Elder Gong was sealed in the Steel Tomb.
The Cheng Brothers moved away and created many more barriers between them and the poison gas that kept seeping out. The Box was originally seamless. As one layer melted another was shoved in its place. The Elder was quickly becoming uncontrollable.
The Monsters had used a pile of corpses to build a ramp over the wall, smaller enemies would ride the backs of larger ones to avoid the trample as they poured into the City. The Qilinkin forces worked to crush the enemies that were walking in close combat, while the Dragon Squadrons laid down supportive fire from above.
To the Troops, the Battle seemed to be going very good despite overwhelming numbers.
Then.
"NARA, DO IT! DO IT NOW!" Wu Hai yelled out to the Onmyoji executing the formations.
Kuzunoha had been working on sealing the Bicosaur while the others were helping contain the Elder. Its vibrating body was trying desperately to escape the scrolls' embrace. Indistinct chanting could be heard from one of Onmyoji Trios. In unison, when the chant stopped, a blinding white light destroyed the Bicosaur.
The Bicosaur had collapsed in on itself and its body parts that had atomized, releasing another gas.
Fei noticed the cloud and forced it down the Mountain. Wherever the gas reached, anything nearby, even some of the incoming enemy collapsed, convulsed and rose again. They had all started to mutate and their flesh fell in clumps until nothing but skeletons remained. Many of them grew in size.
"HAH! YOU... CAN'T....CONTAIN... ME!! THE SUN SHINES ON ME!" A laughing could be heard as a rush of purple gas started to come from the steel box and all containment ended.
The pushing force from Fei's Cloud Wind Magic was keeping the spoiling fumigation into a ball in the distance. It would take more than just a cleansing wind to disperse all the toxins but there was only so much of the battle anyone could process at once.
Master Jiang created more trees and tried to help but the incoming sea of monsters were creating a barrage of attacks from many angles. Sometimes, the flames would hit the trees and set them ablaze. If it wasn't for the Transmigrated Earthlings using Water Magic they would have had a much harder time containing the smoke. Dodona tree's catching fire was a revelation to everyone. With several water users having a downpour affinity, rainstorms were doing a good job of containing the smoke as well.
Wu Hai flew to the top of the City Wall, looking down he saw the remaining 120,000 enemies and took out a humming crystal in his storage.
The Jet black crystal Wu Hai had stolen from Kuzunoha's Shrine was pulsing. When Wu Hai held it in his hand, the Black Spot on his wrist, which refused to eat anything for almost a year, had chosen that moment to steal the Gemstone and swallow it. 'It didn't bother to eat it when I had discovered it? Why choose now?' Wu Hai had a bunch of questions but his troubles over the loss quickly became irrelevant in the moment.
Wu Hai's Arm started to burn, he was in an elemental body and the Stone was what had forced him from the sky when he was a Demonkin. It was originally a bold move on his part, he didn't expect to encounter a problem because he wasn't a Demon this time. He had wanted to use the crystal to suppress the enemy.
The black spot shined with a Golden light, his skin quickly turned to a Rainbow metallic hue.
The pain was intense.
Wu Hai's Arm started to smoke, the sensation fell across his chest and onto his other arm. Very quickly the tri-colored smoke engulfed Wu Hai's body. His elemental body had gone through a fundamental change. He started absorbing all the gasses nearby as they passed over his body and throughout.
His body was sucking in all the Corrosive Gasses, the Air, the Mana, the Water vapor, the Fire. He started to absorb it all.
"This.." Wu Hai watched the black spot's change of his skin forcefully.
Its hunger transferred directly to Wu Hai.
Wu Hai grabbed the Creators Crusher.
He could feel the energy being drawn directly from the Crushers Core. Wu Hai's hands were shaking.
The Black spot wrapped rainbow tentacles around the weapon and tried to swallow it, a strange sensation occurred when the spot grabbed the Crusher. It couldn't eat it or take it away.
Wu Hai could feel the Crusher's resistance to the Spot. It released it into his hand.
The Spot emitted a noise, it seemed like it had cried out in pain and Wu Hai felt that as well.
Pulling out the bulk of the Magic Gemstones he had in his possession, Wu Hai started feeding them like candy just as the Spot had done in the past. As soon as he felt his power becoming unstable, he jumped down with the Crusher in his hands. The Black Spot seemed to be doing a lot of the driving but Zao Wu Hai could feel the intensity of the Battle in every fiber of his being.
The Black Spot had heightened everything, his reaction speed, his eyesight, his strength, all of them had been amplified and it was more than the Prince could control alone, he felt like he could just let go and the spot would do whatever he told it, all on its own.
The explosive force from his strike shattered the remainder of the wall and created a gully down the Mountain. The blood filled creek that appeared in the wake of the strike pushed a wave of incoming Minotaur slaves into the rubble, drowning them in the process. A sharp and dense aura permeated his surroundings.
When Zao Wu Hai smashed the crusher on the leftovers of the Twin's Cages, Elder Gong had freed himself and raised his arms to block. Wu Hai's body was, at least, for the moment, impervious to Elder Gong's Gas. As he came into contact with the corrosive aura, the Tri-Colored Smoke swallowed it then transformed into a five colored smoke, before it changed back into a golden light and started to strip Elder Gong of his power.
The Demonic Suppression Gem had sapped the Black Spot of its power and made it hurt for energy, when Wu Hai fed it with the Creators Crusher, even for that instant, it finally submitted.
Wu Hai had finally gotten control of the Spot.
With a thought, Wu Hai's elemental body grew six additional wings on his back and pincers came from his waist. Looking more like a monster to fight another monster, Wu Hai swung the Creators Crusher again.
Elder Gong saw the incoming attack.
"YOU!" With a blind rage, Elder Gong leapt backwards.
In his retreat, he threw comrade after comrade to absorb the incoming attacks. Sacrificing his soldiers to make for a better vantage point was no choice at all. When he was to a distance that he could prepare himself, Elder Gong slapped four strange talismans on his arms and legs.
When the sticker-like talismans came into contact with Elder Gong's Skin, his flesh melted and different skin started to cover his own horribly disfigured body.
Screaming in pain and ecstasy, Elder Gong's bodily fluids spilled onto the Battlefield and his allies around him collapsed, Dead. Another transparent energy or gas had killed them instantly.
Bone Wings sprouted from his shoulders, his eyes turned green and purple. Elder gong had transformed into a Demon.
Roaring with indifference and a deathly cackle, his new purple smoke covered the battlefield. The new purple smoke started killing anything it touched, raising the once living captives as Undead, those who watched felt their skin crawl further back. There was no concept of death in Elder Gong's eyes. He always had use for distractions.
Wu Hai didn't miss a the changes and flew directly at Elder Gong's transformed body. He forced the battle outside of the city walls.
The Breach was not clear but he wasn't alone. Zao Zhan and the Archers spent their energy to snipe out targets that were otherwise engaged. Their support made the push back possible, raising the odds even a little bit was all they could do. They had their mission, their mission would decide if they kept their lives.
Suppressing those that had made it through the city wall, the fight still had not ended. Giant Beasts and Magic Users swarmed the exterior and tore chunks from the City Walls to create openings where ever they could.
The Enemy was coming in greater force.
A Bento Hat wearing Elder rushed up to the Demon Gong's side but was quickly batted away.
The Demon Gong yelled out to his subordinates, "RETRIEVE THE WEAPON!, ITS. THIS. BRAT. HE'S. GOT. THE. WEAPON!" His voice was vibrating and mixed with bloody gurgles.
The Dark Sun Sect had been looking for the weapon for seven years.
The Weapon had gone missing when Cassius escaped. Even though Elder Gong had stabbed Cassius in the back and watched him fall from the cliff-side, he didn't expect for Cassius' body to be dragged down River.
Now, the Brat in front of him had the exact object they had been looking for.
"I WILL HAVE THAT WEAPON!!" Elder Gong pulled out another Talisman and slapped a nearby soldier before hurling him at the Prince.
Elder Ho avoided the flying corpse bomb.
Unfortunately for Elder Gong, Wu Hai had avoided it as well and was on a collision course with Elder Gong.
Elder Ho stared wide eyed as Wu Hai came crashing against one of Demon Gong's Bone Wings, shattering it to pieces.
Flickering over to Wu Hai, Elder Ho pulled out a Cetus to stab at Wu Hai during his next swing.
Wu Hai was forced to change his attack, giving Elder Gong the chance to turn to the offensive.
"Get the Weapon!" Demon Gong gnashed his teeth and lurched forward.
Darkwing passed through the fight and arrived next to Elder Ho with his Spacial Magic covering the Halberd in his hands. Everywhere he swiped, Darkwing brought a vacuum. It cut through Elder Ho's torso like hot butter. A Swirling blood mist spattered across the faces of Wu Hai and Demon Gong dying the two forces red as they exchanged blows.
Blood got in the eyes of Wu Hai taking his attention away for a brief moment but a moment was all Demon Gong needed.
"Useless Trash!" Demon Gong spat at Wu Hai and watched as the smoke surrounding his body was being swallowed up in a funnel.
'Che!' Clicking his tongue, Demon Gong grabbed onto Wu Hai and threw him. 'This brat is swallowing my poison!' He was alert and seething with rage, but his body was in a terrible state. With each ounce of his power that was taken away, Wu Hai seemed to get stronger and more resistant to his attacks.
Turning into the throw, Wu Hai swung the Crusher and smashed it into one of Demon Gong's Left Legs, knocking it free from his body. Then, the Berserking Demon saw that his leg was sent sailing into the battlefield. He screamed in agony as Wu Hai passed around to the rear of Demon Gong and struck him directly in the back.
During the impact Wu Hai could feel the bones in Gong's body being crushed, broken into thousands of pieces. It sent the battered Demonized Dark Sun Elder flying towards the Shield Wall high above the battle.
William, Jin, Abi, and Mike had been channeling a massive amount of energy into tje Magical Shield to stop the forces outside from landing ranged or indirect attacks when Elder Gong slammed against it from within.
Wu Hai had already appeared again in his vision. Like a phantom, he had moved so quickly it left afterimages. Wu Hai took the Creators Crusher and pulled out a Talisman he had found on Cassius' corpse.
When the Talisman came out, it was in the shape of a circle. Appearing in proximity to Elder Gong, Demon Gong's slowly regenerating bone wings disappeared in a flash of black disintegration.
'No! How?!' Elder Gong started to fall. His Demonic Power seemed to have vanished. He was back in his mortal body and falling from over 40 meters would kill anyone, yet he was going to fall for over 400 meters.
Elder Gong was smashed into the shield by the Creators Crusher in Wu Hai's hands, again and again.
After two rebounds, the Mortal Elder Gong no longer resembled his former self. The crippled body of Elder Gong fell like a wet, shredded toy doll on the City center at terminal velocity.
He became a red stain pushing down into the upheaval.
Wu Hai turned to the leftovers of the city walls and rose up into the air. The battle wasn't over and more enemies were still closing in.
He had one more move, Elder Gong might be lifeless but he was already known to control the Undead, and he had a demon form which had a stunning ability to regenerate quickly.
Wu Hai pulled out a storage ring with holy water and started emptying it on the corpse of Elder Gong. Too much was at risk, as the body came into contact with the holy water, the body knocked it's head against the steel reinforced floor until the remainder of it's brains came out and came to a sizzle in the cleansing puddles surrounding him.
Kuzunoha had a hard time watching but it was part of her job, when the Elder stopped moving, she turned her attention back to the battle around her. Wu Hai saw her movements and followed her eyeline.
Heaving a great sigh of relief, Wu Hai looked back at the incoming waves of slave warriors and had a few thoughts of freeing, those thoughts had evaporated with the battle between Elder Gong.
None of the enemies were likely to survive Wu Hai's remaining wrath. They had been tainted, forever traumatized by the pains and woes of torture. He spread soul threads out, looking for auras that didn't match the bloody auras. When he couldn't find any, he was guilt free. Slaves were enemies till the enemies were gone but what after? He couldn't find out at the expense of his family and City.
For the sake of his future, he swallowed hard. "Watch my back, I'm going in.." Wu Hai led his primary team and a few Elders of the sect into the Frey.
He watched as his clan members repeatedly glowed with a golden light. Many of them seemed like they have been blessed by the Guardians, giving them a tactical advantage when their power would increase. Wu Hai thought about gaming and leveling up again, he thought about a lot of things since his return from Earth.
Every time the golden light appeared, that person would be much stronger. Even Darkwing had gone through a silver light during his humanoid transformation period, now Jiao Jiao. The whole matter deserved some attention but Wu Hai was in a battle and these thoughts were merely a passing moment.
"Take out as many as you can, stick together! Protect the City!" The Clan members followed Wu Hai out of the crumbling City Walls. Night turned to day and night again, after clearing the city's interior, the rest of the Clan began to push the horde of monsters into a retreat.
The Battle had turned, many enemies were still on their way and their forward force was in complete disarray. Most of the Zao Clan's forces believed the would end soon.
The Patriarch watched the enemy being trampled by the sect, then being trampled again by the beasts they had lost control over. Atop the city, storm clouds stretched out into the west and kept the ground wet. The rainwater and mud slowed the retreat of behemoths that were still loose nearby.
Without the enemy commander, the horde of creatures had dispersed and run amok. Most noticeably were the loose behemoths that had been left abandoned. They were slow creatures but they were extremely tough and hard to kill.
The Cheng Twins rushed over and chained them to the ground.
The Battlefield was littered with the corpses of the enemy.
The bodies of the fallen Clan Members were quickly pulled back into the City, absorbed into storage rings or even carried by hand. Some casualties were unavoidable, the enemy attacks were well coordinated.
Zao Ooran looked at the fallen, he saw the faces of some of the transmigrated, the centaurs that stayed, and Marcus.
'Marcus...' Patriarch Ooran felt his loss deeply.
Marcus had been one of Zhan's right hand men, his death would bring the Patriarch great pain as well. Marcus had only been eighteen, he lived through torture in an experimental lab and started a new life with the Zao Clan. His loyalty was unquestionable but the bonds he build with the Zao Family directly were deeper.
Marcus had become like family to Prince Zhan and his Daughters.
The loss of life came as a shock to all who loved the fallen, their survival had come at a high cost. The odds were overwhelming and any outsider would say the Gods must have blessed the city for it to have survived at all. If they didn't have every resource that they had used, the end would have been inevitable and their deaths certain.
The damage to the City was something that could be repaired but no one could rise from the dead.
Bringing the Pagoda out after the city was cleared, the non-combat Clan Members started doing everything they could to help with damage control.
Everyone saw the battle damage and then the line of the Clan's fallen members.
Rushing to identify the dead, many burst into tears. The battle was won but the cost, no matter how little, is always too great.
Cleanup would take a long time, the fighting would take even longer. Remnants of the horde were bound to travel the plains and if they were not curtailed, they would endanger all trade in the region.
"Father, I have some news about the battles. That robed man.. he called us out by name. If they know of our name, they must be part of what happened with the King but they also went for my weapon like mad dogs. They kept demanding that I give it to them." Wu Hai continued after taking a deep breath, he had pieced together a few things, including their lust for the crusher, they instantly identified Hao Hao's weapon.
"I think these people are the ones that killed the man in the river back at the mountain home in the North. I think they might also have something to do with the Dice." Patriarch Ooran was puzzled by Wu Hai's words but he was reminded of the origins at the same time.
He had previously assumed that King Wang Wei had been the mastermind behind his poisoning and attempted assassination but greed and power corrupted people, there was also the possibility that the King was just a puppet.
'I'm sure all of that can wait until after the city is rebuilt,' "I know what loss is like as well. Still, have the dragon corp go out and eliminate as many as possible. Don't take any risks, I don't want to lose anyone else today. No one goes alone." Patriarch Ooran saw Queen Calistown coming from the Tower with the Four Princes.
Ooran stepped lightly to give them a hug, then he was tackled by his four sons. They were merely children and didn't quite know what was going on. Patriarch Ooran played with them and crumbled to the pavement while they pounced on top of him.
"Father, I understand what you want but I have a bad feeling." Wu Hai wrapped his arm over his father's shoulder.
The Quartet hung on his other arm and tried to get him to waver, it didn't work.
Ooran noticed his that all of Son's wore serious expressions and changed his own, "Lets talk about it inside."
Looking at the mountain of corpses stacked outside the mountain castle walls, Wu Hai put storage rings on all of his fingers and started collecting the dead. He wasn't the only one out there cleaning up the battlefield.
Enemy Soldiers still roamed around, they collected items off the dead.
Wild animals came to feast on flesh, sometimes mutations would occur and more undead would be created.
Qu could sort out materials and usable items when he had the time. It took several hours into the evening the next day to clear up all of the nearby corpses that were not buried under tons of rubble and mud. The majority of the Sect had been putting forth serious effort into removing the corpses from the mountainside.
It was Guzhe that said he had seen nearly four hundred thousand marching, when the collections were underway the number was a dramatically smaller. It was obvious that many had either been sacrificed or become fodder under the weight of the moving Mountain.
Capturing the Behemoths to use for defense was a cool idea but in practice it proved difficult.
The Qilinkin had trapped and incapacitated them. The problem was in where they would keep them, how they would feed them and How to move their massive and unconscious bodies into a place that was private or secure.
The Sect couldn't take official responsibility for the Behemoths, they were extremely large beasts that ate a lot. These behemoths were a bit different, they had been fed tons of different flesh, intelligent beings for what might have been a very long time. It was hard to feed that much 'meat' to a beast.
Wiser to set them free, after much discussion, The Sect took the Twin's Idea for what it was worth.
The Behemoths were left to roam the broken plains near the foot of the mountain. The Behemoths had been driven up the mountain by force. Now that they had regained their freedom, the behemoths were unlikely to trust humanoids and flee from them. They grouped together and herded off into the distance.
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"Father!" Twin four year old girls rushed up and latched on to Zao Zhan. "Xi, Xue.. Where are your Grandmother and your Uncles?"
Zao Xi and Zao Xue were both cheerful, they saw the bloodstains and grimaced. "Uncles are mean! Except for Uncle Wu!"
"YAY! UNCLE WU" The girls looked over and ran to Wu Hai while they started complaining about the four princes in tandem.
Zhan had a grim look but he understood that they were just too charismatic. He came up to his daughters and sent them off. When they ran off toward their Mother, he spoke softly and his throat was dry, "Wu Hai.. we lost so many people. Marcus is gone too.."
"I don't see Khan Ni anywhere, is she alright?" Zhan had grown close to Khan Ni as well. He had even spent some time with Rachael and Her at the same time to build their relationships into something more. It had taken some convincing for Rachael but Zhan was already more than she ever hoped for.
Soon the two of them would occasionally share his bed at night.
"I didn't see Jiao Jiao after the fighting stopped. I'm sure they are fine but lets go look." Wu Hai was a bit worried but he hoped that it was nothing.
Khan Ni and Jiao Jiao were sleeping in the square where they had crash landed, after his transformation Jiao Jiao had no more energy.. he lay there naked, collapsed on Khan Ni's Lap
Zhan looked a bit jealous at first but when he saw the spot pattern on the skin of the naked cat-dragon man he was relieved.
Jiao Jiao was a strong ally, a friend and it never left Khan Ni's side.
"Darkwing was just the same, when he had evolved into his humanoid form he was naked as well." Wu Hai reminded Zhan and walked back to his Mother and Father.
"Mother, Father. Once cleanup and repair is done, we have to find out the extent of the damage to the Kingdom. I want to take the Air Corp and return to ruins of Minaur, the Minotaur City to get Khan Ni's World Tree Seed back and there were other entire cities in the path of that indiscriminate slaughter. If anyone survived, we might be able to bring them to Zao City or perhaps use the Minaur survivors to help in the mines. There is also the Antmen we have to the south, the fires on the plains could have done great damage to them. If that's the case, they will be roaming and they are not easy to contend with." Wu Hai had the feeling that he needed to go somewhere important.
Holding the circular, Strange-Ways Golden Talisman in his hand, the one that had changed Elder Gong back from his Demon body, Wu Hai felt a new beginning. It might look like a cheap a stone tablet to some, but Wu Hai felt a glimmer of its true purpose.
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In a far off kingdom, a Man watched the entire siege from start to finish, his Oracle's Orb had now been smashed to pieces. He was searching before but now he was full of contempt. Year's of his searching to locate the weapon had succeeded but his plan to obtain it had been trumped by an unknown power.
"Interesting and Disappointing!" Lord Eddingar licked the blood from his lip. The Whore at his fangs crumpled to a proverbial pile cosmic dust.
Dusting his trousers off, Lord Eddingar had a look of displeasure, then a smile crept over his face.
"Your wishes will be realized." Walking down a staircase a line of coffins covered the distance.
"Perhaps in less than a hundred years, this world will come to an end and we can finally be freed." Patting the top of a particular and exquisitely coffin, Lord Eddingar's gaze passed the resting place of his fallen lover.
"I'll never forgive the Guardians for taking you from me, this world and everything in it will burn."
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