Steampunk Apocalypse! - 178 Casualties

Bu-bump. Bu-bump. Bu-bump. The sea of blood seemed to ebb and flow with the beat of Ed’s own heart. He felt an innate connection with the blood, feeling it to mostly be connected to water and light. The blood near the surface of the sea occasionally formed the shapes of various animals and monsters. The creatures lived their entire lives in just a few seconds, growing and aging before collapsing back into the sea.

Instinctively, Ed reached his hand towards the sea. The bloody sea moved towards him, swirling like a tremendous whirlpool. Little by little, the sea was being absorbed by him, and with it came knowledge of how to use it. However, there were bits and pieces that seemed to be incomplete or missing entirely. Perhaps Bai had not fully mastered the law, or maybe the transfer process caused parts to be lost. He would need to work to fill in these areas himself in the future.

Soon, the sea of blood was gone, and Ed woke up from his slumber. Upon awakening, he attempted to close his hand while standing up. He sighed in relief as he felt it was there. He didn’t know how long he fell unconscious for, but it appeared that all of his limbs had already healed. Glancing to his left, he saw Bai’s dead body right where he had left it. ‘Camazotz’s tail really saved me this time.’ He thought just as he felt a few more tiny flakes of his mana-core float away. His face immediately darkened. ‘First, I shattered my soul, and now I’ve fucked up my mana-core.’ He sighed while shaking his head. It seemed he was far too prone to causing devastating damage to himself. There was a time where the only thing he ever damaged were his own limbs. Oh, how he longed for those much simpler injuries.

Curious about his new powers, he tried activating the blood law he had stolen. He knew how to use it instinctively, as if it was his own arm or leg. However, he failed when attempting to use it. This made sense when considering that he was still limited to only a single path at the moment. He would likely need to heal his soul before the blood law became available to him, just like with his original powers.

With nothing else to gain, he opted to leave the Purple Origin Sect Castle. Bai was dead, and he felt great satisfaction over it. Of course, the price was heavy, but he still would choose to do it again if given the option. By killing Bai, he had regained control over his own environment. In the future, he would continue to eliminate other undesirables that did not fit into his world view. Especially Nexus, whom he was very eager to destroy once and for all, though he would need to find Feather first in order to realize his goals.

Exiting the castle, the battlefield was revealed. The elemental giants were all gone, as the Purple Origin Barrier had stopped functioning with Bai’s death. However, the damage was already done. The Mongol Army had torn the cultivator armies to shreds. There were countless dead bodies flowing in rivers of blood, and almost all of them seemed to be from the cultivator armies. Cracks and crevices also covered the battlefield, and the blood rivers flowed into many of them. Ed didn’t see a single cultivator remaining, and as far as he could tell, the battlefield was entirely deserted of living beings.

‘Where did everyone go?’ Ed frowned as he looked around. Even if the Mongol Army had won, the sect leaders should have at least survived. Even if they hadn’t, the Mongol Army itself should still be nearby.

Without his mana-batteries, Ed was incapable of his usual method of flight. He activated Camazotz’s wings and flapped them as best as he could. He awkwardly flew in the sky, and he felt extremely uncomfortable with the foreign flying method. On the bright side, it wasn’t too hard to do, likely because of the strong power of the wings.

Flying higher and higher, he scanned the mountain and battlefield for any signs of life. Soon, he spotted a single silhouette near a tall tree. He immediately flew over and landed in front of the tree. “Haru?” He said in surprise.

Haru struggled to lift his head, a dark look in his eyes. He was nailed to the tree by manullium stakes, making it so that he was unable to heal or escape. He remained silent as he stared into Ed’s eyes.

Ed reached for the manullium stakes near Haru’s shoulders, arms, and legs, pulling them out one at a time. Once the stakes were removed, Haru’s wounds began to heal rapidly. He slumped to the ground while looking down at it. It was as if he had no motivation or hope for the world anymore.

A red flash appeared in Ed’s eyes as he grew impatient with the boy. He wanted to use his red shadow to force out an answer. However, he chose to wait patiently instead. Forcing things often led to the least desired outcome, and he needed to know what had happened with the war.

After several minutes, Haru finally seemed to recover a bit. “They killed everyone.” He muttered under his breath. “The cultivators never stood a chance…”

“What about the sect leaders?” Ed asked. “They should’ve escaped, right?”

Haru hesitated a moment before shaking his head. “Only Sect Master Long escaped. Everyone else died.”

“Even Sect Leader Fang?!” Ed questioned in shock. Even if the Mongol Army was stronger than expected, and the sect leaders were tired from their previous battles, they couldn’t have just killed the strongest cultivator in China so easily, could they?

Haru let out a long sigh. “It’s all because of the Earth Dust Sect!” His eyes turned red from rage. “They killed Scrub and took Hina too! I won’t rest until every one of their God damn heads is on a fucking stake!” He shouted as he forced himself to stand up. Doing so made him dizzy, causing him to lean against the tree for support while gasping heavily for air.

“Calm down and tell me what happened.” Ed requested while forcing Haru to sit back down.

Haru’s face looked miserable as he nodded and began recanting the tale…

…

Hours earlier, when Ed had just entered the Purple Origin Sect’s castle.

Haru swung his sword towards an ice elemental, slicing it into pieces. Purple Origin Sect cultivators, Water Snake Sect cultivators, and others surrounded him. However, they too were fighting off the elemental giant hordes. It didn’t matter who was enemy or foe previously, as now it was everyone versus the Mongol Army and elemental giants.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The ground repeatedly trembled as the Mongol Army shot off one volley of mana ammunition after another. With each wave of fire, at least a hundred cultivators would die.

“I can’t take it anymore! I surrender!” A cowardly Lightning Eel Sect member begged in front of the Mongols.

The Great Khan lead the front line. He snorted in disdain as he aimed his steam rifle at the surrendering enemy. His army copied his movements exactly as they simultaneously squeezed their triggers. BOOM! Another huge elemental explosion engulfed the man and the other nearby cultivators.

Other cultivators also tried to escape, but they were quickly shot down from the sky. Casualties were skyrocketing at an unprecedented rate. Fortunately, the sect leaders had finally made their way over, and hopefully, they would be able to turn the tide of the war.

“ENOUGH!” Sect Leader Fang angrily shouted as over a dozen elemental clones left his body and rapidly flew forward. At the same time, Sect Leader Li and Sect Master Long rushed forward to enter close combat with the Mongol Army.

Just at that moment, all of the elemental giants disappeared, and the barrier covering the Purple Origin Sect vanished. Cheers erupted amongst the cultivators as they finally felt they were saved. With no elemental giants to hold them back, they could finally rush the enemy in conjunction with the sect leaders’ attacks. However, their hope had come too early, and it fell just as quickly as it arrived. As soon as the elemental giants had disappeared, the ground started to shake far more heavily than any of the previous explosions and battles had caused.

“Earthquake!” Someone screamed in panic. How unbelievable was their luck for an earthquake to strike now of all times? Of course, luck had nothing to do with it.

Underneath the grounds of the battlefield, the Earth Dust Sect had arrived. Working together, over a thousand cultivators were creating an earthquake of extreme magnitude. The ground cracked apart as huge faults appeared. Some of the slower cultivators fell in, and though the fall was unlikely to kill them, the Earth Dust Sect members at the bottom would gladly finish the job.

While the earthquake had thrown the cultivators off balance, the Mongol Army seemed to have expected it. Their horse-like mutant beasts easily maintained their balance atop the trembling earth as if it was only natural. The Mongols’ aim wasn’t impeded in the slightest as they continued firing volleys at both the sect leaders and the struggling cultivator army. The slaughter was a bloodbath, and the Mongols hadn’t lost so much as a single man yet.

Suddenly, three men and a woman flew out from beneath the earth. One was recognizable, being Sect Leader Di of the traitorous Earth Dust Sect. The other three were unknown cultivators, however, their aura gave off the same vibe as Sect Leader Di. It was likely that all of them were comparable in power to the various sect leaders.

“Not good.” Sect Master Long’s face darkened as he hurriedly retreated from the front-line back towards Chonglin. Sect Leader Li hurriedly followed behind him.

Chonglin’s face grew grim as he stared at the enemy. “To what do I owe the pleasure for the Leaders of Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam to visit me?” He loudly asked.

Sect Leader Di glanced at the only woman amongst their group. “Chua Nhan?” He said, gesturing for her to take the lead.

The woman had long black straight hair that was silky smooth. She was thin and tall, making her appear like a model. She moved forward while smiling. “Our forces are already invading the south.” She explained. “But there isn’t a real need for us to lead them in such pathetic battles, so we thought we’d rush here instead to help out our old friend Di.”

Chonglin’s face grew even uglier upon hearing the news. He glanced at Di. “Is this really what you want? You want China fractured and split up to these foreign countries?”

A broad smile appeared on Di’s face. “I have long wanted for Tibet’s independence. The opportunity finally presented itself, so it was only natural I take it.” He rubbed his chin. “I think I’ll make myself a religious leader, kind of like the head of the Buddhists or the Catholic pope. Pretty good idea, right?”

Chonglin eyed the five enemies warily and whispered to the two other sect leaders. “We can’t win.” He knew that he was far too exhausted from the earlier battles, as were the other two. Additionally, it would be a four vs three battle, and that was before factoring in the Great Khan and his Mongol Army. Chonglin glanced down at the battlefield. “Everything here is lost. Escape while I buy time and evacuate the remaining members of the sects. We have allies on the outside.” He closed his eyes and sighed. “It’s our only hope for rising again someday.”

Huo’s face was dark as he nodded. Today, he had lost his son and many friends. Now, he was about to lose his best lifelong friend, as he knew Chonglin wouldn’t be able to survive alone. But Huo knew he had no choice but to return to the Fire Dragon Sect and evacuate whoever he could. The members remaining at the sect were the weakest ones, as otherwise, they would have participated in the war. Perhaps the only silver lining was that he’d be able to save Tai’s girlfriend, Rubi, and her little sister, Azure. Huo reached forward and patted Chonglin on the shoulder before turning around to flee. The two needed no words between them to understand one another’s feelings.

Chonglin looked at Sect Leader Li. “Go.” He ordered.

She shook her head in defiance. “I’ll fight too. I brought my entire sect today. There’s nothing waiting for me if I leave.”

“Then save those from the other sects.” Chonglin replied.

“Do you really think I’d make it in time?” She sarcastically smiled. “With the war going on, would they even trust me if I tried to lure them out? I’d have to get past any sect defenses first, which will be too time consuming. Besides, most of the remaining sects are in the south and west. They’ll be destroyed by the invading armies before I ever get the chance to save them.” She sighed while shaking her head. “Huo is lucky that the Fire Dragon Sect is in the northeast. It’s at least given his sect a chance to survive.”

“Fine then.” Chonglin sighed as he readied himself to fight. “We’ll see each other again in the afterlife.” A golden glow far brighter than ever before covered his body as he rushed forward.

“Mm.” Li smiled while a similar glow covered her own body.

The two golden cultivators appeared like golden meteors as they flew over. Unfortunately, their opponents could not be underestimated. They released their own golden glows to match the power of their enemies, and then, they attacked with various laws.

Sect Leader Di’s body became covered in rock as he grew increasingly larger, soon reaching 100 meters in height. The golden golem-like man easily smashed Li down towards the ground like a rocket.

Chua Nhan had her own bones grow out from her body and cover her like a suit of armor. The golden bones made her look like a skeleton warrior, and it was a terrifying sight to those unprepared for it. Fire covered her body as she directly entered combat with Chonglin and his clones. Her armor withstood his attacks surprisingly well, and she proved that she could not be underestimated.

The other two men provided support to their two front-line combatants. They constantly threw Li and Chonglin off balance with surprise attacks, slowly gearing the battle towards their own side’s favor.

Haru watched the battle from the ground. It was hard to make out the finer details of the sect leaders’ fight, as space seemed to distort and twist around them. Suddenly, another explosion rang out nearby. He hurriedly moved backwards as he felt the violent elemental energies singe his skin. Most of those around him had already died, and he himself had taken heavy wounds. However, he automatically healed whenever hurt, making him one of the last survivors on the battlefield. The waves of mana-ammunition from the Mongol Army kept coming, and he was forced to retreat further and further away.

Soon, the Mongol Army had slaughtered everyone on the battlefield. Only Haru remained amongst the piles of dead bodies and rivers of blood. His entire body was badly burnt, and he leaned on his sword to maintain his balance. He kept moving away from the battlefield by foot, hoping to escape.

The thuds of horse hooves soon greeted Haru’s ears. Turning around, he spotted the Great Khan and the army behind him. Even now, they had only lost a few men at most. Such was the terrifying results of perfect organization. At the same time, Haru saw Sect Leaders Fang and Li falling down from the distant skies, seemingly defeated by their enemies.

The Great Khan eyed Haru curiously. It seemed that he had been paying attention to the strange boy that kept healing throughout the war. A broad grin appeared on his face as he pointed at Haru.