They followed a road shattered by battle, each step revealing new atrocities committed by roaming demons.
In the shell of a market town, two dozen Demonic Cultivators circled a huddle of unarmed civilians, brandishing blades washed in shadow and laughing as though slaughter were a children’s game.
A single kick sent a pregnant woman sprawling. Blood darkened the dust, and amid that crimson bloom slid the half-formed life had carried. Demon laughter rose like broken bells.
“Enough!” Jared’s voice cracked the air. Dragonslayer Sword flashed from its sheath, the golden arc of its aura cleaving the poisoned gloom as Jared launched forward, fury embodied in steel and light.
The demons whirled, greed flaring in their eyes.
“More playthings for our lord,” one snarled. “Seize them alive!” Their leader surged first, a jagged demonic sword wrapped in black fumes, screaming toward Jared as the battlefield jolted into motion.
He didn’t flinch. Jared stepped into the sweeping strike, Dragonslayer Sword singing a golden note.
The collision cracked through the night, the demonic sword burst apart, and the lingering arc of light drilled toward the demon’s chest.
The demon’s eyes widened in blind panic. He tried to twist away, but the sword-light was already inside him, burning a hole through bone and lung. Dark blood fountained across the cobblestones.
At once, the other Demonic Cultivators shrieked and closed in.
Artemis and the Herb Sect women sprang to Jared’s side, white healing light crashing against coils of black miasma. Steel and screams ricocheted through the wounded town.
Months of blood-fusion had strengthened the young healers. Moving as one, they spun their jade staff heads. weaving circles of emerald mist that stitched allies together even as sizzling bolts lashed into enemy ranks.
Artemis was a storm unto herself. At Human Immortal Realm Level One, floated above the melee, violet ribbons spiraling from palms, every lazy flick of wrist snatched a demon’s breath away.
In less than half an hour, the street fell silent. Dozens of demon corpses cooled in the dust, their black smoke leaking into the cracked sky.
Jared knelt beside the fallen pregnant woman. Guilt rippled across his face. He eased eyelids shut, whispering, “Rest now… Your killers will answer for every breath they stole.”
Shaken survivors gathered, falling to their knees before the small band. Tears mixed with the dust on their foreheads. Jared lifted them gently, pressing several bright pills into trembling palms.
“This place is lost,” said. “Hide somewhere deep. When the demon plague is ended, return and build again.”
With hushed gratitude, the townsfolk scattered, vanishing down the broken road like leaves before a storm. The companions traveled on, and the same nightmare replayed in village after village-a grim refrain of fire, chains, and pleading eyes.
Some hamlets were nothing but smoking skeletons of wood, some cities still stood, yet their ramparts were decorated with severed heads to frighten any who still dreamed of resisting.
Toward dusk, they reached the outskirts of a once-bustling city. From afar, they could already see the wall, crowded with numerous heads, charred blood trickled down the stone, pooling into a black, stinking marsh at the gate.
At the gateway, several Demonic Cultivators prodded a chain of captives toward the city’s heart. Shackles bit into wrists, curved demonic blades pressed against spines, and every step of hesitation earned a savage blow.
“It’s the Malevolent Path Hall,” someone hissed, the name dripping with dread.
“They‘ve thrown in with Soul Devourer,” Aurelius muttered, hatred flashing behind his eyes. “They’re harvesting these souls to feed their own power.”
“Then we rescue them,” Jared said, jaw tight. “We refuse to let that scheme succeed.” Artemis nodded. “The defenses are thick. No frontal assault. We slip inside, then open the gates from within.”
They agreed quickly. Jared, Aurelius, and Artemis would infiltrate, while the Herb Sect disciples hid outside, waiting for the signal.
