A few hours after the group lead by Wei Feng departed from the Sect, they arrived in what looked like a destroyed village. The ruins that used to be house were not actually destroyed. At least not all of them. Half of the houses had been burned down, some purple flames still consuming what was left, while the other half was encased in ice.
The worst part was the fact that the people who lived here didn't have the chance to escape it seemed. Half were burned, while half had been frozen to death.
Jian turned around and saw a mother and a child encased in ice. The mother was holding the little girl's hand and had her mouth opened like she had been about to shout. The only part that wasn't frozen was a little necklace the girl was holding.
"What are you looking at, Newbie ?" An inner disciple asked. Jian stepped away as soon as he saw the man, being a little surprised at the sudden appearence. The man himself was rather tall, and muscular which was odd. He was quite difficult to miss, and yet Jian hadn't seen him until he spoke.
"Uh, the little girl is holding a necklace. Even in death, she is holding to it like her life depend on it." Jian said. The other disciple hummed and they both reached for the necklace, only for Wei Feng to suddenly gasp.
"Don't you touch that thing !!"
It was already too late, Jian's fingers had touched the necklace. And from the rose shaped necklace, a dark green smoke started to pour out.
"*Cough* The hell is that ?!" The other disciple exclaimed, right before he coughed up blood and fell to the ground.
Jian's eyes widened and he retreated to Wei Feng and Lu'er side. The three watched in horror as most of the disciples dropped dead, while the others were smart enough to follow Jian's exemple.
"Are they dead ? Just like that ? I was touching the necklace directly and the smoke poured right unto my skin, why wasn't I affected like them ?" Jian asked as he began to rub his arm and looked for any sign of damage on it.
[ Host, I would like to point out that this smoke has the same feeling to it than the Unholy Qi of that monster residing within you. It must be why it didn't affect you. ]
Jian was puzzled by this and began to wonder whether the necklace had something to do with that monster, but Wei Feng stopped him in his thought with a hand to his shoulder.
" Child, this was a necklace filled with Death Qi. I don't know why that child had it, but.....Wait a second...." Wei Feng suddenly frowned, and so did Lu'er who was examining the child.
"This is strange. If she had been holding that necklace for long, you would see some traces on her fingers, but it's as if.....She just grabbed it a minute ago...Or someone placed it there just before we arrived." Lu'er declared.
Jian then heard a familiar demented laugh right before the group was surrounded by shadowy figures.
'Unholy Being ?!' Jian asked.
' Good to see you again, Kiddo. I just sensed something truly interesting, so I decided to show up. And I see that I was right to do so. I'm gonna sit back and relax while watching you fight off against my creations.'
' C.....Creations ?!'
"ARGHHHHHH !"
Wei Feng and Lu'er turned their heads in an instant when they heard one of the disciples scream. The old man had to block and incoming sword strike with his palm, while Lu'er sidestepped and dodged two of the shadowy figures who had tried to hit her with synchronized palm strikes.
"Those are.....My lord, this is troublesome."
Wei Feng and his daughter looked at each other and nodded, the former taking out a small dagger with a golden handle, while the latter just assumed a regular boxing stance.
" If those are really Kirionis.....Then the situation is even worse than we thought. This forest didn't become the lair of a demonic beast.....It became the hunting grounds of an Asura." Wei Feng declared as his daughter took out a Kirioni with a quick jab to the chin.
All the disciples looked at the old master in shock, their lips trembling as much as their legs, only Jian appeared to be calm....However it was just that he didn't know what an Asura was.
He didn't really get anytime to try to remember if he had heard of such beings before, as the Kirionis jumped on him.
He backflipped and took out the Red Sky Blade, but quickly had to dodge again. This time the danger came from the forest itself.
Jian gulped, preparing himself to face whatever was gonna come out of that forest, but he wasn't prepared for his sword to be grabbed by two shadowy hands that stretched out from inside the forest.
"....My sword ! Give it back !" Jian yelled as he begun to run after the two hands, leaving everyone else behind to fight off against the Kirionis.
************
(Poisonous Raja Sect's Headquarters.)
A melodic song could be heard from the top to the bottom of the mountain. It was a song that would soothe the soul and relax the mind...Allowing one to slowly and peacefully die while their soul and spirit would leave the confine of their body.
" Ohh, isn't the moon insanely alluring tonight ?" Mercury asked, while playing with what appeared to be a black violin. All around him laid the corpses of all the disciples that had fallen prey to his instrument.
" Agent Mercury, there is no one in the effective radius anymore, you should switch instruments." Wood Shadow said, as he laid against a tree and turned the next page of his book.
"Huh, what are you reading, Woodie ?" Mercury asked as he clicked his fingers and flames rose from the ground before forming a small hurricane and disappearing as quickly as they came. And in the place of the flames, laid a piano with the same symbol drawn on it than the tattoo Karasu Shina had on her tongue.
" This book is the personal diary of the treasure Elder. It's a record of everything that has been put inside the vault of the sect over the years." Wood Shadow said, his bored tone earning him a laugh from Mercury.
"Well continue to read that boring stuff, as for me....I'll introduce our little friends to the last sounds that they will ever hear.....It's time for a little....Anthem." Mercury said as he ran his fingers against the piano and suddenly started to play.
Wood Shadow nearly dropped the book as the piano let out powerful notes, with enough intensity behind them to make the ground tremble. Mercury seemed too entraced by the melody to even care though.
With his eyes closed he began to play his favourite song.
"Ahhhh...How I missed you ' Atlas' Anthem.' "
And as he continued to play, each new notes would bring a new lot of screams from a random spot on the mountain.
Wood Shadow was content with just listening to it, but he got up after a few minutes when a figure suddenly appeared.
"Identify yourself." The agent said as the figure bowed. It was a man wearing a robe with skulls etched on the chest, back and beginning of the arms areas.
" Yessir, I am HC-12345, I have come to report that every single member of the sect has been killed except the patriarch who is still cultivating as we speak."The soldier said.
Mercury laughed and ended the melody with a sharp note, but it was all that was needed to make the soldier wince.
Wood Shadow and Mercury suddenly turned around and the soldier was brought to his knees. A pressure strong enough to destroy an entire building was suddenly exerted on his body, crushing him against the ground as the two glared at him.
The previously excited Mercury and bored Wood Shadow were now glaring at the soldier with their now pitch-black eyes. Before the soldier could get lost in the abyss that were those orbs of nothingness, Mercury kicked him in the ribs which forced the soldier to turn on his back.
"Who...ARE....YOU ?!" Mercury yelled, grabbing the soldier by his collar with both hands, while Wood Shadow pressed his gun against the back of the Soldier's head.
"Ha...Hahaha....HAHAHAHAH ! To think you would get it so quickly ! You two are really awesome ! But I can't tell you who I am, oh no I can't. If I did so, my mistress would be very angry !" He said, suddenly extending his tongue to show the tattoo on it, only his tattoo had four little purple dots around it.
" You..."
Before the two agents could react, the man began to convulse.
"That damn bitch ! She really sent such a thing to kill us ! Woodie ! Do something for Madness' sake !"
Wood Shadow began to sweat as the man convulsed more and more while Mercury nudged him with his arm. Because of all that, Wood Shadow had no other choice than to end it quickly.
*Bang !*
...
.....
Mercury stared at the smoking hole on the soldier's head and then looked at Wood Shadow who looked shaken. While the latter trembled and stared at his bloodied hands in shock, the latter looked around as he heard some movements and cursed.
"Damnit, they are coming. I knew it didn't kill them. Well, this is what happen when you screw a mission. Don't you cry Woodie, it happens to many agents. You are not like most of us....Be glad." Mercury chuckled before using a knife to slice at his right arm, tearing off the flesh along the entire length of the arm. The blood that begun to poor out of the wound suddenly began to fly and hover around Mercury.
"Unlike some of us, you aren't a monster, yet...Well excuse me for what I'm about to do, as it won't be a pretty sight.....Sing for me my Mistress, Kill for me my Mistress....Killer Queen !"