Magnus Redclaw, Grand Elder of a family that used to dominate wars across the realm and was feared by all, had fallen to ruin during a peaceful era. Without war, his family slowly faded into the background of the Blood Lotus Sect. As the decades passed, respect toward his family sharply declined, causing others to eye his family's lands. In the following internal conflicts, many of his Star Core Elders were slain, leaving his family weak like mangled dogs.
They had needed to seek a new path to revival, but looking back now, Magnus realized he had been far too stubborn and short-sighted. He had seen professions like alchemy or blacksmithing beneath his family and solely believed that his purpose in life was upholding his title as Magnus the Inferno Sovereign.
Magnus still vividly recalled the day Elder Margret groveled at his feet, sobbing and begging him to stop seeking war in a realm that was at peace. Finally coming to his senses after locking himself away in meditation for a decade, once he emerged, he discarded his old name, Magnus Redclaw, and beseeched everyone to refer to him simply as Grand Elder Redclaw. His sole purpose, moving forward, was to lead his family in this era of peace and rise once more from the ashes.
A decision that had led to this moment.
He stood on his sword of crimson flame with a stoic expression. His hands were clasped behind his back as his dark red robes and hair flapped in the cool nightly winds. His 7th stage Star Core hummed softly in his chest as he soared under the endless sea of stars alongside his Elders.
Standing with a similar stance on a sword to his right was Elder Margret, a person he deeply respected for her intellect and alchemy skills. She had never been one for war, but having recently ascended to the second stage of the Star Core Realm, she would be a valuable fighting force. Hanging from her robes was a sword imbued with the fighting spirit of Elder Mo, who was to his left.
The old man, who had been crippled by his heart demons due to the lack of war and purpose, had been cured due to the Immortal's kindness and had taken up blacksmithing after receiving an inheritance. It was almost poetic how all of his Elders had turned their backs to fighting and picked up the skills he had looked down his nose at in the past.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})But when war calls, I see hints of their past selves shine through.
Elder Mo looked enraged. His loyalty to Ashfallen was a step above the others, and he had almost jumped into the sky without a second thought after Stella informed them of the situation.
"Old friend, can you feel it?" The Grand Elder said with a hint of nostalgia as his voice was carried along the winds by his Qi. "The coming of a new age."
Elder Mo nodded thoughtfully. "As always, the cycle of war is inevitable. Peace breeds the opportunity for a new powerhouse to emerge that will challenge the old families' status quo. It just so happens that we are the aggressors this time."
The Grand Elder hummed in agreement as he looked to the distance. Dominating the night sky like a beacon of power was the Immortal of Ashfallen. His wrath bathed the heavens in a lilac hue, and the mountain trembled as its ruler went to war in a distant land. The endless forests that blanketed the land mirrored the great tree's rage as they also burned fiercely, causing streams of Qi to spiral and rise into the air.
Such a breathtaking display of power assured the Grand Elder once again that he had sworn loyalty to the right Patriarch.
If only all of us were here like the old times.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})Aside from those who had died over the years, Elder Brent remained behind in Ashfallen City as he wasn't at the Star Core Realm. However, a fourth person was with them, trailing a little behind and clearly a bundle of nerves.
"Amber, calm yourself." The Grand Elder said, "Remember, unwavering confidence is a cultivator's greatest strength. When you show a hint of weakness, the enemy will realize they are your superior and will go all out. Conceal your power, keep your cards close to your chest, and the enemy will remain cautious."
"Y-Yes, Grand Elder." Amber, their family's prodigy who had only recently reached the Star Core Realm, replied as respectfully as possible. Having grown up in peaceful times when their family was at its weakest, she clearly lacked the confidence that the war veteran Elders had. Something that would need to change fast, the coming of a new age of war was upon them, and it was time for the Redclaws to reclaim their former glory.
Soaring past the moving fortress below them that trudged forward, the Grand Elder led his Elders and Amber through the most enormous rift he had ever witnessed. It was so large it seemed to bend the world toward it and drew him in the closer he got. Passing through, he noticed the air grow colder as his ears popped. Strangely, the Immortal's presence was almost as strong here despite being so far from home.
Glancing down, he saw a Bastion. A spiritual ship created by the Immortal to exert his will on the world from afar. Atop it was a demonic tree ablaze with flames shrouded by a thick lilac shield that constantly rippled as it was pounded by the fist of a lunar titan pinned below.
"That must be the Lunarshade Grand Elder," he muttered to himself, "So that is what a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator is capable of. What a fearsome man."
Even from way up here, he felt a wave of pressure threaten to knock him from his sword every time the Lunarshade Grand Elder slammed his avatar's fist onto the Bastion's shield. He was also fighting off the Immortal's constant bombardment of spatial attacks, void tendrils, and the guardian beast.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})It was hard to tell who was winning as this was a battle between beings in a higher realm of power to him, but it seemed the Lunarshade Grand Elder was slowly losing. However, that would soon change. Above the fight, a dozen Star Core Elders from the Lunarshade family had arrived and were busy setting up a grand formation in the sky above their pinned Grand Elder.
Their bald heads and white robes gleamed in the moonlight overhead, and ethereal energy flowed between them as words of power flashed into existence and began rotating in rings between them and the moon. Six floated on swords in a circle, controlling the formation while the rest defended from external attacks.
Portals, likely from the Immortal, kept opening and closing all around them.
Black vines coated in thorns surged through the rifts alongside a swarm of swords, but they could not stop them. The Lunarshade Elders froze the vines with frost, effortlessly deflected the swords with their own in showers of sparks, and the portals were snuffed from existence by descending moonbeams that also struck the Bastion's shield.
The edges of Magnus Redclaw's lips curled up in a crooked smile as he took in the chaotic sight—the careless use of Qi and the clangs of swords over the shouts of the cultivators. This was the familiar sound of war, something he had missed dearly. His spatial ring flashed, and the cold metal of his sword that had slain thousands weighed in his hand. A wave of crimson flames left his soul core and danced along the length of the blade.
Breathing in a deep breath, the Grand Elder turned the tip of his sword toward the foes of Ashfallen. My sword may be wielded for a new Patriarch, but it burns all the same. Those that stand in my way shall taste hellfire.
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"Grand Elder Redclaw—" the Immortal's voice thundered in his mind.
"Immortal, please refer to me as Magnus Redclaw from now on," the Grand Elder said, smiling at his old friend's shocked reaction. Elder Mo and Elder Margret stared at him as if they saw someone rising from the dead.
"Very well," the Immortal said, honoring his request. "Magnus Redclaw, I need you and the others to deal with the incoming bounty hunters from the pavilion."
"Not the Lunarshade Elders?" Magnus asked, raising a brow. If the Lunarshade family managed to free their Grand Elder, the tide of the fight would turn against them.
"You are not strong enough to deal with this group, and any fire attacks risk damaging my shield or harming Larry. I have others coming to deal with them. Rather, I need you to work alongside Stella and Diana to slaughter the incoming bounty hunters."
Speaking of the devil, Stella, riding on a sword, flew through the portal alongside Diana, gliding at her side with her feathered raven wings that had an impressive wingspan.
Magnus wasn't sure who this other group of people that could take out a dozen Lunarshade Elders could possibly be, but he wasn't one to question the Immortal's will.
"As you command," Magnus nodded to the new arrivals and his family before facing the horizon. Dominating Nightshade City was the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion, and many people wearing jade masks and black cloaks soared toward them on swords. Soul flames of various affinities wreathed their forms, allowing Magnus to pick out a suitable opponent.
"As the strongest and most experienced one of us," Stella said as she floated her sword beside his, "Would you do the honors of leading the charge?"
"How could I say no to such a request from the Princess?" Magnus grinned as his stoic and calm facade crumbled to ash. He was a man of war—a slaughterer—and a bringer of destruction. I may have mellowed out and managed to suppress the raging desires of my flames due to the Immortal's truffles, but the embers remain. All it will take is a single spark, and the old Magnus will be back. I will be back.
He raised his sword and pointed to the sky. His 7th-stage Star Core, which had been quietly humming in his chest until now, understood his intent. It began to roar as the floodgates opened. Fire Qi rushed up his arms in a blazing inferno, igniting his sword as a beacon of power, much like Ashlock back home.
More, I need more. Magnus's eyes widened as more Qi than he had ever been capable of unleashing continued to gather and gush unrestrained through his clear spirit roots. Unable to contain it all on the sword alone, the fire rose up further and began condensing into a miniature crimson sun. More, more, more!
As the night turned to day by the blazing ball of fire Qi, Magnus slowly lowered the tip of his sword and pointed his creation toward the incoming swarm of cultivators.
"In an era of peace, my name faded from the tongues of those who once stood against me. But hear me now, enemies of Ashfallen, for you face the might of Magnus Redclaw, the Inferno Sovereign." Magnus's lip curled up into a sneer as words he had wished to say for decades left his tongue in a whisper. "Incinerate."
Heaven honored his word and carried out his will. The ball of flame he had put so much of himself into exploded toward the cultivators, setting the air aflame as a sea of fire blanketed across the sky.
Many weaker cultivators tried to retreat toward the heavily defended pavilion but found the flames catching up. Screams filled the air as many were incinerated against the pavilion's defensive formations. Others tried to escape the hellfire by flying to the sides, but nowhere was safe as the tide of fire spread in all directions before Magnus. It caught up to the fleeing rats, consuming them in crimson flames, and they dropped to the city below like dead flies.
Magnus watched the carnage of his hellfire from a respectful distance alongside the others from Ashfallen. The heat was so intense it felt like the very air was melting to the ground as it shuddered and distorted their pain-filled deaths.
Portals rippled into existence below the falling corpses, and black vines dragged the bodies through.
Magnus lowered his sword and relaxed. He didn't wish to show it on his face, but that had taken a lot out of him. Around two-thirds of his Qi had been given as tribute to the attack, but in his eyes, it had been worth it. Not only had he tested the limits of his newfound strength, but he had also wiped out the weaklings of the bounty hunters and created an area saturated in fire Qi for his fellow Elders and Amber to have an advantage.
Stella whistled at his side, clearly impressed.
"This brings back old memories," Elder Mo added with a grin matching Magnus's own. "You never were one to show restraint, always arriving on a battlefield and unleashing a single attack, leaving the rest to me as you were drained of Qi."
"Some things never change, old friend," Magnus chuckled as he sheathed his sword and clasped his hands behind his back. "I will handle things back here and watch your flanks. Those who remain in the hellfire will have spent a considerable amount of Qi or perhaps a defensive artifact to survive. With their numbers reduced, the risk of getting grouped on has lessened, so you should all be able to seek out opponents of comparable strength."
Elder Mo clicked his tongue, "Show off."
"How do you think I became known by a title across the land while you remained nameless," Magnus smirked, knowing this was a sore spot for his old friend.
"Bold words coming from a man who threw away his name in shame," Elder Mo scoffed, became wreathed with blue spirit flames, and flew into the fire. Elder Margret and Amber closely followed behind Elder Mo.
Magnus felt his eye twitch at his old friend's departing words, but to his own surprise, he could contain his usually short fuse. Fire cultivators weren't known for being the most cool-headed people, as the fire Qi corrupted them. Is this because of the truffles, or perhaps my decades away from war and focusing on controlling myself?
"We should go too," Stella said with her eyes closed. "I can sense a group that managed to avoid your attack heading straight for us." Her eyes slowly opened, "They are strong."
"Jade Sentinels," Diana clicked her tongue as her nails elongated into claws. "How many?"
"At least five, maybe more." Stella's expression turned serious. "All of them are near the peak of the Star Core Realm and have varying affinities, including a metal and fire cultivator."
"Metal?" Magnus stroked his chin, "There shouldn't be any metal affinity cultivators out here unless they are from the Silverspire family."
"I don't care who or what family they are from," Stella tilted her sword and flew off in a direction, "Everyone here is an enemy. I will need your help to fight them."
"As you wish, but are you sure the Immortal won't need help with the Lunarshades?" Magnus asked as he looked back at the chaos occurring below.
"Don't worry, he has it under control!" Stella shouted over her shoulder as she continued flying toward the north of the city along the edge of the still-burning sky. "Douglas and the cult of the All-Seeing Eye will decimate them."
"Douglas and a cult will?" Magnus wondered but then felt a rush of air followed by a pop as reality knit itself back together. The portal to Red Vine Peak had closed, meaning the giant tortoise that was a moving fortress had finished walking through the portal.
Geb turned its titanic head toward the Lunarshade Elders, and its maw slowly opened. A cannon of shining metal emerged from its throat as if sticking out its tongue, and earth Qi flowed through the colossal Ent toward the mouth cannon. An immense amount of power began to gather as the Ent's throat glowed silver due to the runic formations.
What in the nine realms? Since when did Ashfallen have such a weapon?
Squinting his eyes, Magnus saw Douglas standing near the window of a tower rising from the fortress city. One hand rested upon his walking stick, while the other was raised as if ready to point at something. Elaine stood at his side and was directing him.
"Douglas is controlling this massive thing?" Magnus was impressed. He had always found the man to be a hard worker and deserving of respect, but this was on another level. "Is he going to shoot the cannon?"
The Lunarshade Elders seemed to notice the sudden threat. To Magnus's surprise, they stopped focusing on the formation to free their Grand Elder and appeared to deem the Ent a more significant threat as they all flew toward it at immense speed while wreathed in lunar flames.
Douglas frantically lowered his arm, and the cannon fired at the incoming Elders. A metal rod shot out faster than Magnus could even track with his Qi-enhanced sight and took out two elders, impaling them. However, the weight of two fat bald cultivators and the impact threw off its trajectory, and the rod continued until it slammed into the Bastion on the ground, taking out its shield.
The other Lunarshade Elders made contact with Geb, and its shield barely resisted a single combined punch as it was thrown backward and almost toppled over.
"Well, that can't be good—" Magnus shut his mouth as he watched the now defenseless Bastion being thrown off as if a sleeping titan had found it a nuisance. Slowly turning his head with a terrible feeling, he saw the Lunarshade Grand Elder's avatar stand at its full height and turn to look directly at him.
