Kaolin surged forwards, his sword tearing through the ranks of fleeing demons without mercy. Behind him, Wei Lan charged as well, flanking Kaolin like the loyal friend he was and would forever be. And the army of brotherhood joined the slaughter not long afterwards, every single one of them ready to die to rid Shenzhou from the Demons and Devils once and for all.
Kaolin cast a demonic array over the battlefield, a shimmering dome that crashed down from the heavens and trapped the fleeing demons, so that there was no escape now. And within that array, blood was spilt and lives were taken until at last only one demon remained.
"Mercy, My lord," it whispered. "Mercy…!"
Kaolin stood before it, his sword stained with demon blood, his face marred from the toll of the pain that he felt from the marrow of his bones as he defied yet another heavenly rule and slayed those who had sworn to be his loyal subjects. "I'm not your lord," he said at last, "nor will I ever be." And with those words, he cut down the vicious demon, and the battlefield fell into silence.
He stood there, unmoving. Then, he plunged his sword into the earth, blood still dripping from its blade, and from the surviving army of brotherhood came a roar of triumph and victory so loud the cheers thundered across the battlefield and echoed into the broken sky like drums.
But Kaolin heard none of it. He stood with his sword buried in the ground, shoulders hunched, his breath shallow and ragged. Blood trickled from his mouth, running in slender crimson lines down his chin, and mingling with the dust and sweat that clung to his weary face.
His vision swam as a sharp pain rose in his chest from the price that had now made its presence known and demanded that he pay his due. Still, he suppressed it and observed the army that stood tall but exhausted, their armour worn and ripped into pieces, their faces streaked with blood, and yet, they all cheered on, victorious despite all odds.
Nearby, the lifeless body of Commander Taohua lay in the rubble of corpses, his eyes wide open and his soul long gone with the high winds. Kaolin staggered forth and knelt beside the brave commander, closing his eyes as a final token of his gratitude and friendship. His exhausted eyes then drifted to Wei Lan, Guo Lan, and Zhenhai, who were all beaming widely, celebrating their victory. But none looked at him. No one did.
And in that moment of melancholy, his eyes caught a flicker of something in the dark sky, the Sword of Divine Punishment piercing through the thunderous clouds as a reminder that this was far from over and that a price now had to be paid.
A bitter smile formed on his lips as he stumbled back up, drained but still standing his ground, while the three conflicting powers in his core lent him their strength, working together as one against the imminent doom set to annihilate him as punishment for taking on the role of Demon God and defying the will of the heavens.
The sky above cracked open as this was happening more rapidly, and from its centre, the colossal sword descended, forged from the breath of stars and the wrath of the ancient Gods and Goddesses. It plunged downwards, towards him, like the final verdict of fate. Faster and faster. And as it was inched from piercing through him and sending him several feet underground, he lifted his blade infused with the Demon God's power and countered the divine sword, refusing to go down for what he believed to be the right course of action.
The shockwave of this clash sent several warriors hurling into the air, so that only Kaolin and the Sword of Divine Punishment remained on the bloody battlefield. For each second, the forces on the divine sword grew heavier with the hands of the gods, who gripped the hilt one by one to suppress the foreign qi running through his blood, one mastered through years of cultivation and held under control with sheer willpower.
As the forces pressing him down grew by the second, his feet scraped the soil soaked in crimson, and a cry of defiance escaped him as he pulled out all his strength to push the divine sword far enough to change position and surge into the air. In an arch, he spun just as the edge of the divine sword was about to hit him a second time, and clashed with it, so that it cracked with a blast that hurled him straight into the ground, creating a crater, as well as breaking the Demon God's sword in the process so that it turned to dust.
He rolled to the side as the divine sword aimed for him once more, and he shot back up on feet and soared into the sky, as the Gods and Goddesses lifted the sword out of the dip, repositioning themselves to locate him through the racing storm and thunder as the vast sky yawned open and cracked into several shards like it was made of ice.
Before they could find him and aim the sword at him through the air, however, he managed to take a proper look at the cracked blade. The Sword of Divine Punishment was not as invincible as he thought. With the right approach and tool, he might be able to rival its powers. But before these thoughts could unravel further and guide him, the edge of the sword chased him, and he narrowly dodged it.
As the divine sword carved through the overcast sky anew, shards of its divine radiance splintered off and rained upon the battlefield. Each fragment shattered entire formations of soldiers so that Mortals and Immortals alike were consumed in fire, leaving nothing but ash upon the bloodied soil.
Kaolin's mind reeled and his eyes darted, unable to focus on anything, as a realisation dawned on him, one he should have thought of much earlier. The Sword of Divine Punishment was not only trying to destroy him, but also those who aided his path of defiance. But those thoughts did not last this time either.
The rate at which the divine sword came at him increased without warning, leaving him no room for expanding on his thoughts and conceiving a plan to counterattack. Instead, he plummeted down with all he had and touched down hard on the soaked earth, casting an array before the sword could pierce through the battlefield for a second time. That was when he knew that there was but one thing left for him to do in order to save the people who not only fought with him but also for him.
As the sword aimed for him, Kaolin stood his ground just long enough to send it crashing down into the earth. The battlefield quaked; dust and blood rose into the air, and from the divine hilt, radiance split into countless shards, raking the ground and consuming everyone nearby.
From the heavens, more hands gripped the Sword of Punishment, forcing it down upon Kaolin with wrath and consuming rage. Bolts of celestial lightning rained around them, too, tearing open the earth and swallowing the army of brotherhood, who refused to leave his side and flee the battlefield. There was no time to waste. He had to complete the final ritual of the Soul-Crushing Way.
From his core surged a blend of energy unlike any other, surging outwards through his body in streaks of blinding light, and with them they carried the souls of the fallen Demon Army and brave warriors, fusing their souls into Kaolin's Evil core with such force that Kaolin spread his arms open and jerked as they entered his body.
Seeing this happening, the gods raised the sword once more to try to break through the array Kaolin cast and stop him from completing the formation, but failed miserably as the phoenix came alive with a roar from his corrupted core, surging with the energies of the Celestial, Demonic, and Forbidden Arts, as well as with the Evil Bone. Its eyes burned crimson as it spread its massive wings and sent the divine sword hurling in the air, protecting its master in its new form – one forged by the three energies rising and becoming one with Kaolin's Evil Bone.
Right then, Kaolin convulsed one final time, his body caught between annihilation and divine ascension. For a breathless instant, it seemed his core would collapse, shattering him into nothingness. But then, his eyes snapped open. From their depths burned not the golden light of purity, but a storm of hellfire threaded with divinity – a god born not of heaven's decree, but of defiance against it.
The earth shook and the heavens split in response; the array ignited in full right then, engulfing everything in a never-before-seen storm of sheer darkness and corruption, before vanishing for good. And when the storm cleared, he stood wielding a sword no other hand could command, his qi pulsing with a power the gods themselves had never seen or witnessed since the mist of time, and before they could stop the clash that would undoubtedly destroy their celestial core and annihilate them, Kaolin raised his sword and faced the incoming clash without hesitation.
The shockwave tore across Shenzhou, and under its force, the Sword of Divine Punishment cracked and then shattered into dust. With it, the ancient gods screamed and perished, their divine essences scattering beyond resurrection like they had never existed in the first place, becoming one with Kaolin's Evil Bone forged with the last ritual of the Soul-Crushing Way.
When Kaolin descended and set foot at the centre of the battlefield, the aura around him pulsed with the energy of a being far greater than anything this world had seen, and the warriors of Yueluo Gu, Huan-Yue, and Yinlin surrounded him with wary steps as the phoenix spirit roared and commanded each one of them to bow and pay their respects.
Wei Lan's eyes narrowed as he drew closer to his friend and master, unsure of what kind of energy he was feeling, and his eyes instinctively sought Immortal Lord Zhenhai's, who stepped forth and knelt in front of Kaolin, closely followed by the Jinlian Guards as a gesture of submission, as they all, as if one, swore alliance to him.
That was when Wei Lan noticed the sigil on Kaolin's forehead, one neither Celestial nor Demonic in nature. It was a sigil none had ever seen yet heard only in legends passed down, and he too fell on both knees in submission, stunned, as did what remained of the Jinlian Guards, his men and the Moonshadow Guards.
This… was the sigil of a true God.
The End.