Fate Shift - Chapter 13

While D’Gedda prepared to journey to the Seven Powers Sect’s Central Branch and Peter examined his loot, the third member of the Fate’s Own prepared to take advantage of a massive opportunity.

Across the Mortal World, the Heavens, and the Hells, once-dormant sword statues began to activate.

One of the jade statues was located in the Far West, specifically the Scarred Desert of the Three Desert Region, which was central to the Noff Continent. The Scarred Desert was a vast expanse of reddish-brown stone and yellow sand. Countless valleys, gorges, and ravines formed wandering lines in the Scarred Desert, giving it its name.

A sizeable party, composed of members from both of the local demon tribes, had gathered in the very center of the Scarred Desert. The demons stood in a bowl-shaped canyon, surrounding a large, badly cracked statue of a sword. The double-edged sword statue shivered occasionally, releasing ripples of Qi.

The party was clearly divided between tribal lines. The Sand Wraiths, who looked like desiccated corpses, dressed in simple but rugged clothes. Opposite them were the Dark Earth Tribe members, also humanoids, whose bodies were composed of solid rock.

As the demons waited, the waves of Qi being emitted from the sword statue grew increasingly frequent. Before long, Qi was being released every second. Eventually the Qi emissions stabilized and a portal appeared in front of the sword statue. Following some predetermined list, members from both tribes formed a single-file line outside the portal and started entering one by one.

Even as the demons entered, others were traveling through portals created beside similar statues in other areas. In the Heaven of Chaos, where millions of islands soared through endless skies, one small clan of angels had gathered around a statue of a scimitar.

The Nofistello Clan had selected four angels to enter the Soul Realm, two males and two females. The four angels were unarmed and clothed only in white, cotton clothes. The vests the angels wore left a large portion of their backs exposed, allowing their wings free range of movement. All four had retracted their azure, feathered wings into their backs. As the portal around the scimitar statue opened the four young angels stepped forward with resolute expressions on their pale-skinned faces.

Meanwhile, in one of the underground training halls of Last Hope, hundreds of mortals from various races had gathered in ordered rows. None were apprentices and most hadn’t even reached the Meridian Opening Realm. A stern-faced, human instructor began a speech even as a levitating broadsword statue began to surge with Qi.

“All of you have sworn oaths to Kahzareem hoping to become Slayers. All of you have your own ambitions and plans. All of you desire strength. Today you have a chance to take a shortcut on your path!

The statue behind me will soon open a gateway to an unexplored Soul Realm. This Soul Realm is an uncommon realm that only allows novices to enter, offering all of you a very rare chance to explore a Soul Realm. All five hundred Slayer candidates in this room have been granted the chance to explore this Soul Realm; however only one hundred of you may enter the portal when it opens.”

The Slayer candidates in the room didn’t need to hear any more. Fighting broke out everywhere, and within seconds more than a dozen candidates had already been killed. The instructor smiled coldly as he observed the action.

Kahkahkin Roph, a middle-aged human was one of the figures that clearly stood out. The tanned, blonde-haired man wielded a scythe with a keen gaze, taking one life after another with mechanical focus. Despite being only in Qi Acceptance, Kahkahkin was able to combine his skill with the scythe and his Life-Death Breath to unleash devastating attacks constantly. Any opponent who stepped in his range was cut down in a single blow.

Gauffrir Haujell was another dangerous candidate. Gauffrir was a unique demon, a failed experiment of an Abomination who’d fought in the First Cultivation War. His body was a twisted mess of more than a dozen limbs. Gauffrir fought like a berserker, accepting blows whenever he had to in order to assault his foes. No matter how much damage he suffered his freakish body regenerated in seconds. Severed limbs would crawl back to his body and the pools of blood that dripped down from his countless wounds would swiftly condense into solid beads before flying back to him. The other slayer candidates Gauffrir fought simply couldn’t stop him.

The figure that interested the instructor the most was someone else though. Dregg Wippjul stood in the middle of the chaos, idly observing the battles around him. The tall, muscular demon seemed unconcerned by the violence and for good reason. Not a single Slayer candidate in the room had attempted to near the gray, metal-skinned demon.

Within a few minutes things settled down. The smart candidates fled the training room as soon as they knew they couldn’t cut it and those who failed to properly estimate their strength simply died. As befitting Slayer candidates, only those who escaped the room early on survived amongst the defeated. Everyone who fought and lost in the room was finished off promptly.

As most of the remaining Slayer candidates silently recovered their strength, Dregg walked over to the statue. While the portal began manifesting in front of the statue, he turned and asked the instructor “Does it have to be one hundred?”

“No.”

Dregg nodded in response. He then turned towards the other candidates and said “I’ll allow five people to accompany me through this portal.” As the remaining Slayers stared at Dregg’s face, which completely lacked facial features, save for a mouth, several shuddered.

A second bout of fighting began, although this one didn’t involve nearly as many combatants as the previous conflict. Most of the survivors from the first round of fighting were able to gauge their chances at being one of the five; many candidates chose to avoid competing further.

The first two to clearly earn places in Dregg’s five were Kahkahkin and Gauffrir. The third was Wesh Nauvanfir, a lithe demon coated in black and red fur, who seemed more beast than person. Wesh used her speed and agility to become third without ever being hit; in an open area where she was free to move around she’d be hard to hurt with her exceptional mobility. Quecka Shaldupher and Radsidan Caujoh took the fourth spot and fifth spots respectively. They were both human summoners.

With the five decided, Dregg entered the portal. Kahkahkin, Gauffrir, and Wesh followed straight away. Before Quecka could enter the portal Radsidan suggested “We should team up. The two of us don’t stand a chance against those three on our own.”

Quecka turned around to respond; a blade pierced her throat before she could speak though. She stared at Radsidan in disbelief as she died. Radsidan, a fat youth with a perpetual scowl, snorted and shook his head. The rapier Radisdan used to kill Quecka vanished from his hand in a flash of light with a flick of his wrist. He briefly turned to the instructor and commented “Anyone that easily distracted doesn’t deserve to be a Slayer.”

The instructor laughed and agreed “Too true. Good luck in the Soul Realm candidate.”

Radsidan waved in response; he then stepped through the portal.

I’m sorry about the long delay on chapters, a number of things came up. In the future if I have any delays I’ll edit an explanation into the author’s note of the latest available chapter. That way if something comes up I can keep you guys informed. As for the immediate future, I plan to release at least one more chapter today.