Reaper of the Martial World - Book 13: Chapter 22: Blood and Flesh

The frontline battlefield of the Mortal Empire.

A great war was ravaging the depths of space. Without the backdrop of stars, it felt as though they were all sinking into an endless darkness, the attacks travelling into the distance only to be swallowed up by the callous vastness of nature.

On the vanguard, there was a beautiful beast. Though her fur was covered in wounds and patches of blood, this fact still couldn’t be denied. Her body was shapely and carried the slim flexibility and power of a fox. Her two tails whipped around wildly, one carrying harsh winds of ice and the other shattering and gathering up the void with impunity.

It seemed that with this beast acting as the head, the numerous void beasts on the opposing side suffered loss after loss, unable to maintain ultimate control over the void as they had become used to. It couldn’t be helped. They were already heavily suppressed by the actions

of the Heavens, and now they had met an enemy that was the bane of their existence.

If such void beasts had any emotions to speak of, it was obvious that they would be aggrieved. But, did they have such thoughts? Did they have thoughts at all?

They were like mindless killing machines, only seeking to swallow everything up. They cared for nothing, wanted for nothing, felt nothing… These were the creatures the Immortal Plane had been fighting against for so long already. But now, they had turned their attention toward the lower dregs of the mortal plane.

The beautiful fox roared, a swirling beam of blue and black jetting out from her mouth and tearing a hole through another void beast.

Her claw lashed out in quick succession, splitting another in half.

This fox beauty wasn’t alone by any stretch of the imagination. There were only a few hundred individuals taking part in this battle, but not a single one of them was weaker than the Third Facet Overlord realm. On such a battlefield, anyone who was any weaker than this would only be sending themselves to the jaws of death. In such a situation, what choice did the Mortal Empire have?

“Ri! Cover me!”

A delicate voice rang out through the void.

A golden-haired beauty stepped forward, a resplendent golden moon appearing above her in the skies.

Shimmering golden beams fell from the moon like the rain of a sword array. As though purifying the lands, the sizzling and crackling of burnt meat filled the air as the void beasts were bombarded. In those moments, their already disgusting, nauseating scent became worse.

A red beam of light shot from the eye of one of the void beasts, tearing through the air and toward this beauty.

As though expecting this, Ri reacted quickly, roaring once again.

A cloud of void qi appeared, swallowing up the pillar of red and reflecting it back.

The two women huffed and puffed, their stamina reaching their bitter ends. Even though these void beasts were heavily suppressed, what was the most difficult to suppress was the strength of a body. It was already great that the Heavens didn’t allow the void beasts to use void qi above the mortal realms. But, their bodies were still ridiculously large and sturdy. Just doing some damage required them to go all out, or else even if they managed to cut their tough outer layer, it would be such a small, insignificant wound that nothing would happen.

Luckily, even as they caught their breath, the two women were not alone on this battlefield.

Two streaks of red tore through the air. One was red due to a pair of 6 wings glistening with a beautiful sheen, while the other was red due to being a blazing ball of fire. One woman was filled with an endless, blood thirsty killing intent while the other seemed to want to see the world burn. Neither of them held back in the slightest, their auras reaching a feverish peak.

Amphorae’s palm flipped, the golden bracelet that was always around her wrist blooming into a lyre she didn’t hesitate to pluck the strings of. Sounds of murder and blood rained from the skies, forming crimson clouds above that rained down with a sticky, viscous liquid.

A sonorous shout came from Clara, violent winds and flames surging up from her body and coating the clouds above.

Suddenly, a rain that could only come from a bloody hell descended like flaming meteors, covering the battlefield in a maddening assault. The drowning roars of countless void beasts sounded, making it impossible to hear anything but the sounds of death.

In the midst of a formation of Mortal Empire warriors, Luna stood like an immortal goddess, her robes fluttering seemingly in the absence of wind.

Her petite figure seemed far larger than life at that moment, her momentum continuously building with each passing second.

She raised her hands into the skies, sensing all the void qi around her.

Though her face was stoic and without emotion, much like Dyon’s other women, raging tides couldn’t help but send waves through her heart. This was already the last line of defense. The only remaining place these void beasts could

charge into could be the Mortal Empire’s capital universe.

Of course, if it was there, they would be much stronger. Not only were their countermeasures the strongest in their capital, but they were stronger as well. Drawing upon the connection to the Ancient Battlefield, both her and Eli could display the fighting prowess of Immortals. If the void beasts really dared to come, they would be finished.

But, no matter how Luna thought about it, she knew that things couldn’t be so simple.

Where had these void beasts come from? Was this a natural phenomenon? Or had someone sent them? If it was the latter, where had this person come from?

All Luna knew was that these damned beasts had actually dared to lay a hand on her daughter. To now, she hadn’t known anything about what led to Alauna’s current injuries, so

she wasn’t aware that these beasts were summoned by the Sapientia, or else maybe she would be even more worried.

All she knew now was that she wanted these damned beasts dead.

“SEAL!”

After finally gathering up enough void qi, Luna acted, the billowing of her dress increasing several fold.

Everyone retreated in unison. They had long since gotten used to the tactic.

Upon every battle along every line of defense, they would kill as many void beasts as they could. Once they reached their limits, they would hand it over to Luna who would have spent the whole battle gathering up void qi. At that point, she would use the accumulated qi to form a seal that would keep them trapped for a

few months. Then, they would retreat to the next line of defense…

This time was already the last time they could do this. But, it wasn’t the time to despair about such a thing. They could only be happy that they finally got some rest. Like this, maybe they could enjoy some of their last moments.

The cage of void qi quickly formed. Despite having been subjected to this several times already, the void beasts were just mindless creatures. How could they come up with a countermeasure?

Without suspense, they had been trapped once again.

Luna breathed heavily. “This one should last three months…”

“Good job Luna.” Clara said with a somewhat bitter expression, floating down to her fellow sister-wife’s side. Her hair still flickered with

some flames that quickly tempered themselves down.

Luna took a deep breath and forced a smile. “Just a small measure.”

The atmosphere grew a bit solemn. They all knew that this was the last time they could use this tactic. The next time, they would either win this war once and for all, or they would all die.

“Still no word from Little Sister Madeleine?” Jade asked somewhat apprehensively.

Since all she received was a sigh, the answer became obvious.

“I hope she’s okay…” Ri said softly.

None of them even spared a thought toward the possibility of Madeleine deserting them. This was the kind of trust they had amongst each other. They were certain that the only thing that could stop Madeleine from being here was a trial even beyond what they were experiencing now.

“Alright, that’s enough moping about.” Jade said with a bright smile. “Let’s go and rest. Dyon wouldn’t like to see you all this way.”

The women smiled. Amongst them all, it could be said that Jade’s personality was the most like Dyon’s. Though she didn’t have his arrogance, she did have his wit and sense of humor. After so many years, she had finally gone back to her old self, so she had become an inseparable part of their group despite not being one of Dyon’s wives.

At that moment, something completely out of their expectations happened. The skies… collapsed.

The expanse of black above quaked, shook, and finally broke, shattering into countless little shards of space and void qi.

“Oh no!” Luna’s eyes widened.

She could immediately sense that her void prison had been affected. The countless shards of sharp qi whistled through the air, bombarding the cage to the point countless little holes appeared on its surface.

Seeing this, Ri grit her teeth. “Form up!”

Caught completely off guard, the warriors of the Mortal Empire were in complete disarray, despair painted all over their faces.

In the beginning of this war, they thought that it would only be a matter of time before their Emperor appeared. But, as the years waned, they realized that something must have happened to him. If it wasn’t for their Empresses constantly taking the vanguard, making them too ashamed to run away alone and allow women to block their backs, maybe they would have already long since deserted and transcended to the Immortal Plane, escaping this fate.

Of course, there were some of them who had done so in secret. Let alone a few hundred, under the resources Dyon left behind, there should have been tens of thousands of Three Facet Overlords left behind protecting the Mortal Empire. Yet, weren’t there only a few hundred of them now…?

They could only sigh. Since this had been their choice, they could only stay now. Wasn’t it just death? Maybe if they were lucky, the cycle of reincarnation wouldn’t be affected and they’d have another chance…

They had all come to trust Luna’s void cage, so none of them had taken any precautions. So, when they saw a swarm of tentacles ripping their way free and surging toward them, many of them could only turn pale.

Jade had been the furthest forward, clearing the path for Clara and Amphorae’s combined attack, and now she could only watch on helplessly as

these limbs that carried the weight of the world sought to crush her in one blow.

The scene itself was devastating. Each one was as large as a moon, crashing down with indomitable momentum.

Jade smiled lightly before this scene. She had reawakened her memories a long while ago. She was well aware that she had caused Miss Everdeen’s death. Though she had been able to move past this, it was only as much as her wanting to repay the world as much as she could. She wanted to do as much good as possible and pass away with a clear conscience.

Seeing these attacks descending toward her, she felt at peace.

“Jade!”

Numerous cries sounded out. Hearing them, Jade’s heart felt warm. She had indeed lived

well, having so many sisters who cared for her in her final moments.

The only regret she had was being unable to see that man again. Though she felt unworthy of his love, just being by his side for a time would have been enough. If only she hadn’t been so stubborn in the past.

“You have a lot of nerve, trying to lay your hands on my wife.”

The voice was too sudden. It had an air of indifference and conceit, as though the words had been spoken carelessly. Yet, they managed to drown out the roars of the void beasts with absolute ease.

A broad back appeared before Jade. She had no idea when it had gotten there or how it had gotten there. Yet, her eyes involuntarily watered when she saw it.

A young man with one hand clasped behind his back and his other palm facing forward seemed to be the only line between the rampaging void beasts and their deaths.

Those who didn’t immediately recognize him still felt endless despair. Yet, the next scene stunned them all.

The countless attacks, each as large as a moon, suddenly came to a grinding halt before they reached this young man’s palm.

In the next instant, they all burst into a rain of blood and flesh.