บท 41: Calm before the storm
The war was only in its early phase, the demon beasts however were having the upperhand in this war. This wasn't because of the overall difference in terms of strength, but because the demon beasts were born to be fearless of death while the human cultivators were afraid of death.
In just the first hour of this war, the human cultivators had already suffered casualties that would impact the war even in its later stages while some cultivators who survived had lost their combat strength as well.
There were cultivators who died without knowing how it happened. There were cultivators who had lost their limbs while conscious. There were also the pitiful cultivators who were eaten alive before their own eyes.
The human cultivators were fearful of the demon beasts, but they weren't able to back out now. They had no choice but to put up a brave front and fight those demon beasts with their lives on the line.
"Everyone listen up, we'll be heading towards the eastern side of the battlefield immediately." Lancelot ordered while paving a way towards the eastern side of the battlefield with his spear, he had to rush there before things got worse.
The disciples nodded their head as they followed in Lancelot's footsteps, allowing him to focus on paving way there as quickly as possible while they took care of any ambushes from the demon beasts that were coming from their sides and rear.
"From above!"
Yet to the surprise of these disciples, a demon beast was actually pouncing onto them from tens of metres away, energy gathered around its mouth as it prepared to fire an energy beam.
"Go! I'll stall time for us so go help out the rest of the cultivators!" One of the disciples stood out courageously as a golden barrier manifested in front of him.
His legs were firmly rooted to the ground and even though fear was reflected on his face, he was smiling. As an orphan, he had already taken too much love and concern from this sect though he deserved nothing.
"None of you are going to die under my watch before they manage to take me down." A confident voice travelled into their ears as the demon beast which was about to release the energy beam exploded into pieces before their eyes in slow motion.
A sharp bolt of lightning that took on the form of a spear's tip pierced through its demon core which caused its strength to dissipate immediately, it had died before making its last stand.
As for the demon core, Lancelot picked it up and kept it in his spatial ring. While the sect might not be able to provide a spatial ring for everyone in the sect in its current development phase, he had a personal spatial ring from his father.
I can't lose sight of myself, but neither can I betray the man who had placed his faith in me and helped me to stand back up after falling. Those were the words that kept Lancelot going as he returned to the front of the group.
"After I sell this spirit core, the amount earned will be splitted among us evenly." Lancelot wasn't asking to give them, but demanding them to take it as the other disciples laughed and accepted his kind gesture.
"Thank you senior Lancelot."
As for why only this demon beast dropped a demon core, it was because only demon beasts of the Great Martial Master realm and above have a slight chance of cultivating one, but when one is sold, even the lowest grade demon cores were worth a pile of spirit stones.
"Never mess with me." Clarissa smirked as she easily killed another group of demon beasts with the martial skill she had first received from the Martial Pavilion.
"Flowing Water Palm!"
With another jet of water, she easily killed another small group of demon beasts which had taken the other disciples a united effort to achieve a quarter of her total kills.
Yet at this moment, the disciples sensed killing looming over them as a ferocious wolf leaped over them and stopped in front of Clarissa.
"Senior, what cultivation realm is this wolf in?" The disciple swallowed a gulp of saliva and asked cowardly as everyone turned towards the disciple who was the strongest among them.
The senior was calling out to wrinkled his brows, his mouth curving up as he confidently replied, "It's definitely in the Great Martial Master realm."
Of course, no one heard him muttering under his breath, "A worthy foe on top of that."
"How the hell are you still so serious?" Another disciple who was worried for everyone present questioned anxiously, only for the senior to break out in laughter.
"I have never been afraid of anything, even when I'm forced to the edge of the cliff, I believe that there'll be a way out." The senior who goes by the name Ayden calmed his junior down easily with just the fierce aura he was eluding.
"Sister Clarissa, please allow me to deal with that demon beast, it's been some time since I last got into a battle without holding myself back."
"Sister?"
"What?"
On Cidd's side, it was a different story. Instead of being active in the battle and seizing every chance to slay demon beasts, he remained passive and watched as the disciples fought against the demon beasts with their life on the line,
"I won't be helping you guys regardless of the situation. But to help you guys out slightly, I'll be casting a supportive halo around us that should help to increase the rate in which you regenerate your spirit energy, feel free to go all out without holding back."
Those were the instructions that Cidd gave, but what the disciples didn't know is that he had saved them from a few close calls without them noticing.
It's not that he didn't want to help them out or know his kind gesture, but because he was someone who prioritises results and the best way he can do so, is to allow the disciples to fight without holding back, gaining invaluable combat experience in a chaotic war.
As for the three disciples under Jay, all of them were eccentric in their own way after they had bonded well with each other miraculously for some reason.
If it wasn't for the fact that they would stare at some of the pretty female disciples at times, people in the sect would have wondered if they're in a relationship with each other.
As for in combat, their synergy and chemistry with each other enabled them to perform sword moves that were able to catch the demon beasts off guard while the other disciples while experimenting with the formation they taught them.
By forming a triangle shape while each of them face outwards, they were able to prevent any demon beasts from ambushing them while covering for each other.
It was a battle formation that couldn't be simpler, but more than practical for a large-scale war in which one mistake might result in one's death.
Of course, there was also Ray who was currently fooling around by himself while the disciples on his order, were situated at the kingdom gates dealing with the weakest demon beasts.
When they asked why, all Ray would do was return them with a smile while shouting, "In order to win this war, the demon beasts would definitely arrange for a few demon beasts to camouflage in with the weaker ones, what I need you guys to do is deal with those."
Even though they were reluctant to follow Ray's bizarre orders, they still did as instructed, yet after the first hour, they actually began to catch out demon beasts of the Martial Master realm that had blended in with the weaker ones.
"Damn, these demon beasts are playing dirty."
"We don't have a choice do we? All we can do right now is stay here and prevent any of them from slipping us or the consequences would be disastrous."
"To think that Ray was able to figure out the plan the demon beasts were playing, maybe that playful exterior he shows us is only a disguise."
Ray was some distance away and didn't hear them, but they were right, he wasn't a simple person as well. He wanted to grow stronger and in this cultivation world, those who decide to fool around from day one are destined to fall behind.
Lucius who was still overseeing the overall situation of the war from the city wall couldn't help but wrinkle his brows, the aura he was eluding made the soldiers keep distance from him in fear, but it was exactly what he wanted.
Clenching his fists, he cursed under his breath, "Who the hell are these people? Their names weren't in the records among all the kingdoms."
Vanishing from his spot while the soldier wondered where he went, Lucius appeared before Lucifer who was currently sitting on his throne.
"Master, there are a few potential threats that you might have to deal with immediately, I hereby request for you to dispatch the thousand centipedes into a battle to end this swiftly before the war gets prolonged." Lucius expressed his intentions at once as he half knelt on the ground willingly, this was a prestige that even the king of the Valor kingdom didn't receive.
"I have made up my mind to not destroy humanity, instead, I'll destroy those demon beasts once and for all and build up my own empire!" Lucifer got up from his seat and revealed his new ambitions which shocked Lucius as his face went pale.
"Master, are you seriously going to retract your plans after everything you've done in order to strengthen those demon beasts?"
"Nono, I'll keep them under me as well and control them just like how puppets would carry out given orders without questioning." Lucifer explained as though everything was going to go his way.
Standing up from the ground, Lucius left his palace and left behind his words coldly, "You'll regret making this decision one day."
"I didn't say I was going to let you leave this place alive."
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