“Arrogant!” The Beast-Quelling Venerable burst from the palace mouth and hovered above the plaza, robes billowing in the gust that followed him. King Silverserpent and King Ironhawk flanked him at once, three High Immortal Realm Level Seven auras crashing down like tidal waves.
“So, you did break through.” The Venerable’s tone chilled. “Yet a mere first-level High Immortal is still an ant beneath my heel.”
Hand seals flashed. All around the plaza, countless golden sigils flared to life as the Heavenbound Beastlock Array roared awake. Pillars of gold surged skyward and folded over, shaping a colossal gleaming cage that slammed shut around the eight intruders. Inside the barrier, natural laws twisted, and raw spiritual energy drained away. Most cultivators trapped here could barely summon a third of their strength.
Laughter rattled from the Venerable’s chest. “Jared, this array was designed to cripple the beast race—unexpected, isn’t it? Even you, a human, will find your power strangled here! Tell me, do you still believe you can win?!”
Jared tested the invisible pressure and noted the ruthless squeeze of the array. An ordinary first-level High Immortal might indeed be throttled to half power or worse within this golden prison. But he was no ordinary cultivator. The chaotic force coursing through him lay outside every written law; no seal could chain it.
“So this is the trump card you cherish?” Jared’s voice stayed level, almost bored.
The Venerable hesitated, pupils tightening. “You… You’re unaffected?”
“Prepare for disappointment…” Jared lifted the Dragonslayer Sword, its edge angling straight at the hovering Venerable. “Your array is useless against me!”
The last syllable had barely left his tongue before he moved. A streak of gray swordlight tore across the sky, velocity so fierce it shredded the night into ragged shadows. He registered only a gray gleam slicing through the darkness. Jared’s figure blurred beyond recognition, and before the Beast-Quelling Venerable could tense, the blade’s glare was already filling his vision.
A stab of panic jolted the Venerable. “No!” he shouted, and flung out a shimmering golden shield, desperate to wedge anything between that merciless flash and his own flesh.
The collision rang out—a single metallic boom that echoed across the courtyard like a bell struck at close range. Sword light slammed into the barrier; the air quivered under a deafening blast that rattled every bone within earshot. A jagged fissure carved itself across the shield’s gilded face. The shockwave hurled the Venerable backward thirty yards as hot, metallic bitterness rushed up his throat.
Disbelief twisted his features; the impossibility of it wrenched a hoarse gasp from his lungs. He clutched the golden shield, an upper-grade immortal artifact famed for its fortitude, only to feel it tremble like cracked porcelain, one ruthless stroke from shattering. More frightening still was Jared’s speed; the human’s outline hadn’t finished resolving before another after-image threatened to replace it.
Voice cracking, the Venerable roared, “Silverserpent! Ironhawk! Together!”
The command snapped through the night like a whip. King Silverserpent and King Ironhawk locked eyes, grim understanding passing between them, and lunged forward in perfect unison. Silverserpent’s body unfurled into a hundred-yard argent python, toxic mist pouring from serrated fangs, while Ironhawk burst into a colossal raptor, talons rending open the air.
Jared did not bother to glance sideways. The Dragonslayer Sword wheeled in his grip, another gray arc tearing outward. His voice, low and steady, cut through the din: “Chaos… Sever!”
Twin streaks of ashen brilliance forked from the blade, each homing unerringly toward a royal beast. The two Beast Kings rose to counter, yet the slashes arrived with cruel immediacy, strength compressed into blinding inevitability. The first beam sheared through silver miasma, its remaining force lopping the python cleanly at the vulnerable seventh-inch segment. The second beam met Ironhawk’s descending claws; brittle keratin burst apart, and the gray light bored straight through his armored chest.
Blood fountained—a wet pop muffled by the night wind. Another spray followed, darker and heavier, splattering the flagstones below. The two Beast Kings crashed backward, broken forms leaking life, breaths rasping nearer to silence with each heartbeat. One swing, two High Immortal Realm Level Seven monarchs reduced to ruins.
Silence blanketed the courtyard, thick and stunned. Ranks of celestial guards gaped, discipline dissolved; even Luther and the others carried identical astonishment across their faces. This, then, was the true face of a Top Level High Immortal Realm cultivator. This was the dread promised by the Chaos Grand Path.
Jared’s outline flickered; in the next breath, he loomed beside King Silverserpent. His words dropped like frost: “Traitor… Die!”
The blade descended; the serpent’s head arced skyward, its soul-flame snuffed mid-whirl. Jared pivoted smoothly, a mirrored stroke followed, and King Ironhawk met the same end. Two royal beasts gone, nothing left but cooling husks and drifting feathers. The entire exchange had consumed no more than three breaths.
Color drained from the Beast-Quelling Venerable’s cheeks as comprehension finally pierced his arrogance. He had misjudged, and badly. One frantic instinct crystallized inside his skull: escape. Jared, however, had no intention of granting that mercy.
“Beast-Quelling Venerable,” Jared called, voice calm as cold steel, “Now you…”
He stepped once and materialized before the Venerable, the Dragonslayer’s tip lunging straight for the man’s brow. The Venerable threw everything he owned into the gap—golden shield, talisman veils, swirling runic sigils—each trick overlapping the next in frantic succession. Yet against that chaos-colored brilliance, every safeguard warped, buckled, and peeled away like paper scorched by flame.
A thin hiss split the night as steel found flesh. The beam bored through the final ward and buried itself between his brows, a pinpoint of ash-gray finality. His frame froze; disbelief and dread swam in his eyes.
“You… You are…” the rest died on his tongue. Before meaning could form, his spirit winked out.
Jared withdrew the blade. The Venerable’s corpse toppled, smashing into the plaza stones and throwing up a dirty cloud. Not a single throat dared stir. Three thousand celestial guards, scores of skyships, and the vaunted Heavenbound Beastlock Array now felt like stage props before a lone swordsman. Such was the yawning gulf between the High Immortal Realm and the Heavenly Immortal Realm. Such was the might of the Chaos Grand Path.
Hanging above the square, Jared swept his gaze across the host. “Hear me, celestials! Beast-Quelling Venerable is dead. King Silverserpent and King Ironhawk are executed. Surrender and live, resist and die!”
His words, quiet in volume, detonated like thunder inside every celestial chest. After a brittle pause, someone thudded their weapon onto the flagstones.
Clang!
A single blade struck the flagstones, the sharp ring slicing through the smoky night like a hammer on an anvil. More metal followed, one weapon after another clattering onto stone until the sound rolled over itself in waves. All three thousand celestial guards lowered their arms and surrendered on the spot.
The Heavenbound Beastlock Array dimmed of its own accord. Above, the sky-ship blockade drifted downward and settled on the plaza. Every celestial guard dropped to both knees, heads bowed, begging to yield.
Luther and the rest stared, frozen mid-breath, their shock so deep it left no room for words. One man and one sword had cut down three High Immortal Realm Level Seven foes and broken a force of three thousand. That man was Jared. He was the leader they had chosen to follow.
Jared stepped onto the stones and spoke to Luther. “Get word to the outer ring. Tell the Nether City Guards and the Beastfolk Warriors to move in and take control of Beast-Quelling Hall.”
“Yes, sir!” Luther‘s answer cracked like a spark, excitement spilling out with the word.
Madam Nightfox moved closer, tears streaking the fur at the corner of her eyes. “Mr. Chance… Alpha Bear, Elder Hartcrest… Did you see it? Mr. Chance has avenged you!”
A flood of feelings surged through Jared, too many and too strong for any single breath to hold. King Ironhide, Elder Hartcrest… Every fallen beastfolk brother and sister, were they watching now, somewhere beyond the veil? This victory was only the beginning. Every drop of blood the celestials had taken would be repaid, one debt at a time.
News that Beast-Quelling Hall had fallen tore across Epea like a storm wind, impossible to stop or outrun. Celestial rule in Epea crumbled overnight, a castle made of dust meeting the first hard rain.
All five Beast Kings lay dead, and the Beast-Quelling Venerable had perished as well. Oppressed beastfolk tribes rose almost in unison, throwing off celestial shackles and rallying to the Resistance.
Within a single day, Jared commanded more than fifty thousand Beastfolk Warriors. Beast-Quelling Hall now served as the Resistance headquarters.
On the plaza before the hall, Jared looked over the dark sea of beastfolk troops. Pride and fierce intent swelled inside his chest. Even so, the force was still not enough. He understood the celestials would never accept defeat quietly.
