Chapter 133: Chapter 133: The Reapers’ Hunt
Northern Region
The northern road had ceased to resemble a road at all, buried beneath snow, shattered trees, and the bodies of countless corrupted creatures that had poured down from the mountains. Fang demons tore through the forest in packs, hulking brutes smashed aside anything standing in their path, and larger humanoid abominations followed behind them, their twisted bodies carrying enough corrupted power to overwhelm an ordinary battalion within minutes.
Nao stood alone in the middle of it.
The enormous coffin rested against his shoulder, its black surface completely unmarred despite the destruction surrounding him. He watched the approaching horde without the slightest change in expression, as though the countless creatures rushing toward him were nothing more than an inconvenience that had interrupted his sleep.
A brute reached him first.
Its enormous arm swept horizontally toward his head, carrying enough force to split a tree in half.
Nao lowered his body and stepped into the attack rather than away from it.
The claw passed above him.
His shoulder slipped beneath the creature’s arm, and in the same motion, Nao rotated his entire body and swung the coffin from behind his back.
DOOOOOOM!
The coffin struck the brute directly in the ribs.
The impact folded its body around the weapon before launching it sideways through the forest. Several trees snapped apart in succession, and the creature disappeared beneath the snow beyond them.
Nao had already turned.
Another beast came from his blind spot.
He did not even look.
The coffin suddenly reversed direction.
KRAAAASH!
The weapon caught the creature beneath the jaw and sent its entire body upward.
Nao stepped forward beneath it, planted his foot, and swung again.
The coffin smashed into the creature in midair and drove it into the ground with enough force to create a wide crater.
Snow erupted around him.
Three more creatures emerged from the cloud.
Nao finally lowered the coffin from his shoulder.
"All at once, then."
They rushed him.
The first attacked from the front while the other two moved around his sides.
Nao allowed the first claw to come within inches of his body before twisting sideways, catching the creature’s wrist with one hand while using his coffin to intercept the second attack.
CLANG!
The force of the collision shook the ground.
Nao used the impact.
He pulled the first creature forward while simultaneously pushing the coffin against the second.
Their bodies collided.
Before either could recover, Nao released the first one’s wrist and spun.
The coffin completed a full rotation around his body.
BOOOOOOM!
All three creatures were struck.
One flew into the forest.
Another crashed through the frozen ground.
The third remained standing.
Nao looked at it.
The creature roared and charged again.
Nao tightened his grip.
The next swing came with enough force to make the surrounding trees bend from the pressure alone.
DOOOOOOOOOOM!
The creature vanished beneath the snow.
Nao rested the coffin against his shoulder once more.
"...Weak."
The horde answered with a deafening roar as hundreds more surged toward him.
Nao’s expression remained unchanged.
"Fine."
He stepped forward.
The northern battlefield shook again.
---
Vanessa
Several kilometers away, another portion of the northern army had gathered around Vanessa.
She stood upon a broken ridge with her massive scythe resting in one hand, its enormous curved blade extending above her shoulder. Unlike Nao, there was no impatience in her expression, nor any desire to overwhelm the enemy through brute force.
She simply watched.
The creatures came.
The first one lunged.
Vanessa waited until the claws were almost upon her before turning her body sideways.
The attack missed by the smallest possible distance.
At the same moment, she rotated her wrist.
The scythe followed her movement.
SHRAAAK!
The blade carved through the creature’s side.
But Vanessa did not stop there.
She continued rotating, using the momentum of the first strike to bring the scythe around behind her.
Another creature had already reached her.
She ducked beneath its claws.
The scythe passed over her head.
Then she rose.
SHING!
The returning blade tore through the creature’s chest.
Vanessa released the shaft.
The scythe continued rotating through the air.
She stepped forward, placed one hand against the back of the weapon, and redirected its trajectory toward another creature before catching it again.
KRAK!
The impact shattered its defensive shell.
Vanessa smiled.
"Much better."
A larger corrupted creature descended from above.
Its four limbs struck the ground simultaneously.
BOOM!
The shockwave threw snow and broken branches into the air.
Vanessa jumped over it.
While airborne, she tucked her legs beneath her body and rotated.
The scythe followed her rotation.
She kicked the creature’s shoulder as she passed, using its body as a foothold before launching herself backward.
The scythe came down.
SHRAAAAAK!
The blade cut deeply into the creature’s back.
It screamed and swung blindly.
Vanessa landed on one foot.
The attack passed beside her.
She stepped forward, slipped beneath its arm, and hooked the scythe behind its neck.
Then she pulled.
The enormous creature was dragged off balance.
Vanessa planted her foot against its back.
"Down."
She yanked.
BOOOOOOM!
Its body slammed into the earth.
The impact shook the ridge.
But dozens of creatures were already surrounding her.
Vanessa slowly looked around.
Her smile widened.
"So many."
She raised the scythe.
"How considerate."
The creatures charged together.
Vanessa disappeared into them.
The enormous blade began drawing wide arcs through the battlefield, each rotation flowing naturally into the next. She would sweep low, leap over an incoming attack, rotate the shaft behind her back, catch it with her opposite hand, and immediately reverse the blade into another enemy.
Every movement created another opening.
Every opening became another kill.
And with every rotation of the scythe, the ground beneath the battlefield trembled.
---
Western Region
The western fortress had become the center of an enormous assault.
Corrupted creatures filled the surrounding hills so completely that the distant landscape appeared to be moving. Smaller creatures crawled across the ruins while larger ones smashed through the fortress walls, forcing chunks of stone to collapse into the streets below.
Neil stood upon the highest remaining section of the fortress wall.
His twin daggers were already manifested in his hands.
Several spherical bombardment devices hovered around him, suspended by his Eclipse energy.
Neil looked down at the horde.
"...That’s quite a lot."
A creature suddenly leapt toward him.
Neil stepped backward.
The creature landed where he had been standing.
He immediately stepped onto its back.
One dagger slid beneath its jaw.
SHK!
Neil pushed away before the body collapsed.
As he descended, he flicked one of the spherical devices downward.
"Catch."
The creature below looked upward.
BOOOOOOM!
The explosion swallowed several creatures at once.
Neil landed in the middle of the smoke.
A claw came through.
He leaned backward.
The claw passed over his face.
Neil twisted, caught the creature’s wrist, and used its momentum to pull himself around its body.
His dagger flashed.
SHRAK!
He released it and immediately manifested another bombardment sphere between his fingers.
He threw it directly into the center of the advancing horde.
"That should help."
The explosion tore open the formation.
Neil immediately moved into the opening.
His daggers flashed from different angles, sometimes striking directly and sometimes merely forcing the creatures to move where he wanted them.
Then he snapped his fingers.
The spherical devices scattered around the battlefield ignited simultaneously.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
The fortress shook.
Neil stood in the middle of the smoke, his coat fluttering from the pressure.
"...Maybe that’s a little too much."
---
Vorlan’s battlefield was far less subtle.
The enormous morning star appeared in his hand as a massive corrupted beast charged directly toward him.
Vorlan did not move.
The creature swung.
He raised the weapon.
CLANG!
The collision produced a shockwave that blasted loose stones from the fortress walls.
Vorlan’s feet dug into the ground.
Then he smiled.
"That’s better."
He twisted his waist.
The morning star came around.
DOOOOOOM!
The spiked weapon smashed into the creature’s ribs.
The beast was launched sideways.
Vorlan pursued it.
He swung again before it could recover.
The creature raised both arms.
BOOM!
The morning star crushed through its defense.
Vorlan stepped inside its guard.
Rather than swinging again, he drove his knee into its abdomen, grabbed its shoulder, and used his entire body to throw it over his hip.
The creature hit the ground.
Vorlan raised the morning star above his head.
"Stay down."
KRAAAAAASH!
The weapon struck.
The earth beneath the creature collapsed.
A crater spread several meters outward.
Vorlan lifted his head.
More creatures were approaching.
He rolled his shoulders.
"Good."
He tightened his grip.
"Come closer."
---
Ken was surrounded.
The double-headed war axe rested in both hands, its enormous blades reflecting the flashes of destruction around the fortress.
A massive corrupted beast attacked from his left.
Ken turned into it.
The axe intercepted the claw.
CLANG!
Instead of pushing against the creature’s strength, Ken rotated his wrists and redirected the claw downward.
The creature’s arm was forced toward the ground.
Ken stepped inside.
One axe blade rose.
SHRAK!
The second blade immediately followed from the opposite direction.
SHRAK!
The creature staggered.
Ken kicked its knee.
The beast dropped.
He grabbed the handle with both hands and spun.
The double-headed axe became a circle of destruction.
KRAAAASH!
Three creatures surrounding him were struck almost simultaneously.
Ken continued rotating.
The axe came around again.
And again.
Every rotation became faster.
The surrounding creatures attempted to retreat.
Ken suddenly stopped.
The silence lasted less than a heartbeat.
Then he lunged.
The axe came down.
BOOOOOOM!
The fortress courtyard split beneath the impact.
Ken pulled the weapon free and looked around at the remaining creatures.
"Why are you backing away now?"
His grin widened.
"You were the ones who came looking for me."
---
Eastern Region
The eastern forest had become almost unrecognizable.
Trees had been uprooted, enormous trenches crossed the earth, and the corrupted creatures had torn through entire sections of woodland in their attempt to surround the three members of the Eclipse Order.
Shiyen stood silently among the trees.
Her long katana rested in one hand.
A massive creature charged.
Shiyen waited.
At the final moment, she shifted her foot.
The claw passed beside her.
Her body rotated.
The katana flashed.
SHING!
The creature continued forward.
Then blood spilled from its side.
Shiyen had already passed behind it.
Another creature attacked from above.
She looked upward.
The beast descended.
Shiyen stepped onto the trunk of a nearby tree and ran vertically along it for several steps before pushing herself away.
Her body rotated through the air.
The katana came free.
SHRAK!
She landed.
The creature fell behind her.
Then the forest shook.
A much larger abomination emerged between the trees.
Its body was covered in hardened layers of corrupted flesh, and four enormous arms dragged across the ground as it advanced.
Shiyen lowered her stance.
The creature roared.
She drew her katana completely.
"...At last."
The beast attacked with all four arms.
Shiyen moved.
The first passed over her head.
The second struck the ground.
She stepped onto it.
The third came from her side.
She ducked.
The fourth descended.
She jumped.
In the same motion, she used the creature’s arm as a foothold, pushed herself upward, and twisted around its shoulder.
The katana flashed repeatedly.
SHING! SHING! SHING!
Three cuts appeared.
Shiyen landed.
The creature turned.
She was already gone.
A moment later, a deep line appeared across its back.
The beast roared and slammed all four arms into the ground.
BOOOOOOM!
The forest shook.
Trees collapsed.
Shiyen was thrown backward.
She landed against a tree, pushed off immediately, and rushed back into the fight.
---
Saora’s battlefield was completely different.
She stood in an open clearing with an umbrella resting casually against her shoulder.
The corrupted creatures surrounding her stared for several moments, seemingly unable to understand why she had brought such an ordinary-looking object into the middle of a battlefield.
Saora opened the umbrella.
CLICK.
"Come."
A creature charged.
Saora tilted the umbrella.
The creature swung.
The umbrella caught the attack.
CLANG!
The impact should have crushed her.
Instead, the force disappeared into the umbrella.
Saora rotated the handle.
The stored energy reversed.
BOOOOOOM!
The creature was launched backward as though struck by an invisible hammer.
Saora walked forward.
Another creature attacked from her blind side.
She turned the umbrella without even looking.
A blade of compressed Eclipse energy erupted from its edge.
SHRAAAK!
The creature was cut apart.
Saora continued walking.
Several more creatures rushed her simultaneously.
She stopped.
The umbrella rotated once.
A circular wave of destructive energy expanded from her position.
WHOOOOOOM!
The creatures were thrown outward.
Some crashed into trees.
Others were driven into the ground.
Saora closed the umbrella.
"That was only the first layer."
She opened it again.
This time, the sky above the battlefield darkened.
Countless thin lines of destructive energy appeared around the umbrella’s canopy.
The creatures looked upward.
Saora smiled.
"Now."
The lines descended.
SHRAK! SHRAK! SHRAK!
The entire clearing erupted with controlled destruction.
Trees remained standing.
The ground remained intact.
Only the corrupted creatures were being torn apart.
Saora watched the storm of destructive energy with a calm expression.
"...Perfect"
---
Eclyra stood farther inside the forest, chains extending from her hands.
At the end of each chain hung a massive metal sphere covered in spikes.
A group of corrupted creatures charged.
Eclyra smiled.
"Finally."
She swung one chain.
The enormous spiked ball tore through the air.
WHOOOOOSH!
It struck the first creature.
DOOOOOOM!
The impact sent the creature through the trees.
Eclyra immediately pulled the chain back.
The ball returned.
She caught it with one hand and redirected it toward another creature.
The second sphere swung in from the opposite side.
The two weapons crossed.
KRAAAASH!
Several creatures were crushed between them.
Eclyra laughed.
"You’ll have to do better than that."
The horde charged together.
Eclyra spread her arms.
The chains shot outward.
They wrapped around multiple creatures simultaneously.
She pulled.
The creatures were dragged toward the center.
Then Eclyra spun.
The chains followed her rotation.
The enormous spiked balls became two circles of destruction.
BOOOOOOM!
The battlefield shook.
When Eclyra finally stopped, dozens of corrupted creatures were lying motionless around her.
She looked at the remaining ones.
"...Now then, who’s next?"
---
The eastern battlefield continued to roar with destruction.
Shiyen cut through the largest creatures that attempted to break through the forest.
Saora erased entire groups with controlled bursts of destructive power.
Eclyra swung her chained weapons through the horde with overwhelming force.
And none of them were fighting at the limit of what they had gained.
They had already surpassed the strength they once possessed as members of the Seven Crowns.
The corrupted creatures simply had not realized what kind of monsters they had encountered.
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