The witch had died, something that the soldiers were relieved to know.
She had been a nightmare that haunted them and their comrades, only luck saved them from her.
They followed the orders of Commander Dragonblight. Taking the corpses one by one and piling them up to be burned.
That would be somewhat troublesome as more snow was falling and the storm grew heavier by each minute. Night had fallen long before, and the soldiers could see each other only because of the necklaces they wore that could give a red glow, they were like dozens of beacons amidst the void.
A dragon-kin soldier with short black hair and grey slitted eyes was tasked with cleaning the scene as well. He finally reached the Witch, whom everyone avoided coming near. Even when dead.
He gazed down at her corpse, it looked pitifully weak for someone who had killed hundreds of soldiers and several commanders.
Crack!
He turned sharply to the left, almost jumping up in fright. He scolded himself and calmed down a little as he realized that it was just a tree branch that had broken down. Why was he so nervous?
He took a deep breath and looked back at the witch.
A pair of ghostly-blue eyes stared back at his soul.
He felt his heart drop
And then, it dropped even more, if that makes any sense.
Since he was left paralyzed from fear, he opened his mouth to call for help.
He never managed to.
He stiffened like a statue, and after a moment, he exploded into a gory mess that had nothing recognizable of him left and was carried away by the wind.
His light was extinguished.
Flameclaw frowned as he sensed that there was something amiss in his peripheral vision. He turned to look at the other soldiers, who were like anchors here and there in the clearing.
Everything seemed normal, until...
Whoosh!
He turned to the right, something was wrong, and he knew it. He felt that a light had disappeared just a moment ago.
But before he could call out to the others...
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Several lights were lost in the blink of an eye. It was like the soldiers simply turned off their necklaces, but he knew that it wasn't the case.
"Watch out! We're under–"
His words were cut off when his instincts screamed at him suddenly. He brandished his longsword to his blindspot to the left as fast as he could and activated a spell.
"[Reverse Scale]!"
His muscles bulged, and his strength has risen exponentially. A red aura covered his arms and radiated power.
Boom!
However, that could barely save him from losing his life. A powerful blow hit his sword, and a flash of sparks gave him additional lighting that revealed a figure stabbing at his sword with their fingernails.
Before he could delve more into the horrific suspension that he had, he was thrown into the air from the shocking momentum that he was hit with.
Thud!
"Ahh!"
The air was knocked out of his lungs when he hit a tree, the shock traveled through his entire body. The tree almost broke as it stopped him.
He fell on his knees, gasping for breath. He felt his arms shake and tremble, his bones were aching, some of them broke.
He lifted his sword, expecting another attack.
But none came.
Instead of that...
"Ahh!"
"We're under Attack!"
"Go into formation!"
Screams echoed through the night. A dozen more lights had already disappeared since he was thrown, and the others had finally noticed it.
Flameclaw's heart went cold when he realized what had happened.
Due to the battle with the Witch, the camp had far fewer capable soldiers than it had earlier. He was the only Peak Stage Rank 1 Heavenly Ascender in here.
The other soldiers ranged from mortals to only Mid Stage Rank 1 Heavenly Ascenders. The only reason they hadn't been attacked yet was because of the commander.
Flameclaw was momentarily immobilized so the attacker could prevent them from assembling the formation and take care of the rest quickly.
Damn it!
He gritted his teeth and forced himself upright. He couldn't let that night repeat again!
"[Fire of The Damned]!"
He activated another spell, and he felt his reserves of heavenly essence deplete rapidly.
The energy in his channels surged, and his strength was multiplied.
Only a dozen or so of the lights were left by the time, and he felt the same despair that he dreamed to forget.
Curse it all!
Ten, nine, eight... More lights were extinguished. And the screams were far fewer.
He charged forward, as if salvation was in front of him. A powerful red aura enveloped his whole body.
Five, four, three...
He didn't look around to find where the perpetrator was, as he knew that it was futile. Instead, he charged into the last soldier remaining.
"Help!"
He was only a mortal, and he looked at the sergeant with pleading eyes, asking for a savior.
But he wasn't saved.
Boof!
A shadow hit him with terrifying speed, it was as if he was hit by a flying mountain. He turned into a bloody cloud like his other comrades.
"Fight me, you Witch! [Fire of Versa]!"
In his rage, he slashed down vertically in the direction of the cloud of blood. His channels ached as he used all of his heavenly essence in this single attack.
Boom!
His sword hit something, and a large crater was formed under him. The falling snow was blasted away from the impact, and stone debris was thrown in all directions, resulting in dust. But even then...
"How pathetic..."
Flameclaw's heart went still as he was finally able to see the Witch when the dust cleared.
She held the blade of his sword with her hand, but although it was shaking and a drop of her blood trickled down, she still blocked the attack that he put everything into with just that.
She gripped the sword tighter, and her other hand reached to touch his face.
"No–!"
Voom!
A pillar of crimson fire manifested itself in the clearing, and Valeric appeared from it. He had teleported to the place.
But before he could even scan the location, an object was thrown at him. He instinctively raised his hand and caught it.
What he saw made him displeased.
"Sergeant Flameclaw..."
He was holding the decapitated head of his former subordinate by the hair. One of his eyeballs was gouged out, and his lower jaw was nowhere to be seen.
What was left of his tongue was hanging down freely, his teeth were smashed and some of them were still falling down. Even some of his spine was still connected to his skull.
It was as if his head was violently ripped off from his body.
"You like my gift, honey?"
He looked past the head, and his golden gaze was finally laid on the designer of the present. Although there was no light, it wasn't a problem for him.
Lady Etherea stood there, her tattered tunic drenched completely in blood.
Her neck was healed, her earlier fatal wound nowhere to be seen. Her jet-black hair blew in the snowy wind.
Her mouth was red from fresh blood, and it was dripping rivers from it. Her eerie eyes met his, and a wicked grin played at her face, exposing her bloody fangs.
"I'm back, bitch."
She turned her head to the side and spat a piece of meat disdainfully. She looked back at him.
"Your people taste like shit. You couldn't pay me to eat this crap."
Valeric looked at her emotionlessly, then he lifted his other hand and pointed it at the head that he held.
Poof!
A searing crimson ball of fire enveloped the head, in an instant, it turned to ashes that were carried away by the wind.
"It seems that the Heavenly Ritual was legit, and you've undergone a Heavenly Trial to become a Calamity... Congratulations, Lady Etherea."
He then spoke coldly, and a dangerous light flashed in his eyes.
"I wonder... Why haven't you left already?"
Lady Etherea snorted, as if he were asking about the most stupid thing in the world.
"I won't leave until I kill everyone here. Isn't that obvious?"
He frowned, and felt angered by her audacity, but... Why did he feel a hint of excitement as well?
"You think you can defeat me after just becoming a Calamity?"
She had an unsettling presence to her that made a shiver run down his spine, and pressured him.
It wasn't that of absolute suppression that came from a huge difference in power, instead, he felt that his soul was several times more vulnerable and weaker in close proximity to her.
His instincts screamed that she was extremely dangerous.
She smiled further, but before she could respond...
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Valeric exploded forward, his fist coated with crimson flames as it punched toward her with astonishing speed. She barely managed to cross her arms and block the punch.
The force was so great that she was thrown a great distance back and shot through multiple trees, destroying them.
She only stopped after breaking four trees, landing on the fifth one, and cracking it.
She fell back on her legs, they swayed a little, but they held firmly. She looked up at him, her smirk never wavering.
Valeric couldn't help but smirk as well, his heart's beating rate sped up.
This is about to be fun...