Yuan Zhen began laughing softly, taking his first step forward. Literally flashing from one point to another, he appeared with the blade of his weapon carving an arc down.
By the time that one guard realized Yuan Zhen had arrived, the scythe was already slicing him apart.
"The hell. He's a Spirit Manifestation cultivator right? Did you sense wrong?"
They all grew fearful as their captain stood by.
"Do not be afraid men! To lay down your lives for the sake of King Xian's territory is the height of honor! Hold off this fiend until reinforcements arrive!"
Still, Yuan Zhen was unstoppable. No matter how high their morale, he would cut them down while completely at ease. Before long, the only person who remained whole was the captain himself.
"You would dare make enemies with King Xian's army?"
He was clearly afraid, but did his best to suppress it. He only said this in an attempt to prove the resolve of the blood covered monster standing before him, but also his own resolve.
"Yes."
That simple response would leave a lasting impression on the captain. An impression that would stay with him even after his death.
The captain immediately drew his longsword and poured the scant energy he had into it. He roared, stepping forward with a diagonal slash that was heading for Yuan Zhen's chest.
Yuan Zhen grinned, stepping off to the side as he watched the blade go by.
All the captain saw was a spray of blood before he perished. Yuan Zhen began to laugh once more, his appearance giving him the look of a crazed murderer, a monstrous madman.
He was indeed a monster at heart.
He took slow steps toward the city, flinging the blood off of his scythe. His cold smile never faded, not even as he summoned the flame to burn away the blood on his body.
Yuan Zhen's clothes remained in perfect condition despite the terrifying flame. This was likely due to the fact that he crafted his clothing using a manifestation. His manifestation would naturally coexist, so his fire would do no harm to his clothes or his scythe. He merely recalled the dark violet flame and went on his way.
Recalling something, he decided to try it out. He summoned another of his manifestations, the mask. When it appeared, it was a dark crimson and fit his face perfectly. The face on the mask was abnormal enough to give even him a jolt.
It acted like a magnet when it met the thinly spread energy on his body, and thus was stuck to his face.
As soon as he put it on, he felt a raging bloodlust consume his soul.
It was rumored that when one killed millions of people- innocent people- that the soul would begin to emanate a bloodlust so powerful it could crush even immortals. Though this was merely a legend, there was some truth to it.
The feeling of overwhelming bloodlust reminded Yuan Zhen of that legend, and his psychotic smile widened, revealing his beastly fangs.
This bloodlust seemed to be similar to that, but didn't feel as powerful.
He could tell that it was amplifying the bloodlust his soul had acquired so far, which stuck with him from his past life. He wasn't too far from the requirements needed to increase its power. He was hoping that when he properly met those requirements that he would be able to emulate an even more terrifying bloodlust.
His killing intent could be felt, like a thickness in the air that affected your breathing.
The rushing soldiers gathered at the gates of the city, which was now in a state of panic. The sound of the horn was a large scale call to action, mobilizing every force present in the city.
Citizens rushed to save zones, doing their best to stay hidden. A number of them kept an eye of the mass gathering of soldiers, reporting to the others on the situation.
Before long, thousands of armed soldiers lined the city's walls, crossbows trained on a single figure. In addition to the soldiers at the gates, four figures decked in varying types of gold armor strolled out leisurely.
A chilling wind assailed Yuan Zhen as they stepped out, causing him to regard them with a curious gaze. He couldn't care less about the cannon fodder, but these four individuals were clearly stronger. Their auras were on the verge of giving him a bit of pressure.
"Late stage Spirit Manifestation?"
His smile grew wider, but then it suddenly devolved into a blood-thirsty glare. Of the four people walking towards him, three were human. There was actually humans defending city in the beast race's territory.
Just what had the world become?
By now, he was standing alone before an army. The four warriors were a few feet away from him. The first of them, from the left, was a baldheaded man. He held his helmet under his arm, and had a long staff in the other hand. This staff was decorated with brass and various engraving, making it appear quite stylish yet oddly formidable.
To the bald man's left was another man. He wore his helmet, but long strands of straight brown hair spewed forth from under it. There were two swords strapped to his side, sheathed together. On those swords was a symbol of the Yin and Yang on both hilts. A concealed energy trickled out of those yin yang symbols, spreading out before merging with the surrounding energy.
This won a reaction from Yuan Zhen, who raised his brow in interest.
To his left was a slender woman, much taller than the others.
There was a long weapon on her back, wrapped almost entirely in clean white cloth. She had no helmet, instead wearing a long ribbon in her blue-black hair, which was tied up.
Her armor was the only set that didn't match the others. It seemed specially made for her.
She yawned, appearing disinterested in everything that was taking place. After all, the so-called 'attacker' was just a kid in the middle stages of Spirit Manifestation.
The last of them was a simple looking man with short hair and a single broadsword He was the one to speak to Yuan Zhen.
"Surrendering now will do you no good. Prepare to die."
He put a hand on his sword, but actually seemed hesitant to draw it. It seemed he didn't want to be the one to slay a young beast who only appeared to be fifteen years old.
He turned and looked at the others, seeming to be checking if anyone else wanted to do the deed. The man with the twin blades nodded and took a step forward.
Yuan Zhen sneered, thinking their act was laughable. If he wanted to, a single explosive attack would be enough to slaughter them. But, that was not the style of Yuan Zhen. If his enemies died too suddenly, he would take no pleasure. And he only ever killed for the pleasure of it.
Yuan Zhen relaxed his scythe, letting the end of it touch the ground as he grinned.
"I find your service to be quite deplorable. To think you would attack me for taking out my frustrations on a lesser being. That's just the natural way of life. Also, I still want someone to tell me Where Ji Xie is. I'm surprised he didn't come to back you up."
After Yuan Zhen said this, he bald man scoffed.
"Yun Mo, silence his blasphemy. To think he would dare utter the name of the Beast Emperor's right hand without the proper respect."
An imperceptible surprise flashed in Yuan Zhen's eyes. As sorted through his memories, he seemed to recall some human saying something about a hundred years having passed.
He could piece together that there was something he wasn't quite grasping, but there was no time for contemplation. The one called Yun Mo drew one of his swords, a hint of disdain on his face.
"Don't worry, I won't use my other sword. This should be enough for you to struggle quite nicely. Don't die too early!"
He spun, kicking up dust while the ground beneath his feet cracked.
Yuan Zhen suddenly felt a cold sensation on his cheek, realizing that the man's blade was already heading for his face.
He bent backward, causing the sword to miss him by a few inches.
Yun Mo flashed across his field of vision, following up his first attack with a subsequent slash heading for Yuan Zhen's leg.
Yuan Zhen leapt into the air, flipping over and landing on his feet a few feet away, scythe still in hand. His calm expression infuriated Yun Mo, who emitted a low grunt.
A single wind blew before Yun Mo struck again. This time, however, Yuan Zhen did not dodge. His eyes darted to and fro in a split second, then he raised the scythe to intercept the sword.
There was a spark which was followed by a loud clang, but by that time Yun Mo had already vanished. Yuan Zhen sighed, the scythe in his hands spinning around before slicing at the air behind him.
Surprisingly, when he spun it, a streak of blood had appeared on the blade.
This caused a collective gasp from the three warriors. Yun Mo appeared, touching his face where he felt an itch. There was a shallow cut below his eye.
"You're a horrible dancer. Anything else you want to demonstrate?" Yuan Zhen returned to his initial stance, scythe resting on the floor.
Yun Mo scoffed, his aura exploding out of control.
"Mind your anger, Yun Mo." The baldheaded man tried to calm him down, but Yun Mo turned around and snapped at him.
"Quiet! This ant will die today."
He drew the other sword, a blinding light shining from the blades as soon as he did. They both resonated with one another, multiplying the strength of the wielder. Yun Mo roared loudly and brought them both swinging downward.
There was a loud tearing sound as space itself was on the verge of being ripped open.
Yuan Zhen could clearly see that there was a powerful energy on the blades, and an idea hit him.
He sidestepped the attack, let go of his scythe and then struck with his hand. Yun Mo's angry assault had all his power behind it, so when it was dodged he couldn't immediately stop himself.
Yuan Zhen hit the back of Yun Mo's head with his hand, causing the latter to cough up a tiny jet of blood before falling flat on his face. The twin swords fell at either side of Yun Mo's unconscious body, their energy fading into a dormant state once more.
Astonished looks were directed at him, coming from all who were present.
"Stop wasting time. Fire!" The simple looking man shouted his order, after which the soldiers lining the wall recovered from their stunned stupor and fired with their crossbows. Innumerable steel bolts came down like a sudden storm, but Yuan Zhen's calm expression never left him.
He had already picked up Yun Mo's swords, putting away his scythe.
In less than a second, he stabbed a sword into Yun Mo, then flung him into the air to obstruct a number of crossbow bolts. When Yun Mo's body could no longer act as a shield and started to fall back down, he brandished the blades and poured his energy into them.
An even greater power emanated from them. So great, in fact, that when he swung one of them, a stormy wind blew and knocked away all the crossbow bolts heading to him.
That wind also affected the ordinary soldiers, pushing them several feet back. Those on the wall had to hold onto it.
The three warriors were in shock, but they remained unmoved. That woman's eyes widened, seeming to be lost in thought.
"Your friend isn't dead yet. Want to save him or is he not worth the effort?" Suddenly, Yuan Zhen spoke. He placed a foot on Yun Mo's body. which was full of bolts and twitching.
There was no response from the other three.
Yuan Zhen smiled.
"Alright then. Since he's worthless..."
Yuan Zhen directly cut off Yun Mo's head, then run his sword through it and lifted it into the air.
He straightway invaded Yun Mo's head with his soul. It immediately snatched up and devoured Yun Mo's own dying soul, then absorbed that power and returned it to Yuan Zhen.
His soul was instantly strengthened.
There was a collective gasp from the ordinary soldiers. Being cultivators, they could sense what Yuan Zhen had just done.
"You devil! To think you would dare consume someone's soul!"