Paragon of Sin

Kuuuuuuu-BOOM!!!!!

-----

A few minutes prior, a female titan with a broken sword in hand stood back-to-back to her titan ally, Tai Hao. They were from the same unit, having trained for two years, and had an impeccable focus and timing. Relying on each other, they fought against the humans that aimed for their lives. 

They were surrounded by these humans in robes and armors, many of their squad members and allies of the same company had fallen. Yet the two remained strong, their breathing heavy, their forehead wet with sweat, and their armor stained in multicolored blood, theirs and their enemies. 

Tai Hao wielded a round shield made from a wooden material yet it gave off a metallic sheen that went against its nature. It was poked with arrows, like a porcupine. In his other hand was an inversely wielded dagger, and it glinted with a murderous light as he brandished it. 

Observing the four that surrounded them, the many corpses that laid before their feet, the two were thoroughly exhausted. However, these humans were fresh and full of energy. 

Tai Hao knew his life was ending soon, feeling a tinge of regret. However, he had a faint smile on his face behind his mask. "Zi Fu, let's take down one each, at least." He spoke out, his voice quivering from his heavy breath. 

The female titan named Zi Fu's eyes were emanating an unyielding battle will. "How about two?" When she said this, she gripped her sword's hilt harsher than she'd ever done before. Her knuckles even hurt. 

Tai Hao was briefly taken aback, but then laughed with heart. The fear and terror in his heart facing death had been abolished, and he owed that Captain his life, so he would definitely not waste it. "Two sounds doable." 

The four humans were angling themselves in a battle formation, getting into a proper tactic to strike. They were clearly trained in fighting against four against two. And while they weren't in the same uniform, likely not of the same Battalion, they were of the same racial camps. They had very similar training with slight differences. 

Unfortunately, a lot of their training in the Battlefield was irrelevant to those of their cultivation base. Yet it was sufficient to allow them to thrive and survive. With a heft of their weapons of war, they settled themselves in their diamond-shaped formation. 

"Go!" A member of their formation shouted. 

This caused the two titans to tense up, posturing defensive. However, there was no assault. 

Woosh!

Without warning, one of the humans charged with a war cry. This took both of their attention as they prepared to defend themselves, but the human halted and shot to the side, startling the two. 

"Ah!" Distracted, Tai Hao screamed in pain to find a throwing dagger lodged in his armor, piercing through it and gushing out his blood in copious amounts. It was almost as if it was sucking out his blood. Clearly from its penetrative power and blood-draining capabilities, it was not an ordinary dagger.

"Tai Hao!" Zi Fu realized their tactics caused a mental dissonance, dragging their reaction and delaying their actions. Such tactics could only be properly deployed by those very familiar with psychological reactions and understanding of time. 

Zi Fu moved to stop an assault aimed to strike down Tai Hao, yet the assaulter retreated in a feint. This caused to react, looking elsewhere, but suddenly, she turned and barely blocked a sword strike from the initial attacker. She had almost been tricked, the blade of her enemy nicked her helmet. 

"Argh!" 

Zi Fu's heart tensed as she heard this deathly scream. She pushed her sword striker, turned and saw Tai Hao's dagger dripping blood. His attacker was holding his throat with wide eyes and blood stained face. That blood on his face was not his own. 

She immediately realized that Tai Hao had used his large quantity of blood and directly blinded his opponent, striking in that small yet unexpected opening. Impressed, she turned and faced her previous attacker while paying some attention to the others.

Tai Hao held his still bleeding wound, yet his eyes beneath his helmet was brilliant and murderous. He spat out in a hoarse voice: "One left. You?" His voice contained some taunting as his opponent drew his last breath and fell—dead. 

However, his blood loss was too hectic, too rapid. He could barely see and his vision was blurry. The gravity was affecting him and the murky air was tainting his body, unable to keep self-sustaining himself.

Zi Fu darkly replied, "Not yet. Soon." 

Suddenly, a powerful spiritual strength descended. The three human soldiers that were about to launch their attacks were awed. Their eyes widened, and they simultaneously screamed out: "Spiritualist!" With their training in place, they acted immediately and departed in haste, leaving the two near-dead titans. 

Zi Fu and Tai Hao felt it too, but it was extremely familiar to them. So they looked and saw Wei Wuyin's True Draconic Form soaring across the skies at exceptional speeds. In the briefest of moments, he had passed them like a speedy Skyship. 

Woosh!

A blue radiance passed by, but it was far too fast for them to distinguish. Without their spiritual sense, they were clueless as to what it was.

"Let's go!" Zi Fu faintly smiled, and she hurriedly grabbed Tai Hao as they raced in Wei Wuyin's direction, but only until they found a squad that had an intact group to hide in. Due to Wei Wuyin's flight path, all those in it escaped with haste. 

Tai Hao was currently treating his wounds, his eyes dim yet filled with awe. "I still don't know why a human is in our race's camp," he commented. It wasn't just him, everyone else thought the same, but they didn't fear Wei Wuyin's intentions. The Battlefield was too chaotic to take advantage of, and the War Spirit prevented all instances of friendly fire, so his Spiritual Strength couldn't affect them at all. 

Act as a spy? No one would believe it.

A Spiritualist human working with the titan camp? Perhaps he was married to one. They didn't know. After all, its not like interracial marriages were out of place. 

"Perhaps he wants to kill someone from the human or celestial race's camp," a male titan soldier of Squad 43 commented as she dressed Tai Hao's wounds. 

"Perhaps," Zi Fu said dismissively. Her eyes were bright as she observed the direction that Wei Wuyin flew towards. Whatever the reason, he could fly, he had immensely powerful spiritual strength, and survived a fall that would've killed titans of her cultivation. He was astonishing. 

She clenched her fists, 'I want to be a Spiritualist.' She dreamed of doing so, yet the sacrifice and method was far too intensive. She had the will, but not the resources or means. This was why she was on this battlefield, risking her life—to change her fate!

"Anyways, I'm sure he-" 

Kuuuuuuu!

They all felt it.

That moment before 'the' moment. Their hearts grew still. Their minds chilled. Their breaths stifled in their throats. Their eyes turned to a single direction, no matter how swift, how slow, or how delayed, they all turned their heads and eyes towards a single direction. 

BOOM!!!!!

The sound was like thunder, as fast as lightning, as terrifying as death itself knocking three times on your door. The fiery radiance in the horizon was wild, beautiful, and absolutely alluring. No one could turn their gaze away. 

A storm of flames twisted and twisted until it touched down onto the ground. When it did, the earth shook in a minor manner, yet they all felt it. The heat was intense.

"What's that?!" Zi Fu exclaimed with widened eyes, yet the moment her last words finished, a torrential storm of rushing wind, dirt, earth, and fire raced towards her at such a fast pace that her body trembled from its force! Only her thoughts could react to the rapidly brightening radiance enclosing in.

'Is that a storm of flames? Is it coming here?' She felt the pushing force on her body, and the realization touched her heart with unerring accuracy. 'Oh. I guess I'm dead. Just like that? After all that? Huh...I don't accept it! I REFUSE TO ACCEPT IT!' Was her last thought as the flames gushed forward and enveloped her and her entire squad!

The storm of fire engulfed an area of two hundred miles! There was no safe zone within it! 

Dzzzzzt! 

However, it ended after a minute or so. When it did, the 43rd Squad, Tai Hao, and Zi Fu were standing there frozen, looking at their hands and armor, confused why they weren't burnt, why the metal wasn't melted.

The halo that settled on the heads was emitting a bright radiance.

Zi Fu looked upwards, shaken by its activity. According to her training, this halo was connected to the War Spirit, and the radiance it emits only occurs when friendly fire had happened. It would protect against it. This only affected those of the mortal-level. Ascended had the same protection for mortals and Ascended, but if they assault members of their camp, it does not activate. However, they would be disqualified from receiving rewards from the War Spirit. This was indicative that they were leaders, capable of delivering vicious punishments to their subordinates if they were of the same camp, yet also the leader's punishment for not fixing this issue non-violently.

Zi Fu turned, and she could see the once fighting titans in the distance confused, while there were melted and burnt corpses of humans and celestials, those star-pupil beings, littered for miles on end. Some were still being blown away by the explosion, being flung for miles further. Those soldiers all died a fiery death.

Tai Hao realized this. He couldn't help but say: "Holy...my...oh…" He was totally speechless, unable to finish any of his mental comments of shock and awe. That explosion had come without warning, and they didn't understand it at all. 

However, Zi Fu instantly recalled that closed-eyed handsome human that could manifest wings, exert his spiritual sense, and was an abnormality in their lives. "Was it him? But how?"

"Was that...Mass Energy Detonation?" The male titan from earlier questioned in a ludicrous manner. This was a phenomenon when experts combined their energy or from highly powerful formations or arrays charged into a single point and released all at once. It was…explosive...

"Impossible! There's no way to establish a formation large enough to do so, and it'll be deeply suppressed in the Battlefield." Another titan rejected, but it truly did seem like a Mass Energy Detonation! 

"Pellets?" A titan soldier that was an alchemist as an auxiliary field spoke out, finding the combination familiar. 

"Pellets? Even more impossible! Energy is suppressed in the Battlefield, to create that, how many pellets would be needed? Millions? Billions? Furthermore, pellets can only be used if the alchemist that concocted them is in the Battlefield and activates them himself, otherwise the War Spirit will stop it!" The titan that rejected the earlier theory also rejected this one, yet there was little else to suggest as an alternative. 

As if in panic after seeing everyone's skepticism, the titan added: "Even if it was pellets, what mortal-level alchemist could possibly concoct so many? And they would all have to be higher than eighth-grade, or Mystic-Earth grade and even then! It-its...Its just not possible!" He vehemently shook his head, yet the hellscape before him caused his heart to grow uncertain.

"You're right," the male titan who treated Tai Hao's wounds chimed in his agreement. "The Ascended of our race should have an answer."

The others nodded.

-----

Battalion Commander Borus was still in his enlarged form as he watched the fiery outburst of flames slowly dissipate. The halo above his head was releasing a protective radiance, so besides the bright light, he didn't even feel the forceful winds. The halo had thoroughly protected him and everyone else of the titan race. 

The only ones in the sky above the clouds were those of the titan race. Everyone else had either been incinerated entirely or falling as a burnt corpse.

No, wait…

"Uhh! Uhh!" Stifled coughs emitted from the old man, his whisk exuding a scarlet light that enveloped his entire body protectively. 

When Battalion Commander Borus saw this, realizing the fragility of the light and his aura, his eyes brightened considerably. Without even thinking about it, all he saw were War Souls! His greed was intense, an innate feature of his truest nature!

"KILL ALL THOSE THAT REMAIN!" He shouted as his gargantuan form exploded towards the old man, his eyes effusing killing intent and greed.

The other titan Ascended realized that almost every powerful human or celestial race Ascended had survived, be it at the Soul of Mysticism or Demi-Mortal Lord. Some were terrifyingly burnt and scarred, barely on their last breaths as they fell from the skies. Others were protected by talismans or powerful mystic-graded armaments, yet their usage was either done or their armaments suffered tremendous damage.

Furthermore, they were outnumbered by the surviving titans! 

The titans were shaken by Battalion Commander Borus's roar, and they turned their weapons against their enemies and blitzed them in groups!

While all this happened, beneath the clouds and far away from the Ascended conflict, a figure was enveloped in a ward of elemental origin intent that pacified all the fiery energies that was released, diverting it with his Elemental Origin Intent if he could, shielding himself if he couldn't. 

At the moment, two Astral Souls returned as bright light. Along with their return, a spatial ring belonging to none other than the Demi-Mortal Lord Ascended, the top-tier genius, the individual at the very center of the fiery explosion, Cai Liuyang! 

When those two Astral Souls reentered their body, the figure sighed with relief.