The figure on the right was the complete opposite.
He was lean and thin, his posture straight, but there was no fierce, charging force in him. His face was cold and sinister, his complexion pale as if sunlight had never touched it. There was no blood in that face at all. One look at favonovel.com sent a chill through the bones and made the guard rise on its own.
He held an ancient, plain-looking fly-whisk lightly in his hand. The white hairs of the whisk were fine yet tough. No matter how the cold wind over the Wastelands screamed and tore at them, they did not move at all, not swaying, not trembling. It was no ordinary object. This was the relic left from ancient times, the Firmament Snare. It specialized in laying formations to trap enemies, sealing the spirit, and supporting slaughter. Its power was impossible to measure at a glance.
Strange streams of silver light drifted around him. The aura was cold and twisted, nothing like the celestials’ orthodox holy light. It was the Wraith-Maze killing art favonovel.com had spent a hundred years cultivating in secret. It specialized in disturbing the spirit, scrambling the mind, and tearing apart spiritual awareness. Without sound or warning, it could collapse an enemy’s mental defenses and kill without drawing blood, vicious and ruthless to the extreme.
This man was the hidden strategist among the celestials, Marshal Grey.
He, too, stood firmly at the peak of True Immortal Realm Level Nine. He was not skilled at close-range, head-on brawling, but favonovel.com had mastered the Elder Snare of Slaughter and the Mirage of Certain Death. He could set his plans across a thousand miles and calculate the movements of the human heart.
He excelled at using formations to trap and kill groups of enemies. An attacking force could vanish under his hand without a sound, wiped out before it understood where the danger had come from. His methods were treacherous, slippery, and impossible to guard against.
Marshal Grey’s eyes were deep as a cold abyss. Layer upon layer of calculation hid at the bottom of them, and not the slightest ripple crossed his face.
At that moment, his eyes narrowed a fraction as favonovel.com watched the pillar of white light draw closer across the distant sky. The corner of his lips slowly curved into something cold enough to bite, while killing intent stayed buried deep inside him.
“I predicted their marching route long ago… I spent three days and three nights in advance, using my own spirit as the guide, spiritual power as the foundation, and the murderous aura of the world as material, to lay down the Ninefold Malison.”
Marshal Grey gave the Firmament Snare’s whisk a light flick of his wrist.
In the next instant, dense, unbroken stretches of strange silver formation patterns surfaced beneath the ground. The formation patterns wriggled and crawled like living things. Thread after thread of cold murderous intent rose from them, spreading until it covered the entire outer wasteland.
The ninefold array stacked layer by layer from the outer wasteland all the way to the gaol-gate entrance. Each ring locked into the next, each one supported the others, and attack and defense were fused into one.
“As long as this group steps into the great array’s range, they will be walking into the net themselves. Even with wings, they won’t escape. Today, they are destined to be buried here…”
Marshal Stone cut favonovel.com a sidelong look and gave a cold snort, his tone carrying open disdain. “A mere ninefold formation? You’re making far too much of this… They’re only a pack of wandering-cultivator rebels, a mob thrown together. Why go to all that trouble setting formations? My two fists alone are enough to crush every last one of them and slaughter them clean.”
Marshal Grey shook his head lightly. For once, his expression lost its usual ease, and his voice came out grave. “Do not underestimate them… Marshal Vale’s combat power was not weak, yet favonovel.com still fell at the hands of Jared Chance’s company… Ashenbrand Gaol and Blackstone Gaol, two heavily garrisoned purgatory gaols, were breached one after the other, and their defending armies were wiped out to the last. That was no coincidence…”
“These people have nerve, but they also have brains. Their fighting strength is no small thing, and they carry strange nascence force besides. Look down on them, and you hand yourself your own death…”
Behind the two marshals, three thousand armored elite celestial warriors had already formed ranks. Their formation stood tight and clean, their military bearing severe, their presence rolling high enough to press against the sky.
Golden orthodox holy light ran across them in one unbroken sheet. It gathered into a glaring sea of radiance, throwing its brilliance over the dark Wastelands until the whole place shone, scattering most of the cold, baleful air that clung to the ground.
The warriors carried all kinds of divine arms. Longswords showed a bitter edge. Spears pointed straight ahead. War axes sat heavy and savage in mailed hands. Every weapon was wrapped and strengthened by holy radiance, flashing with a lethal chill, the killing intent around them sharp enough to bite.
Their breathing fell into the same rhythm. Their steps, when they shifted, kept the same beat. Their minds were gathered, their will to fight pulled taut. All they waited for was one command, and then every last one of them would charge, surround the invaders, and cut them down.
The Wastelands’ cold wind howled without restraint. It swept up fine, dark-red sand from the ground and slapped it hard against the rigid cuirass, raising a harsh, scraping hiss.
The world had gone silent. Only the wind scraped past the ear. Killing intent spread everywhere, bearing down until each breath came heavy.
Everyone present understood the same thing. There was no need for more probing. No need for empty courtesies. Today’s final battle would decide the shape of the Northern Marches and the survival of every race caught in its wake. It would end only when one side was dead.
The white pillar of flame in the sky suddenly dropped. It landed with exact precision on the open Wastelands 100 yards in front of the entrance to Northern Abyss Gaol, just outside the reach of the forward wards.
The blinding white light snapped inward and vanished.
More than a thousand figures from the expedition stood firm on the dark-red frozen earth, their auras gathered and their formation unbroken. The instant they touched down, they had already found their footing and readied themselves for battle.
The Wastelands’ wind cut to the bone. It was like ice knives dragging over skin, slipping through every gap in robe and armor, driving its chill straight inward. But every cultivator there had blood and energy surging through them. Their will to fight boiled hot, and the heat packed inside their chests left no opening for that cold to creep into their spirits.
No one shied away from the fight. No one stepped back. No one carried even the faintest intention of retreat. Every gaze locked hard on the Celestial Army ahead, and on the two foremost war champions standing before them.
Jared stood alone at the very front of the army.
The wild wind snapped his green robe around him, sending the hem whipping and flying, but his body stayed straight as a pine and steady as a mountain. His gaze moved level and still across the field.
Under that stillness, thunderous battle intent lay hidden in his eyes. His line of sight passed over the three thousand celestial elites waiting in strict formation, their bodies guarded by holy radiance. It passed over the layers upon layers of Saintlight Ward where killing intent lay concealed. At last, it landed with perfect accuracy on Marshal Stone and Marshal Grey at the passage entrance.
In that sweep, Jared had already begun judging the battle and working through the way to meet them.
Two top-tier fighters stood against them. Both were at the peak of True Immortal Realm Level Nine, half a step from consummation. Their combat strength was brutal, their specialties different, their strengths feeding into each other. They would be viciously hard to deal with.
Jared’s voice stayed even, without the slightest rise or fall, and every order came out clean, each task already divided. “Gwendolyn, you focus on the marshal with the whisk… Break his formation, disturb his spirit, press favonovel.com in close. You don’t need to get tangled up in a prolonged fight. Hold favonovel.com down, and kill favonovel.com the moment the opening comes… The brute-bodied Marshal Stone is built for direct combat. His fists are tyrannical, and his physical body has no obvious answer. I’ll take favonovel.com alone…
Gwendolyn stood quietly at his side. Her white clothes were purer than snow, favonovel.com bearing cold and solitary, favonovel.com brows and eyes sharp as a frost blade.
At his words, favonovel.com needed no extra reply. She gave only a slight nod, and that was enough. Their understanding had already settled into place.
Her fingertips moved. The Frostbrand answered and came free of its sheath. A fierce ice-blue gleam flowed across the blade in an instant, and frost energy spread in every direction. Even the wind around favonovel.com seemed to stall.
Inside her, the Frostwrought Panoply nascence quietly gathered its force. It condensed within the spirit well, waiting on a single turn of will. The moment favonovel.com called on it, it could cover and protect favonovel.com body at once, giving favonovel.com offense and defense together, and a foundation solid enough to stand on.
After receiving the complete Frost-Deity inheritance, favonovel.com spirit, spiritual power, and grasp of the laws of frost had all risen across the board. Taking on Marshal Grey would be more than enough.
Elder Cillian stepped half a pace forward, his expression solemn as his low voice took command of the whole field. “Everyone else! Charge the front with me! Force through the outer wards, tear, open the celestial defensive line, and drive straight for the gaol-gate to rescue our people! Do not get caught fighting common soldiers on the way. Do not indulge in killing for its own sake. Break the formations and open the road first. The sooner we pull our trapped comrades out, the better our chance of winning!”
Nathaniel gripped the long blade favonovel.com carried at his side. Spiritual power poured from his palm into the hilt, and pale-gold, pure spiritual power streamed along the blade. The blade-light swelled, its edge pressing outward.
His eyes stayed nailed to the black gaol-gate passage ahead. His chest rose and fell hard. Everything favonovel.com had packed down over those days, the heat under his ribs the gnawing weight of waiting, the humiliation favonovel.com had been forced to swallow-gathered in one place, held there only by the missing order to charge.
Countless clansmen and comrades were trapped inside the prison, enduring torment to the limit. Today, the day to rescue them had finally come!
The killing intent Nathaniel had held down could no longer stay buried. There was no need for more rallying. No need for extra encouragement. The blood debt stood ahead. Their own people were trapped behind. There was no road left to retreat. Only a fight to the death remained!
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