On her way out of the Sect with Rhydian, Mira passed by Celaine and Asami, who had stayed in the valley just in case Maria needed them.
The three of them made eye contact, and a shiver ran down their spine, seeing the lifeless, murderous glare in Mira's eyes. They didn't need to be geniuses to understand that Mira wasn't walking around for fun.
She was out for blood. Lots and lots of blood.
The battle dress she was wearing further proved this point.
'Fuck! She's pissed! And since the only one capable of holding her back is gone…!' Celaine's body went cold just thinking about it.
She hasn't been with Mira long, only a few years, but not once has she seen Mira's emotions fluctuate past more than mild annoyance or mild surprise.
It was as if she was an emotionless doll. She lived because she had to, cultivated because it was necessary, and killed because people got in her way. For the most part, Mira kept to herself and stayed at arms-length from anyone who tried to get close. She didn't like conflict and actively avoided it, but that didn't mean she was scared.
However, if Mira was able to kill scores of people without hesitation because they annoyed her a little bit, then that begs the question:
What is she capable of when her emotional threshold has reached its limit?
'Somebody has to die… No, lots of people have to die. She won't calm down otherwise.' Celaine thought as the hairs on her body stood on end.
On more than one occasion, Mira would go on killing sprees to calm down those instances of mild emotional fluctuations. It was as if she sought solace in the death of others. Fortunately, she usually only killed beasts, but she could tell that was no longer the case.
'Sigh… I pity the poor fools who made her angry. I just hope she doesn't cause more trouble than it's worth.' Celaine thought as she calmed down.
Mira walked by the two of them without saying a word, but her silence was worth more than a thousand words.
In the end, Celaine felt uncomfortable watching Mira's large, lonely back depart towards what she could only classify as war.
"Fight hard and don't die, Mira. If you need me to do anything, just ask. I wouldn't mind killing a few Unorthodox Faction bastards myself."
"..."
Mira didn't even flinch hearing her words and kept moving forward, but just as she and Rhydian were about to leave her sight, Celaine heard a whisper brush past her ear.
"...War is on the horizon, so be prepared."
Celaine stood there, rooted on the ground, as her mind blanked. For some reason, when Mira said that, she had a faint premonition.
A premonition that things weren't as simple as they seemed and that Mira wasn't just going to fish in muddy waters. No, she was going to be the one to make the waters muddy!
After almost a minute of not moving, Asami got bored and poked Celaine.
"Are you alright, Celaine?"
Her question snapped Celaine back to reality, and without thinking, she grabbed Asami's hand and ran off!
"Fuck!! We need to get stronger! NOW!"
Asami was flabbergasted by her remark, but she didn't have any objections as that was always her plan.
***
Mira left the Sect without coming across anyone else. She could feel a few people's eyes on her, but they didn't approach her, which she was thankful for.
"Head west, Rhydian. We'll start our hunt there."
*Woof!*
Rhydian spread her wings and took flight heading west. Her first target is a weak Crimson Slayer Branch Sect that should only have a single Elder in the Mortal Shedding Realm.
A few hours later, the fox and wolf duo descended at the gates of Mira's first target. There wasn't anything spectacular about the Sect. It was just a bunch of buildings with a bunch of people running around, similar to a small city.
Though, the only thing she'd say was weird was the human 'farms' they had. She didn't know what these 'farms' were for, but if she were to take a guess, it was similar to herding cattle. They would capture people and force them to breed, take the strongest of the children for themselves and kill the rest.
Their cultivation techniques were dependent on the blood of people, after all. The Unorthodox Faction Sects can't just send millions of blood-crazed maniacs into the world without facing some sort of backlash.
However, Mira didn't give a damn about this. While it was horrible and sucked for those involved, they were weak. If they want to control their fate, they need to become strong.
She hopped off of Rhydian and strode toward the entrance.
"Let's start things off with a bang, shall we?" Mira cracked her neck and said with a sadistic smile.
Rhydian's mouth also seemed to twist into a smile as she nodded along with Mira.
"Halt! State your name and purpose for visiting the Crimson Slayer Sect!!" One of the guards, someone at the Nascent Soul Realm, yelled out when he saw Mira approach.
Unknowingly, a blush spread across his face while looking at Mira. She didn't bother wearing a mask this time, as the whole point of this 'little trip' was to strike fear into her enemies' hearts.
Mira didn't bother to answer his question and just took out her scythe. Without missing a beat, she kept walking toward the entrance as if she was out for a stroll.
Seeing this, the guard sobered up quickly and pulled out a sword.
"Halt! Please put away your weapon and stop where you are, or don't blame me for being ruthless!!" His eyes flashed with killing intent, and although he thought it'd be a pity to kill such a beauty, he had a job to do.
*SHING!*
However, before he could react, his vision went black, and his head fell to the ground, with blood spurting out of his neck.
Everything happened so fast that he didn't even have time to realize he had died! The same went for the other guards as well!
*SHING!**SHING!**SHING!*
Before they knew it, their heads were also rolling on the ground. However, Mira didn't let them be, even in death. She released a thread of Qi out of each fingertip and connected them with the dead bodies. Then, her black runes sucked the life and Qi out of them, turning their corpses into nothing more than husks. However, she did leave one of the guards' heads intact.
Doing so, she felt her cultivation progress slightly, and her Blood Essence replenished a bit. It wasn't much, but the results caused her smile to widen.
"You can eat their bones, Rhydian. They should still be nutritious for you."
Rhydian looked at Mira aggrievedly, complaining with her eyes that Mira had already absorbed the best parts, but she didn't deny the snack and gulped down all the bones.
Mira grabbed the leftover head and mounted it on a pike. She had no intention of being lowkey or wasting words on canon fodder.
'This should make my stance clear.'
After cleaning up, they marched straight into the Sect without warning, and just like she wanted, she attracted a lot of attention.
"Huh?! Who are you?! How'd you get in?! What happened to the guards?! Wh-What's with that head?!"
"Fuck! Who's this crazy bitch, walking into the Sect with a head on a stick?!
"W-Wait! Isn't that Jeremy, one of the guards?!"
While everyone was clueless about what was going on, Mira took advantage of that and dashed to the nearest people, diagonally bisecting their bodies with her scythe. While she could very well use her ice to kill all these ants, she didn't want to do that.
She wanted to feel her scythe cutting through their bones and ripping their flesh apart! It was so much more satisfying that way! She wouldn't be fulfilled if she didn't watch the life from their eyes dissipate firsthand!
'These wretched vermin all deserve to die! How dare they scheme against me!!! I'll slaughter you all 11 generations of your fucking worthless bloodline! I'll drill the fear so deep into your bones that even your ancestors will roll over in their graves!!'
With that thought in mind, Mira tossed her scythe up in the air and controlled it with her Qi, then dashed to the nearest person and grabbed him by the throat.
"ACKK!! UGH!!"
The man grunted in pain as he felt death looming over him, but Mira didn't stop there! She lifted the guy above her head with both hands and-
*RIP!*
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
-She ripped him in half with her bare hands as a bloodcurdling scream left the guy's mouth, alerting the rest of the Sect!
A fountain of blood and guts spilled all over Mira, but instead of feeling bad, she smiled. Yes, she fucking smiled! To those watching, she no longer looked like the beautiful fox woman she once was and now seemed worse than the worst of demons.
Some of the onlookers pissed their pants in fear as the sight of Mira literally ripping someone in half and bathing in his blood was a bit too much for them. Others were able to maintain a firm grasp over their mind, but they were quivering in fear.
The aura Mira was releasing right now, combined with her killing intent, was just too scary, even for those who are part of a Sect that literally has 'Slayer' in the name.
"Hehe~ Well, don't just stand there! Come and fight me, or else you'll be the next person I rip apart! Hahaha~!"
Mira's manic laughter spread, but nobody had any thoughts of confronting her.
Instead, their instincts were screaming at them to do one thing and one thing only: Run!
