"I have a plan…" he started with a grim face.
Commander Infernal Witch King sensed something amiss when a large storm of Magic Energy coalesced on the airship ahead. Her caution shot up when a Magic Circle pointed in her direction and activated. The Featherwind Pearl! Although the current spell had not reached the Rank 3 standard, it was still enough to threaten her. It was responsible for roughly a quarter of the casualties they suffered in the previous battle! But she was no longer defenseless against it. She was not considered one of the powerhouses of the Luminous Central Origin without reason! Condensing her flaming phoenix mantle into an area around her, she caused the temperatures to rise explosively. The originally crimson flames transformed white hot!
The army of thousands of butterflies fluttered near and formed all kinds of mesmerizing pictures. By focusing the power onto one person, the effectiveness multiplied by several magnitudes. It could even sway a more powerful Rank 3 King, much less Infernal Witch King! It was worthy of being the Featherwind Sect's trump card! However, she had seen it enough. With a single thought, her white fiery mantle swelled and surged like a tsunami toward the butterflies, washing away the illusionary spell. After retracting the flames and reforming her mantle, she grew displeased. The mantle was connected to her acceleration spell, so changing to offense caused her speed to drop. This allowed the airship ahead to gain a massive lead again.
Onboard the ship, the six birds simultaneously spat out blood. They were all half-Rank 3, standing on the precipice of that great divide into the realm of Kings. Whether it be Half-Instinct Realm or Half-Blue Depth, they had accumulated a terrifying foundation and energy that would put humanity to shame! To be honest, with the six of them combined at their peak strength, they had the potential of toppling humanity's Rank 3 Kings, namely Sword King Sin or Protector Avin! And it was not just a slim chance, but actually a very large one! That was the qualitative difference between the human world and the true known world!
Yet, they were still inadequate to support a genuine Rank 3 spell from the Featherwind Pearl. The great divide was far, far larger than the divide between Rank 1 and 2! After all, it took over a hundred of their peak Rank 2 experts, and several half-Rank 3 elders to activate the spell previously. Furthermore, that was barely meeting the lowest requirements! To compensate that absurdly massive quantity of energy with six people was impossible! The result was as shown. All of them had to abuse World Energy as well and deplete their already weakened bodies to the limit. One even directly exploded and died! The remaining five received extreme backlashes and plummeted back into Rank 2.
As the acting Sect Master, he had the greatest strength within half-Rank 3, so much so that he was practically touching the threshold of Rank 3. Therefore, when he received a backlash, he only dropped back to peak Rank 2. He lost several decades of hard work, making his expression particularly somber. The others were worse off, having crashed down to late Rank 2 or even mid Rank 2. Their self-reflection was cut off by the sudden death of their friend and the furious commander behind! Commander Infernal Witch King was accelerating again and catching up quickly! Their little stunt granted them some leeway, but the Featherwind Pearl cracked and split straight down the middle. It seemed like they lost more than they gained.
No… Not yet! With the time we gained, we'll head to his territory… the acting Sect Master clutched his fists. I will not let their sacrifices be in vain. We'll escape Commander Infernal Witch King and live on!
The airship charged across the cloudy sky, through the mountains, before diving into a nearby ravine. By this point, Infernal Witch King had already fully recovered her mantle and acceleration spell, so she was right on their heels. Boom! Propelling herself with the same stunt again, she thoroughly broke through the sound barrier and entered in proximity of her enemy. The claymore charged up another deadly slash as she prepared to destroy them with one strike! The five birds could only stare in horror, praying that their bet paid off!
And… as if answering their call, an explosive aura surged throughout the black ravine, like the awakening of a beast! The aura was enough to startle Infernal Witch King out of her attack as she raised her defense. A figure then moved fast as lightning and crashed into her, breaking through her defensive layers and landed on her body! The sheer speed was beyond perception. Even the commander was unable to react in time! Not to mention, the force accompanying the strike was no less potent. Her bones were jolted, her body flew back into the cliff, and the impact shook the entire ravine! The shockwave was strong enough that even the airship rocked back and forth far away.
As the cliff face crumbled, the attacker revealed their appearance. It was neither the bird species from the Featherwind Sect nor the fish species from the Luminous Central Origin. The closest resemblance it had was a bat. It had webbed feet, long thin arms, a slender upright body, a pair of separate black wings behind, and two heads. Dark cold eyes and deep growling showed how angry it was. Releasing an aura of death around, it petrified all living creatures nearby out of fear! The entire ravine seemed to turn silent! The terrifying creature gave a passing glance to the five elder birds and ignored them. They were too weak to enter its notice. Rather, it focused its four eyes on the crater with the commander.
"Strong," a voice sounded. Flames surged out and exploded, illuminating the entire ravine in light and heat. It rushed toward the creature as the two forces repelled one another in an intense contest. They were actually equal in strength! A hint of surprise showed on her face.
That was right. This strange creature was Rank 3! The world was vast, far vaster than anyone could imagine. Even the 'civilized' world beyond humanity was a small part of the true explored wilderness. In the wake of practically infinite time and resources, it was expected that miracles would happen eventually. Through chance encounters, animals could strengthen their bodies to unbelievable heights and ascend! In fact, it was much more likely for animals to break through the 'low' ranks, but it would become nigh impossible for them to reach the 'high' ranks. From what people could see, a Rank 3 Beast King was rare, but many existed. And the one standing before them was a Rank 3 Beast King!
"Why are you trespassing on my, Rampaging Nightmare Beast King's, territory?" one head spoke. "If you grovel on the ground and beg for mercy, I might consider letting you go," the second head added. The creature could speak the common language and converse with them! Furthermore, he was capable of complex thought and logic. Once animals broke through to Rank 3, they would gain intelligence equivalent to a young human adult!
"Fight!" the girl yelled straightforwardly. Casting several spells simultaneously to reinforce her offense and defense, she was prepared to clash with the Rank 3 Beast King!
Rampaging Nightmare Beast King roared with his voice potent enough that it created a local earthquake and shattered everyone's eardrums. Weaker animals were directly killed by his monstrous aura! It represented his fury! Despite gaining enlightenment and wisdom, it did little to suppress his instincts. And this was his territory, the territory of a Beast King! He could not allow an intruder to challenge his rule. He was prepared to fight to the death! The two Rank 3 Kings faced off before colliding. Boom! Another tremendous shockwave, far greater than the previous one, detonated inside the ravine, threatening to crush everyone under the landslides. The two sides, black and crimson, were fiercely fighting for supremacy!
"Let's get out of here!" the acting Sect Master shouted, pulling his fellow birds back to attention.
They quickly steered the ship away from the battlefield and off into the distance. The commander dodged a fierce attack from the Beast King to chase after them causing the animal grew enraged. To be ignored insulted his pride! He doubled down on his attack and activated his trump card, Rampaging Night Eclipse! His bat-like wings unfurled to their full size, wider than a normal house, before they pulsed with a dark luster. An unspeakable amount of Martial Energy was focused on them, making them grow even larger! Tripling in wingspan, it seemed like he could eclipse the sky in eternal night, such being the reason why it was called Rampaging Night Eclipse! Every living being felt an unbelievable fear as his aura erupted to unimaginable heights. Rampaging Nightmare Beast King was truly furious!
"You're not getting away from me!" he bellowed. "Watch me tear you apart!"
He flapped his wings and disappeared. No… Perhaps, disappear was the wrong word to describe it. He was not turning invisible or anything like that. He simply… moved so fast that no one could capture his sight! A sonic boom emerged as he instantly broke through the sound barrier. Unlike Infernal Witch King, he relied only on his body and his speed was still rising! When he moved, he obliterated the rock face behind him into powder with the pressure wave alone. With the short distance between them, he essentially teleported directly in front of Infernal Witch King. His claws slashed down, as if they could split the moon in half!
This time, she was thoroughly on-guard and prepared. Using her claymore, the resplendently bright light overflowed from her body and into the surroundings. She might be weakened from the intense fighting at the Featherwind Sect and the following chase, but who was she? Commander Infernal Witch King of the Crimson Army, the third most powerful army in the Luminous Central Origin! She was a genuine Rank 3 King and one of the main powerhouses! Furthermore… her background was shrouded in secrecy. Once more, the little girl abused her World Energy again with her complexion growing a little paler. In response, her aura soared like the rising suns and washed away the darkness. The two sides clashed again, but the intensity was many times greater than before! With Martial and Magic Energy potent enough to level a large town, the entire ravine exploded!
The accompanying air gusts and shockwaves nearly knocked the airship out of the air, despite having left the ravine far behind in the horizon. They could still feel the two deadly auras. However, as their battle intensified, the 'glare' that the birds felt from Commander Infernal Witch King receded. She had to switch her full attention to the opponent in front of her. Their gamble had paid off! But depending on who would win, their lives remained uncertain. They had to find a haven to recuperate from their injuries, determine the fate of their Sect Master, and rebuild the Featherwind Sect. There was simply too much to do! Little did they know that Infernal Witch King planted a tracker in one of them…