"Damn it! He actually overcame my Mystic Demonic Combat!"
The infant sized Mystic Demonic Divine swore under his breath, glaring at me warily. I was preparing another arrow, getting ready to shoot him. He spun around and saw the were-beasts closing in on the gates of Hel Dungeon, having slaughtered their way through his demonic troops. One enemy, in particular, caught his eye.
"I still have Lionel Jonson to deal with! There's no way I'll be able to win…I've to withdraw!"
He then bounced away speedily, rushing toward the gate. I narrowed my eyes.
"Do you think I'll let you escape?"
Before he could get far, I shot an arrow, but he evaded them effortlessly, jumping from debris to debris. Realizing that I wouldn't get a clear shot, I decided instead to make use of my Sylphs to conjure a huge gust of wind that caught his tiny body and blew him off course.
"What?!"
"I might not be from Seoul, but some people might still mistake me for a druid," I explained, blowing him toward me. With him spinning haplessly in the air, I bombarded him with arrows, obliterating his body with the meteoric strikes. His remains crashed onto the ground, nothing but blood and shredded flesh and broken bones.
His demonic qi was gone, with only a lingering trace of miasma indication that he had ever existed. I raised my eyebrow.
"What about his Nascent Soul Realm thing? He has an immortal body?"
"Oh, you misunderstand," Xiao Huo assured me. "The immortal body was the one you just destroyed when you hit his core. The core is his…soul. The Nascent Soul in the form of an infant body that you just attacked. As long as you destroy that core, his immortal body will disappear along with him because there will be nothing to maintain it."
"I see." I breathed a sigh of relief. Blood dribbled from my mouth, but I wiped it away absentmindedly. Mystic Demonic Divine had been among the most formidable foes I had ever faced, and even though I had used Man and Sword as One to supplement my sword techniques earlier, I was no match for him at all. If I hadn't summoned my spirit beasts to help me, I probably would have been destroyed several times over.
Turning to check on my allies, I noticed that there were still plenty of demonic cultivators raging in the courtyard, embroiled in desperate melee with the dwarves. Gathering my Sylphs, I cast more wind spells to blow them away, sucking them into several vortexes where they spun about helplessly. Then I summoned the Undines and added their water spells to the whirlwinds, transforming them into whirlpools that crushed or drowned the demonic cultivators.
With the pressure lifted off them, the dwarves rallied. A battered Einhard yelled at his beleaguered shock troops and they marched forward, hammering the retreating remains of the Mystic Demon Sect. Angus had joined the fray as well, marshaling his riflemen to hurl precise bolts of mana at the confused demonic cultivators, peppering them with deadly fire. Sylvie and Silvia supplemented the volleys with hails of spirit swords, while Jun Hai and his spirit beasts engaged in close quarters, keeping the demonic cultivators away from the lines of gunmen with claws, teeth and elemental blasts. His Violent Salamander, in particular, was having a field day with his dragon breath, incinerating scores of screaming demonic cultivators.
And the were-beasts were drawing closer, having killed their way through the rearguard and were now trapping the demonic forces between us. It was only a matter of time before they were annihilated.
Mystic Tian Yuan retreated, her spirit array flickering as she dismissed the gigantic chessboard. She held up a hand and issued a single command.
"With my uncle slain, I'm taking charge. All those who will listen to me, heed my words! We are retreating! There is no point in staying here. Withdraw immediately!"
"You're running away now?" Myria scoffed, her Deep Sea Sword still in its water whip form. "You think you can just come and go as you please?"
"I never approved of my uncle's decision to invade other dungeons or attack the orthodox sects," Mystic Tian Yuan replied, hurling beads of Wei Qi around to detonate against pursuing soldiers. I noticed that she deliberately avoided hitting the dwarves directly, instead throwing up screens of dirt and smoke to conceal the movements of whatever demonic cultivators who chose to obey her. "There is no reason for us to die for his greed and ambition. Like I said, I was only here because of familial obligation."
"Fine." Myria stayed her sword and watched her opponent leave. "We are in no shape to pursue, but I guarantee that we will kill anyone who remains here."
"That's fair," Mystic Tian Yuan replied, her voice muffled behind the explosion of her Wei Qi beads. Then she vanished, along with those sane enough to obey her. The majority were too blood crazed or bloodthirsty to obey, having gone berserk. I realized that it was mostly because they were the ones experimented upon by the Mystic Demon Sect, the ones used as fodder. Though there were a few higher-level exponents who chose to stay behind, fighting to the last.
"Who does she think she is? Just because she's the sect leader's niece, she thinks she has the authority to order us about?"
"We can still win this! We must!"
"Avenge sect leader! We cannot allow his death to be in vain!"
The deluded dudes were slaughtered, particularly when they found themselves slashed from behind by the were-beasts. Lionel Jonson showed up, with a demonic cultivator impaled on his huge claws. He was in his humanoid lion form, his silver eyes gleaming and his majestic mane ruffling in the winds that my Sylphs had conjured up. Crunching his clawed feet over the layer of ice that my Undine had spread across the courtyard to slip the demonic cultivators up, he approached me while casually tossing the corpse of his victim away.
"Well met, my lord. It appears you have things well in hand here."
"Thanks for coming to our aid. Seems like your ambush was a huge success."
"Not at all. It was your strategy, remember?" Lionel chuckled, his leonine voice much deeper but still recognizable. "I'm impressed. I thought you would require my assistance against Mystic Demonic Divine, so I tried to reach here as quickly as possible, but…I see no sign of him. I can sense some lingering miasma, though. Did he flee?"
"He's dead," Xiao Huo replied. "Master killed him."
"You…what?" Lionel gaped at me. Einhard guffawed as he staggered over, resting his hammer on his shoulder while dropping his cracked shield to the ground. Evidently, his gear had weathered much punishment, but I wagered the once indomitable shield had saved his life several times.
"Yeah, the kid really did it. It was a sight to behold. Mystic Demonic Divine was boasting about his immortal body, and then…bam! He got shot right out of his immortal body. Seems like he has attained the Nascent Infant Realm, eh?"
"What? Is that true?"
"It is," Xiao Huo confirmed. "But even if you've attained an Infant form, you're still susceptible to attacks to your soul…to your core."
"Phew." Jun Hai came over as well, wiping the perspiration from his face. Like me, he didn't just sit on his spirit beasts and watched them fight. He had actively joined the fight as well, covering his spirit beasts from afar while striking at the enemies with a sword. Like I said, he trained with me under dad, so he also knew Flowing River Clear Sword technique. I should think about giving him a better sword, though. He didn't seem to notice the battered condition of his sword, though, and instead sheathed it while he approached us. "That was quite the battle. I'm so glad it's over."
"Yeah." I glanced around the courtyard and saw that there weren't any living enemies left. The dwarves were slumping against walls or piles of rubble, taking a much-needed break. Soon, we would have to start gathering the corpses and burning them or burying them in order to prevent disease, but right now we were all exhausted.
Fortunately, my Phantom Stumps, Ghost Pumpkins, Colossal Crabs, Mud Fishes, Marsh Striders, Twig Turtles and Grove Turtles were already carrying out the mundane jobs. They hadn't fought much, instead leaving most of the combat to the Tree Revenants, Pumpkin Wraiths, King Crabs, Swamp Stompers and Terra Tortoises, who were better matched against the Mystic ranked demonic cultivators. They simply served to impede the enemy and overwhelm them with sheer numbers, creating openings for their stronger evolved brethren to deliver the finishing blows.
So the mainline combatants rested while the little guys ran around carrying out the mundane tasks. This was why the commenters beyond the fourth dimension should stop their stupid categorization of useless versus useful, or strong versus weak. Every spirit beast had a role to play, and each was equally important, regardless of their level or strength. It was extremely shortsighted to only keep the "strong" ones and then get rid or neglect all the "weak" ones. Logistics was a very real thing.
"I don't think we have to worry about Mystic Tian Yuan," Myria said as she came over, looking weary. "She is strong…probably stronger than even Murderous Crow, but when I fought against her, I could sense that she bore no ill will or malice. None of her attacks aimed to kill. She has a virtuous and honorable heart."
"The true character of someone can be measured by clashing blades with them," Lionel agreed. "You will find out more about your opponent through a duel than through words alone. People might lie when they speak, but their fighting style will always be honest."
"Also, congratulations on reaching beginner Earth rank," Einhard told Myria. "Seems like you broke through during the fight earlier."
"Ah, yes. I didn't realize. I was so absorbed in fighting that I didn't notice." Myria looked a little embarrassed. She then glanced at me. "Jun Wen…you too. Seems like you've broken through to intermediate Earth rank."
"Oh? I did?" Now that she mentioned it, I realized that she was right. "I supposed fighting to the extreme against Mystic Demonic Divine while constantly being in Man and Sword as One mode must have helped with that."
"Attaining Man and Sword as One really helps to make a difference," Myria agreed. "It's a state of mind…a state of being, and not really a technique. I only discovered that while fighting against Mystic Tian Yuan. I have a feeling that she was guiding me during our battle. I just don't understand her."
"She's different from her uncle, that's for sure." Lionel sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. By now, he had transformed back to his human form, looking like a weary middle-aged man with a thick beard. "Some of my brethren actually reported that she intervened when they were about to be abducted, ordering the demonic cultivators not to touch them, and allowing them to go. It's just a pity that she spends most of her time holed up somewhere playing chess, and not bothering with matters in the Mystic Demon Sect. Otherwise, it's possible that more of us would have escaped. Still, given her position in the Mystic Demon Sect, I can't blame her."
"So what should we do now?" Jun Hai asked, glancing at the pile of corpses that my spirit beasts were creating.
"We rest," Einhard replied. "You guys, especially. You did most of the fighting. I'll call in the reserves and have them take care of the aftermath and cleanup."
"What about Moran Dungeon?" Sylvie asked, joining the conversation alongside Silvia. "Are they all right?"
"They are fine," Angus reported. "We've received reports that they are holding the line there. Now that we've achieved victory here in Hel Dungeon, we'll send the reinforcements lying in reserve to help them turn the tide."
"I'll go help them," I offered, turning toward the entrance to the mines. There were mine-trains waiting there to transport me over. "I might as well help out all the way to the end."
"Count me in," Jun Hai said.
"Me too," Lionel said and waved toward several of the were-beasts. Among those who joined in were Tiger and Tia Woods. He grinned. "We haven't killed enough of those demonic bastards."
"And I want to test out my new breakthrough," Myria said, swinging her sword. I grinned and nodded.
"All right, let's go to Moran Dungeon!"