any way that we can pierce through it?" Saint Atossa probed.
"Why do you think that it's called the ultimate defensive ability?" Longyu Tian shrugged her shoulders. "Saint Heigui isn't our Lantis Republic's greatest Spirit Saint, but he sure as hell is the one with the greatest survivability. Even if Saint Geom was here with his Immortal-Grade Samingeom, there's no guarantee that we can destroy the Tidal Shell."
"So what? We wait here and do nothing?!" Saint Atossa screamed.
"They won't be able to escape either..." Shin replied to the frantic Spirit Saint. "The fact that the Tidal Shell is active means that Saint Heigui hasn't escaped yet. Judging from the mana signatures that I've sensed on the way here, there should be two other of the Nine Colours with him."
Shin scratched the bottom of his chin. "Tidal Shell is powerful, but it burns mana quickly. If we just wait it out, Saint Heigui would be forced to put down the barrier and make their final, desperate attempt to flee."
"But… Ah! What about the white-haired boy that was able to teleport people away?! If they are with them, it's only a matter of time before they make their escape." The Mercenary Saint made an excellent point. Among all of the Nine Colours, the peskiest one was Shiro, the Mirror Deity. He wasn't all that powerful physically, but his auxiliary skills were second to none.
Teleporting enemies into the heart of the Shaolin Sect to kill Saint Suhavis. Single-handedly breaking into the most secure cell that the Alliance could create. Shiro was the bane of the Alliance's existence. If Shiro was assisting in Saint Heigui's escape, it could prove to be problematic for the Alliance.
Alas, Shin wasn't that short-sighted. Anything that Saint Atossa could think of, Shin did so too. "Why do you think I unleashed my Domain of Dreams laced with the Celestial Dragon's aura?"
"Huh?"
"Haha, don't worry about it..." Shin smiled. He looked down at the impregnable barrier that Saint Heigui had created, quickly turning that face of jubilance into one of complete anger. "From the moment they chose to stay, it was checkmate..."
❖❖❖
"Rarara… You really blocked them out..." Akai frowned. He was having mixed feelings about Saint Heigui's arrangements. On the one hand, he wanted to challenge Shin to a battle to the death. On the flip side, the Lion Chimaera knew deep down that fighting four Saint-levelled beings was tantamount to suicide.
"Don't worry, even if the other Spirit Saints of the Lantis Republic shows up, we'll be safe." Saint Heigui dropped his hands, breathing a sigh of relief. "Now… All we have to do is wait for your Mirror Deity to come. Once he teleports us out of this, the Black Masks win this battle without a single casualty… Just like the Allfather planned for."
"Rarara, human! I like you!"
"Yeah… You'll fit… perfectly… in our… organisation..." Midori smiled as well. Who wouldn't? The victory was close enough for them to smell, and if they pull it off, it would be the most successful mission in the history of the Black Masks. The Allfather was certain to reward the members handsomely once they return.
"So… How long until the Mirror Deity comes?"
"Shiro… will be… here… so-..."
"I'm already here..."
Midori was about to answer the old man, but a voice interrupted his speech. A white-haired young boy emerged from the shadows, his face not as enthusiastic as his compatriots.
"Rarara, Shiro! You're finally here!" The Lion Chimaera roared in delight. "Rarara, our new member, is getting impatient! He wants the Allfather favour right now, RARARA!!!"
"..." Shiro didn't answer the hyped Akai. Instead, he looked apologetically at the trio, not knowing how to break the news to them. Though, it wasn't hard for Midori to sense that something was horribly wrong.
"What's... the matter?" Midori asked. "Why isn't... your true... body here? Why… projection?"
Shiro sighed and dropped his shoulders. "Hah… There's a problem… The Celestial Dragon has taken over the space-time fabric with his aura… I can't teleport all of you out as we planned..."
"WHAT?!" Saint Heigui screamed, uncharacteristic of a Spirit Saint. "Are you saying that you're unable to bring me out of here, even though I betrayed my home for the Black Masks?"
"Believe me, no one is more gutted than I am..." Shiro snapped back. "Who knew that the Celestial Dragon could lock down my abilities?"
"Tsk… Useless..." Saint Heigui cursed underneath his breath. If the Lantis Republic captures him, the man who betrayed his home for the sake of chasing immortality… Who knows what horrors would lie in wait? "So what… Are we going to sit here and let us die? Is that how the Black Masks does things?"
"... If you can force Shin Iofiel to put down his Celestial Aura, or at the very least, open a tunnel for me to teleport in, I should be able to get you out in less than a second. However, for that to happen..."
"One of us… have to… fight them..." Midori finished Shiro's sentence. It was a terrifying proposition. Facing off against four Saint-levelled beings alone. However, if the rest were to escape… It had to be done.
Midori looked at his two partners-in-crime. Saint Heigui would never offer to be the bait, especially after he made his aspirations crystal clear. Akai may be up for the challenge, but he was too much of a dolt to succeed in the mission. Which meant that there was only one possible contender for the suicidal mission…
"Fine… Leave it… to me..."