The Soul Transformation Realm disciples exchanged uneasy glances, the bloodbath before them shaking their confidence. They had severely underestimated Mira and her companions, and now they were faced with the decision of whether to fight or flee.
As the tension in the air grew thick, General Zhang, one of the Soul Transformation Realm cultivators, mustered the courage to step forward, a cold sneer on his face. "I admit that you're much stronger than we thought, but don't think you can defeat as easily as you did to those ants."
Although his pace was still pale, as he had truly underestimated the power of Mira and her companions, he exuded a confidence that a man under such conditions shouldn't have.
Mira, Nova, and the others all narrowed their eyes, thinking, 'What sort of trick do they have up their sleeves?'
As Mira's senses sharpened, she felt the ground beneath her rumble. Her instincts screamed at her that something was amiss, but she couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was. The sense of unease was subtle, like a whisper on the edge of her perception.
Unbeknownst to them, while Mira and her companions were fighting the Crimson Slayer Sect disciples, General Zhang had instructed several of his subordinates to set up numerous arrays on the battlefield. These arrays had been hidden beneath the blood-soaked earth, waiting to be activated.
As a man who had experienced all kinds of different fights and battlefields, he, more than most people, knew the importance of always planning for the worst.
General Zhang smirked, clapping his hands together, causing the ground beneath Mira to rumble, signaling the activation of the arrays.
Four arrays were activated. However, Mira and the others only directly felt two, the Energy-Draining Array and a Killing Array.
Mira and her friends could feel their Qi being slowly siphoned away by the Energy-Draining array, depleting their strength and making it harder for them to fight and use their Qi effectively.
The Killing Array launched hundreds of toxic blood spears at the group, their deadly projectiles aimed at vital points. As the spears hurtled towards them, Mira's eyes widened in alarm, but Seraphina stepped forward before she could make a move.
"I got this!"
With a shout, Seraphina executed a technique called [Aquasteel Barrier], using her Water and Metal affinities to create a fluid yet seemingly impenetrable barrier that enveloped all of them, including Rayna.
The toxic blood spears slammed into the barrier, shattering upon impact and failing to penetrate the protective shell.
Hundreds upon hundreds of spears crashed into the shield, showing no signs of stopping anytime soon.
Mira saw the poison on the tips of the blood spears mixing with the water in Seraphina's barrier and couldn't help but warn her, "Don't let that poison through. Who knows what kind of effects it has?"
Seraphina nodded and took her suggestion seriously. They all knew how serious and indifferent Mira usually was. If she said they should worry about something, they should listen.
Mira couldn't shake the feeling that something was still off. The fact that poison had made its way into the battle caused her unease to rise.
She tried to pinpoint the source of her discomfort, stretching out her Soul Sense as far as possible, searching for anything unusual.
Meanwhile, the Energy-Draining Array continued to weaken Mira and her companions, slowly siphoning away their strength. They tried fighting off the Array by creating a thin layer of Qi around their bodies, but that seemed to speed up the drain.
General Zhang smirked, watching their struggle with satisfaction, but this was just the beginning.
Turning to the other Soul Transformation Realm disciples who were technically under his command, her ordered, "Damian, Terk, Felix, and Kieran, go take care of that archer and wolf. You don't have to try and kill her, just keeping her distracted is more than enough. Though, if you can kill her, don't hesitate to do so."
"Yes, Sir!"
Damian, Terk, Felix, and Kieran gave General Zhang a firm nod and shot toward Rhydian and Eden in the distance.
"As for the rest of you, focus fire on those women below. Make sure they stay within the arrays for another 10 seconds or so. We wouldn't want them to miss our little surprise, now would we?" General Zhang ordered with a cold smile.
"Yes, Sir!"
The rest of the Soul Transformation Realm disciples revealed a similar smile, then focused their attention on Mira and the others.
Fueled by General Zhang's orders, they unleashed a cascade of attacks upon Mira and her companions. Their Qi surged as they executed some of their most powerful techniques, each tailored to their unique affinities and fighting styles.
A firestorm descended upon the group as a disciple with Fire affinity summoned a blazing inferno, the scorching heat threatening to incinerate everything in its path. Another disciple, with Earth affinity, manipulated the very ground beneath them, causing massive, jagged spikes to erupt from the soil with devastating force.
A barrage of razor-sharp wind blades, conjured by a disciple with Wind affinity, sliced through the air, leaving a trail of destruction as they sought their targets.
Simultaneously, a cascade of lightning bolts, called forth by a disciple wielding Lightning affinity, streaked across the sky, illuminating the battlefield with an eerie glow as they struck the ground with deafening cracks.
Mira and her companions found themselves in the center of a veritable storm of elemental fury. They had no choice but to fend off the relentless onslaught, but thankfully, Seraphina's [Aquasteel Barrier] blocked many of the attacks.
Still, Mira, Nova, and Everyly had to add defenses to support Seraphina so she didn't run out of Qi too quickly.
"Keep your senses sharp! I have a feeling they're about to do something that could put us all in danger!" Mira yelled. Her unease had escalated drastically in just a few seconds, and she couldn't help but feel that something bad was about to happen soon.
'Dammit! Why'd I have to get stuck in this Array with everyone else?' Mira cursed her bad luck. Part of the reason she wasn't fighting back was that doing so would disrupt Seraphina's shield.
However, that wasn't the only reason.
Those spears that were still attacking them were coated in poison. How deadly was that poison? Mira didn't know, but she also had no intention of finding out.
She knew she was partially immune to poison, thanks to the evolution she had during her Core Formation breakthrough, but that was only up to a certain level of strength.
If they had a poison that could affect and kill Soul Transformation Realm cultivators, she'd be in as much trouble as everyone else.
Thus, not wanting to put herself and those around her in danger, she could only stay within Seraphina's shield.
Though, that did put her in quite an annoying situation...
Mira's Soul Sense swept past the battlefield, examining every corpse, every blade of grass for an anomaly. It wasn't long before she saw hundreds of corpses suddenly rotting at the same time.
Her expression changed drastically as she realized the true nature of the hidden third and fourth arrays. One was a Corpse Manipulation Array designed to turn some of the fallen Crimson Slayer Sect disciples into undead puppets fueled by the toxic poison within their bodies.
However, the last array...
As toxic particles quickly formed in the air and on the ground, hastening the decaying of the corpses and enhancing the poison within their bodies, she understood that it was some sort of Poison Amplification Array!
Mira's heart raced as the implications of the situation became clear.
"Hey! We have a big problem! The last two arrays, they are the-!" She tried to warn her comrades, but unfortunately-
"It's too late." General Zhang's smile widened, and he clenched his fists, sending waves of Qi into the two arrays, taking control of the corpses.
With a wave of his hand, he sent hundreds of decayed corpses hurtling toward their position at supersonic speeds.
Nova, Seraphina, Everly, and even Rayna's expressions all changed as their instincts warned them that if they didn't move, they were as good as dead.
Channeling their Qi, they planned to use every defensive measure and technique they knew to protect themselves.
"Dammit!" Mira cursed as a deep frown formed on her face. Just by examining the poison in the corpses' bodies and watching their insides literally dissolve into a black paste, she knew that this was no ordinary poison.
No, it was meant for people with their level of strength!
Glancing at her companions, Mira felt her heart speed up a few beats, pounding hard in her chest. She imagined them lying on the ground, their intestines dissolving as they screamed out in pain and soon dying, with her standing to the side, unable to do anything because she didn't have the necessary resources to save them.
Admittedly, she didn't want to see that scene come to fruition.
While they might not have known each other long, they were her teammates, and she had fought with them on numerous occasions. If she had the capability to save them, she should, even if it would cause her a bit of pain.
'Not to mention, things might get annoying if they died here.' Mira thought as she pictured a scene of Aelina and the Elders just charging to the Crimson Slayer Sect's headquarters and destroying the place.
Channeling her Qi, Mira used her [Frozen Terrain Change] technique, scooped up Nova, Seraphina, Everly, and Rayna, and used her [100 Glacial Warriors] technique to replicate them.
"Mira!"
"Hey! What are you doing?!"
"Stop it, you crazy bitch! Put me down!"
"...What?"
They all yelled at her in surprise, but Mira didn't listen to them and threw them out of the arrays, far away from the attacks of the Soul Transformation Realm disciples and the Killing Array.
"Hahahahaha! See you in hell, little girls! Now die!!" Just as she did so, General Zhang chuckled darkly, used his Soul Sense to lock onto the presences in the array, and clenched his fist hard.
All the corpses that had shot toward Mira's position ballooned up, and within a split second, they exploded, releasing a dense, black, purple, and green fog. It covered the area, raining down toxic substances from the sky and quickly engulfing everything around it!
Even Nova and the others weren't exempt from this, as Mira wasn't able to throw them out of range of the blast completely in time--drops of toxic sludge burned through their skin, reaching their muscles and bones.
However, none of them were focused on that right now...
"Mira!!!"
