Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

Standing tall in the North Fort was Du Xiu, closely watching the mountains that the Yao Clan once lived in. Now it was controlled by the Mu, defended through various illusions and traps. Beside him was Ling Xue as well as the various captains and elders from the Yao Clan and the other armies. There were over a hundred thousand troops. Everyone was dressed in armor with their weapons sheathed, waiting for his orders. 

After looking some more, he turned to the others, shouting at them in a calm manner. 

"The scouts say that the Mu Clan has taken complete control of the mountains! At the same time, they are being aided by Kong Zhi's men! Although he has not made his appearance in the past few months, he will most likely finish what the Idol of Chaos has started!"

Everyone stood and listened to him closely, their hand resting on their weapons. 

"The Yao Clan are our allies! And they have been cast out of their home! How should we respond?!" he called out. 

"Fight back! Drive them off!"

Every soldier screamed out together, their hands tightened in their weapons. Du Xiu nodded as he raised his weapon up high. 

"We have been called to fight! And so, it shall begin!" 

As he spoke these final words, something fell from the skies, thrown down from the mountains. In a thundering bang, it landed in the middle of an open field, on that stood between the mountains and the North Fort. The skies churned as a figure landed next to it, the silhouette of three arms could be seen reaching out the warhammer that landed by him. When the dust settled, who would be standing there but Kong Zhi, staring at Du Xiu. 

"Commander Du Xiu! I am back and I am here for your head!"

The demon pointed his weapon at him with an arrogant smile before slamming his warhammer down to the ground, causing it to tremble and shatter.

"I promise you it will not be a repeat of our last battle!" he shouted. 

Du Xiu looked at him, his eyes narrowed as he studies the Vajra Demon. 

"What did he do?" he wondered. 

But there was not enough time for him to think of it now. 

Following Kong Zhi was his army, in fact, it was his entire army. Standing behind him was Shi Hou, the Roaring King. Accompanying the Roaring King were several others, the replacements of his "kings", a total of three men and two women. All of them were dressed in wildly different uniforms, from thick armor to thin cloth, a shining black to a mash of colors. 

And behind each of them were their own regiments, thousands upon thousands of demons. Just like their leaders, some were dressed in full armor while others were practically naked. But they all had their weapons out, gripped tightly within their hands.

With them was what remained of the monsters they captured from the forest. There were only a few, chained and muzzled, scarred in countless places. As they all made their appearance, Du Xiu called for a messenger, who ran up to him. 

"Send a message to the others, get the defenses ready and have the gates closed shut", he muttered quietly. 

The messenger nodded and quickly left. 

Kong Zhi saw them leave and grinned at Du Xiu. 

"Are you afraid?", he taunted, "Calling for reinforcements, commander?"

His bloodline had long since been activated as his six arms glowed white as red symbols emerged from his body. 

"You let me escape last time and you shall regret not killing me then! CHAARRGGEEE!"

He raised his war hammer up high, signaling to his entire army. In a momentous roar, they all ran forward, passing their leader with their weapons in the air. 

Du Xiu watched them while taking off his halberd axe. Pointing it at the ground, his grip loosened, letting the tip strike the stone floor.

"Prepare yourselves."

He muttered quietly to those beside him, all of them unsheathed their weapons, returning a powerful stare at the incoming demons. The North Fort creaked and cranked as ballista, cannons, and other machines revealed themselves, emerging from the walls and the floors. Inside the fort, every archer stood together, drawing their bows and aiming over the gate walls. 

With his other hand, he raised it up high for them to see. And the commander waited for Kong Zhi's army to come closer. Du Xiu's eyes continued to follow the oncoming wave before suddenly locking eyes with Kong Zhi, himself. 

"Fire!"

His hand was brought down and a thick cloud of arrows flew over the fort walls, blotting out the gray skies. Cannon shots and the bolts of the ballista crashed into the ground with an explosive burst, shattering the ground, thus beginning a defense against invasion. 

The south was the same except, the unfinished fortress was not defending against an army but a singular being, perhaps, one closest to the Heavens. 

As the clouds moved in that familiar churn, black and white lightning struck down, hitting the barrier with a resounding ring. At the sound of it, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up. They waited and watched before another bolt came. 

Zi Jing stood in the middle of the camp, the closest witness, and then he screamed. 

"ATTACK! ENEMY ATTACK! GET TO YOUR STATIONS AND PREPARE YOURSELVES!"

His voice simply echoed across the entire camp as every person there dropped what they were doing, rushing to grab their weapons and armor. 

With each passing bolt of lightning, the attacks grew stronger and stronger, striking the Yin Bing's barrier like a like hammer on a nail. Finally, the Idol of Chaos had made its appearance. Ming Yue looked up in shock, watching this figure descend before floating above the camp.

The Idol of Chaos only resembled a silhouette of a man.

Compared to before, what remained of Dai Mian's puppet body were his ruby-red eyes.  Every other part of his body had been reduced to dust and replaced by lightning. It was practically a being of pure energy, one with barely a form. 

But with those two eyes, it looked at the camp. 

"Foolish humans! To dare harbor the Heretic that injured the Idol of Chaos! Repent and return to the empty void!"

It pointed down at the camp, summoning forth hundreds of lightning bolts that came crashing down at the camp.

Worse than that, it was the same attack as when it first appeared, thick bolts of lightning that coursed through the air like rivers. There was seemingly no end to it as everything but the camp had turned to ash. 

It was fortunate that the World Serpent's Barrier was still working but who knows how long it would last. This was Primordial Lightning that was attacking. 

"Activate the other defenses! Finish up the last of the barriers and set up more! You! All of you from the Jadetree Sect, go and maintain your barrier!"

ZI Jing sprinted around, barking orders at everyone around him. He removed as quickly as he could, marking the ground with special paint and placing flags down. 

Those from the Jadetree Sect quickly moved to activate their formation, creating a green and transparent barrier right underneath the Ying Bing's barrier. One by one, seven more barriers were erected, leading to a total of seven barriers. 

Meanwhile, the soldiers as well as the cultivators, all took up arms as they went into formation, ready to attack. Both Ming Yue, Xuan Yin, and their beasts moved towards the gate, staring at the Idol of Chaos. 

"Is that thing going to stand there? I could probably skewer it with over a hundred arrows but that isn't going to work, is it?"

Xuan Yin raised her bow at the Idol of Chaos, pulling back the drawstring as a black arrow formed from her energy. It was different from her other techniques, certainly, something she rarely showed. 

"Just stay there."

The black arrow began to whistle and howl before she let go.