Nine Venoms Sect Founder

Chapter 115: Mythical Tyrant (2)

"Shit...shit...shiiiiiiit!" The Ninth Landgrave, leader of the Berserk Colossi, slammed his throne's arms as he cursed Harun's move. His older brothers were no better, and even the First Landgrave, who until then only focused on Jiyan and the Rust Storm Formation, now fixed a muddled stare on the burning Harun—no—the burning Evil Soul Tree. Harun as a complete, sentient entity had died the moment he shattered his soul into all those fragments. "Why? I don't understand? Everything was going so well? Why commit suicide?"

The Landgraves asked one another. From the start, they didn't plan to claim Harun's life. Between Weeping Soul and him, one was destined to become their mother's food, while the other would either suffer the same fate or receive her favor. Although they didn't know which one would get what yet...neither could die under their watch. If this mistake delayed their mother's recovery, even ten deaths wouldn't be enough to apologize. josei

"Oooh. Sucks, sucks, sucks. You blew the whole thing, elder bros. I guess that's it for you," the 20th Landgrave appeared to mock the Colossi. Eager for merit, he plucked and threw the Flame Spirit King's soul into the Abyssal River. Thrilled by the soul's potency, his mother gave him many praises and rewards, making him ooze complacence. At the peak of his glory, how could he not taunt those foolish, overgrown beans? Maybe a few wouldn't be able to resist, enabling him to beat them black and blue.

But as the 20th Landgrave experienced schadenfreude at its best, the nine Colossi's golden eyes lit up, forcing to shift his gaze back to the Harun's image. There, the burning Evil Soul Tree sank its branches into Harun's heart, and consumed his body! Yes, the branches became a conduit that—bits by bits—fed the entirety of Harun's body and essence to the Evil Soul Tree. The flames went from red to green, from green to lilac, and from lilac to white. 

From the First to the Ninth Landgrave, even the 20th whose might far surpassed the Colossi...was scared out of his wits. "He's turning himself into a circulatory process, slaying himself to return to life. Once his body becomes a furnace and his heart turns into an ever-burning flame, his body and soul can transcend all their limits and reach a terrifying level of potency. This...is Spiritual Alchemy. A human being can intuitively...call on and complete Spiritual Alchemy?" The 20th Landgrave blurted out. Even in the Lost Era, Spiritual Alchemy ranked among the worst of Forbidden Techniques. Too extreme and dangerous for both the caster and those that surrounded them, oftentimes it'd breed mad demons that went on catastrophic rampages to sate their endless hunger. 

Meanwhile, the Abyssal River bubbled in an unprecedented show of excitement. 

"I've never seen Mother this thrilled before. Sorry bros, I'm getting this one," the 20th Landgrave said, but even before the words left his lips, the First Landgrave had vanished and appeared before the Rust Storm Formation. "Hasty trash!" Eager to race and battle for the right to bring Harun to the Abyssal River, the nine others prepared their portals. But a step before they left, the Abyssal River sent the 20th Landgrave a mental message, making him stop abruptly. 

"Sweet mother, always knew you loved me best."

...

As Jiyan's sword danced against the armored giants' formation, a 12 meters tall battle-ax shot out of the swirling cloud of rust, barreling into her like a stampede of mad bulls. Too fast for her to dodge, the battle-ax bashed in the flat of Jiyan's sword. Gray chains and Withering Essence gushed out, wrapping around the colossal ax to deflect and erode its might. 

BANG!

Bouncing back from the impact, Jiyan landed on her feet and raised her eyes to face the new entrant. An armored giant high of 33 meters, appeared at the very center of the formation, adding his strength to the mix. With the Rust Storm Formation making all its giants' strength overlap, and his leading position in the setup, the First Landgrave's might rose exponentially—giving him the misconception that he could even overturn the Landgrave hierarchy. But eager to shatter those flimsy dreams, his younger brothers rushed out of invisible portals, dwarfing the formation with their presence alone. 

"Number one. How could you be so hasty? So greedy? Don't you know that brothers should share everything? And that the eldest must make way for and shelter the younger ones? I know you can't do much sheltering but...don't forget your place," the Ninth Landgrave jabbed. 

"This is my assignment! My Formation! Why...why must you always oppress me, rob my opportunities and drag me through the dirt?! We were born from the same source, yet each newborn receives more blessing than the previous one. I do not resent that, but instead of using your skills to make us all grow at a reasonable pace, the young suppress the old, maintaining this abject cycle where the oldest is scorned by all, and the youngest unanimously loathed by his elders! Damn it, what is wrong with you?!" The First Landgrave bawled at his younger brothers, but only managed to make them all burst into laughter.

"Oh, please don't cry. How unsightly. If the roles were reversed, wouldn't you do the same? There is just an irresistible appeal…" the Ninth Landgrave started, and at a speed that transcended all one could expect from such a beast, appeared above Jiyan with his right foot raised. "...in crushing your inferiors. Especially when they look so much like you."

CRACK!

The Ninth Landgrave stomped on Jiyan. Shaping her chains as a net, with her sword acting as the last defense and Harun's blessing fueling her, she resisted the monstrous foot. But her elbows snapped instantly. Without hesitation, Jiyan unleashed her Devil Essence. Dark-purple energies billowed from her form, healing the broken bones while massive feathered wings of that same hue sprouted her back. 

At first, the Colossus didn't recognize the Devil Essence and didn't think much of it. But seeing Jiyan steadily push him back, his eyes narrowed. Leaping into the air, the Chimeric Fiend spat foul miasma at the group. Golden light erupted from the Ninth Landgrave, dispelling the noxious substance.

"Poison? Please. Refiners don't fear such trifles." The Ninth Landgrave cast a disdainful gaze at the Chimeric Fiend. Three golden lightning bolt marks flashed on his chest, creating a forcefield that reduced the might of Jiyan's Devil Essence.

"I seem to remember Mother claiming that the Holy One created Refiners to help the weak to resist the influence of an ancient, malevolent force. Are you a member of that faction? If so...sucks to be you," the Eighth Landgrave chimed in, three golden lightning bolt marks also flashed on his chest, albeit with less intensity than the Ninth.

"You mean Devils? Mother rambles a lot. When have you ever seen Devils in the Heavenly Dream Land? Same thing goes for that Holy One. It's all myths." Another Landgrave retorted, and as eight of the Landgraves debated, each unleashed his bolt marks. The lower numbers only had one, while the highest had three. From those bolt marks, Jiyan could feel an energy akin to Heavenly Tribulation—as if each of those "refiners" fused the power of Tribulation Lightning in their armored flesh. 

Under the golden forcefields' pressure, the nefarious energies in Jiyan's Devil Essence became a crushing weight, and for the first time since she awoke it, that force became a liability—making Jiyan feel that she missed something crucial before unleashing its true potential. The Landgraves didn't plan to let her unlock it. 

Tower-sized battle-axes and war-hammers filled the Berserk Colossi's hands. Jokes and taunts made way for pure battlelust as the eight threw themselves into a macabre dance aimed at Jiyan's life!

Bang!

A war-hammer smashed into Jiyan's side. Her left devil wing moved on its own to resist the blow, but despite draining 90% of the impact, Jiyan still flew toward the adjacent cavern wall. Her bones shattered, blood dripped from her arm, but even before she crashed into that wall, a battle-ax cleft at her neck. 

Challenging the forcefields making her moves so sluggish, Jiyan avoided the blade by a hair's breadth and escaped into the air—where another colossus' foot shot out of a space portal and kicked her back toward the ground. Icy-blue waves of Elemental Yin clashed with the forcefields, but with the Rust Storm Formation to support them, the Landgraves easily shattered Jiyan's attempt. 

Not staying idle, the Chimeric Fiend rushed into the melee, spitting out silk threads to block and trap the Colossi—only to get demolished by a single hammer swing of the Ninth Landgrave. 

In pure strength, even the Ninth Landgrave was only at the Flame Spirit King's level. But due to the strange power of those golden lightning bolts, they could suppress all malevolent and toxic forces—putting plaguebringers and all manners of evil cultivators at a clear disadvantage. Jiyan didn't believe they could use such a skill as they pleased, and knowing she only had one opportunity to turn the table, she endured, but after exchanging dozens of moves with the Colossi, blood streamed down her face, arms, chest and legs. Thus, while her appearance returned to her original Empyrean features, all the blood made her entirely unrecognizable.

Her mind held on, but her knees gave out, forcing her to tumble down. 

"Valiant effort. Unfortunately, willpower alone cannot rewrite fate. For that, you need skill as well," the Ninth Landgrave seriously said and raised his hammer for the execution move. Knowing the battle was over, five of the top six Landgraves canceled their forcefields—letting the ninth finish Jiyan with assurance. Even he could only maintain it for nine minutes per day. The bottom ranked had lost the protection of the golden lightning already. 

As they still had to suppress Harun, they couldn't waste the four minutes they had left. But in that instant, the world became an achromatic zone where everything was ground to a still. An incomprehensible force that seemed to incarnate freedom itself erupted from Jiyan, blowing the Ninth Landgrave's pressure out of her way!

Reappearing at the immobile Colossus' back, Jiyan hacked at his neck, beheading him in a single move! 

At the peak of complacence, the ninth Colossus' head leaped off his neck, rolling several meters before tumbling down—lifeless. 

Not sparing a second, Jiyan rushed at the eighth, but by now they'd all snapped out of their trance. Their forcefields and the rust storm battered Jiyan's Free and Unfettered Inner Truth, broke her Forbidden Zone, yet failed to hold her down. But before her sword lodged in the eighth Colossus' forehead, the warrior traded an organ for his life, making Jiyan stab into his left eye instead. 

The Inner Truth stage of the Myriad Poisons Bridge didn't bring a high leap in cultivation base, but instead enabled the plaguebringer to find their Inner Truth and from it evolve a Dao Art. Jiyan's Dao Art enabled her to ignore most defenses and suppression for a short time. And knowing that the skill would only work once, she reserved it at risk of life.

Alas...that wasn't enough. Incandescent with rage, the Eighth Landgrave roared and smashed his battle-ax at Jiyan's tiny body. But instead of the expected tearing sound and gore, a metallic clang echoed. A tree branch wrapped around Jiyan's waist as another blocked the 12 meters tall ax. The Tree turned into Harun, whose golden double pupils looked over his beloved's shoulder—fixing the Eighth Landgrave with a spine-chilling rage. Rainbow-colored flames blazed in the Plague Overlord's eyes, speaking tales of his mood. 

BANG!

Before the Eighth could retreat, Harun's left punch blasted his head into metallic dust—killing him in one blow.