(Random Dark Sect Member POV)
It was pure madness.
The sealing orb that the Dark Cardinal of Deception possessed was supposed to be unbreakable. It was originally an artifact we managed to create after using a fallen god's essence as material for it.
It was designed to contain anything inside, even another fallen god who might have inexplicably regained their powers within it without much problems. It took us years to track down a fallen god, years to plan and take him down and decades to even know what to do with the divine essences he had left behind before we finally made the orb.
When the Cardinal had pulled Master Lin, who should have been nothing but a mere mortal Practitioner, into the orb, we thought that was it and we had won the day.
Sure, he was supposed to be the strongest Practitioner in this Plane but… If that thing could hold two cataclysmic class monsters without an issue, how did a single Practitioner make so much difference?
A cataclysmic class monster would usually spell doom for an entire country, no matter the size. If every single Major Sect of BeiYang continent came forward, they might be able to stop one such monster albeit with great casualties.
But two? That would require every single legend that has ever existed on BeiYang to band together alongside all the powerhouses before they can even start to dream of defeating them.
And now… That guy just did what two such monsters couldn't do all by himself.
Not only just punched a hole, but actually shattered the entire thing. Like what even.
I should also mention that he now has a whole army of monsters that are powerhouses in their own right standing right behind him.
And when his hand was raised and dropped, it didn't seem like an exaggeration to say that action was equivalent to the dropping of a guillotine on our necks.
The monsters all gave a warcry before charging together. You might think that a thousand of us should have been able to handle a mere group of three hundred or so, but no army would take on this group even if the fate of the land rested upon it.
Our front row stood no chance.
The Orcs and Kobolds were the first to reach them, batting aside their laughably small swords and knives with their much larger, crueler weapons of war that easily hacked and slashed apart their victims' limbs.
The Cardinal managed to fend off a few of the strikes with a ward and for a moment, it looked like he would be able to kill a few of them himself.
But Master Lin had moved at that exact moment, suddenly appearing beside him and grabbing him by the throat.
"So it's you again… Disturbing me once wasn't enough huh? Had to go after my disciples again huh? Very well then."
Master Lin easily lifted him off the ground with a single arm, causing the Cardinal to gasp audibly and clutched at the arm that was grabbing his throat.
From how the Cardinal was flailing about, I would guess that Master Lin was slowly increasing the pressure on his neck. But no matter how the Cardinal kicked or hammered away at him, Master Lin did not even budge a single inch.
Even when a spear of darkness stabbed at him from the back, the only thing the spear achieved was make a metallic ringing sound when it hit him before it bounced away from him to impale itself on an acolyte nearby.
Most likely understanding that Master Lin wanted to take care of the Cardinal himself, the other monsters began moving around him to get to the rest of us.
The first thing I thought of doing was to get out of here, consequences be damned. Even with our current numbers and members, there was absolutely no way we could take on this group and dream of succeeding.
But when I tried to create a shadow tunnel out, I realised I could not connect the exit point to anywhere outside this room. That was also the time I realised that there were groups of acolytes flailing against the other entrances to the hall, the doors not budging in the slightest under their thrashing.
"I placed a movement restriction inscription on this hall. No one gets out or in without my say so," Master Lin explained calmly, still slowly squeezing the life out of the Cardinal.
Even at this distance, I could see his fingers slowly piercing through his neck, his face revealing no emotions as he did so.
I looked around desperately for a way out, ignoring the group of Dark Sect members who were being petrified by the floating eyeball monster while a squid faced monster was ripping off heads telekinetically beside it.
Some Elder managed to rally a number of the acolytes, charging at the monster army and preparing to launch Dark Techniques against them.
Faster than they could react, the Behemoth had leapt from the back to land right on top of them, crushing half of them under its massive limbs. A swipe of its arm was enough to tear apart another half of the survivors before a slam of its fist absolutely pulverised the remaining few.
Another Elder rose up from behind the giant monster, spinning his hands in a circle in an attempt to conjure a Hellfire Technique.
Something had snaked up from below to bite at his leg before he could even materialise the Technique, pulling him away from the Behemoth.
That Elder looked back and screamed as he was met face to face with the many heads of the hydra, three of it immediately latching on to his other limbs before ripping him apart. His limbless body ended up getting swallowed whole by another head, snapping him up from midair before his scream could echo off the walls.
At this point, various beast type monsters had already made their way into our ranks. The wolves leaping and ripping away at throats while the bears easily broke limbs and snapped necks with their superior strength.
Leading the fray was a giant owlbear that dwarfed all the other beasts, barrelling through throngs of acolytes with a single charge and pecking away the eyes of those unfortunate enough to stand in front of it.
Even in death we were not allowed to rest. The lich that was slowly floating down the hall had no qualms in raising the dead bodies into its undead servants, turning our numbers against us. Any of us unfortunate enough to meet it alive had to endure the lich stripping away their skin and muscles while still alive to turn them into skeletal undead.
And at the very back were the two biggest monsters of the group, the red and white fox burning and freezing hundreds of us with a single swipe of their tails with impunity.
With all the chaos and panic, almost all of us were cut down instantly without having a chance to fight back.
I was part of the last group that was huddled at the back of the hall, all of us gathered in a semicircle with the wall behind us and the monster army in front of us, all of them snarling and growling.
The Cardinal gave a last gasp before finally going limp, Master Lin's fingers stuck deeply inside his throat. He placed his other hand on the Cardinal's shoulder and pulled, his hand ripping out a large chunk of his throat and letting the corpse drop to the floor.
He looked up at us, his eyes cold and unfeeling.
I recalled the threat he gave us when we still thought we had the upper hand. If I had known… I wouldn't have come here.
"Kill them," He ordered simply.
The monsters obeyed.
