Chapter 19: Chapter 19: Peak of Power

Everyone seemed to pause and stare at the incoming calamity, even those supposedly on the same side as the new arrival. "Grand Elder Ravenborne!" The Winterwrath elder standing upon the titanic ice golem shouted—his words boomed for a thousand miles.

Ashlock knew the man's voice traveled that far since Ashlock's leaves rustled from his words, and he was two mountain peaks away.

The five balls of blue fire pelting down the Ravenborne mountain peak paused at the base, leaving the earth below them scorched—the fire dissipated and revealed five men with angry expressions. They all had cold grey eyes, midnight black hair, and narrow faces—except for one. The man who stood at the front of the five seemed a bit older with salt and pepper hair and some wrinkles, which was jarring compared to the other cultivator's perfect skin.

"Either this man is very old for a cultivator, or maybe he started cultivating later in life? Is that even possible?" Ashlock mused to himself.

All the men wore black robes that went all the way to the floor and had their hands clasped behind their backs. The golden ring of the elderly one at the front flashed with power, and a majestic sword materialized under his feet. It was a blade of obsidian, darker than night, with a golden trim around the handle. Ashlock had never seen such a beautiful personification of death before.

Blue flames shrouded the blade in a density so great that it appeared like liquid. Finally, the sword rose and took the man into the sky. "A Winterwrath dog dares to bark up this old man's tree?" The Ravenborne Grand Elder's voice was like a silent whisper yet reached all who dared listen. He crossed his arms with a sneer, "You may have been a relevant family back at the old sect that bordered the frozen lands, but since the beast tide forced us to move, you are nothing compared to me."

The Ravenborne Grand Elder raised his wrinkled hand above his head—whisps of blue flames left in droves and formed ravens of blue fire that flanked the Grand Elder and lit up the sky.

"Those who dare stand against the raven will fall." The man then pointed a wavering finger toward the ice golem that loomed over the town under the Ravenborne's protection. The blue fire ravens ten times the size of the Grand Elder shot forth at speeds bullets couldn't even dream of reaching—sonic booms echoed out and caused windows to shatter and people to stumble below as the ravens slammed into the titan of ice, causing more explosions.

The Winterwrath Grand Elder raised a brow as the ice golem trembled and stumbled back a step. The attack had turned the golem into swiss cheese, and one of its arms had become detached, crashing to the ground below and smashing an entire street of houses.

Steam rose from the ice golem as blue fire melted the ice. The Winterwrath Grand Elder decided to abandon ship and summoned a sword of pure white that resembled a sharpened icicle and, like the Ravenborne Grand Elder, used it to fly high into the sky. Despite the situation and apparent overwhelming defeat, Ashlock found it strange how unperturbed the Winterwrath man appeared. His scarlet eyes casually looked at the Ravenborne Grand Elder as if he was a misbehaving child.

White flames that had shrouded the Winterwrath Grand Elder dissipated. Then, like a puppet cut from its strings, the ice golem groaned as it began to crumble under its own weight—then the golem exploded into many bits that surged into the town below like an avalanche.

Diana happened to be in the path of destruction. The Evergreen cultivators were distracted for a moment as they watched a wave of ice three stories high heading toward them at break-neck speeds. Everything in the avalanche's path was obliterated, and the rubble of houses and corpses of mortals were ground up and joined the surge.

The ground trembled, and everyone struggled to stay standing. Diana noticed an opportunity to pull a fast one on her opponents. With Wayne Evergreen still distracted with pulling out the dagger lodged into his cheek and downing healing pills, Diana charged at the remaining two Evergreen cultivators, who were too busy looking at their impending doom.

Diana was fast, agile, and graceful. Whereas the Evergreen cultivators were territorial and unmoving. In the face of an unstoppable force, the Evergreen cultivators had no choice but to hunker down and brave the storm. Green flames solidified around their forms as they braced for the incoming avalanche. Diana dashed behind them, slashing at their tendons with a swift blade, and without a pause to witness the damage, she charged right at the avalanche, ignoring their howls of pain.

Ashlock watched in amazement as Diana brought her sword before her, and like Moses parting the red sea, the blue flames carved a path. It was narrow and ever-changing with the flow of the rubble, but she navigated the treacherous path with laser-like precision.

Ashlock almost thought the woman had escaped her enemies, but alas, Wayne seemed to have healed himself. Like a raging bull, the Evergreen cultivator barreled down the newly created path after Diana and forcefully widened it when needed with his own might.

As the game of cat and mouse began between two Soul Fire cultivators, the Star Core Grand Elders stood on their swords thousands of meters above and calmly stared at each other.

Either the Ravenborne Grand Elder placed little value on the town full of mortals, or he had a fantastic poker face. Ashlock honestly couldn't read either of them, but the battle wouldn't end until one died—that much was for sure.

The Ravenborne Grand Elder made a hand gesture, and the blue flame ravens he was micromanaging that were still in existence even after decimating the ice golem were redirected. Some went to deal with the storm a hundred miles long that was slowly encroaching on the land, while the others shot straight at the Winterwrath Grand Elder.

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The albino man with scarlet eyes seemed uninterested in the incoming attack, white flames lazily appeared on his arm, and he slapped the pitiful ravens away as if they were hapless birds. The ravens tumbled to the ground like broken fighter jets. White flames ate away at the blue fire birds, corrupting them, and likely causing their connection to be cut.

"Grand Elder, you call me a barking dog yet grovel at the door of your home?" The Winterwrath Grand Elder taunted and summoned a second light blue sword that flashed with power to his hand. "If your pathetic excuse of a son was anything to go by, the renowned Ravenborne Grand Elder's skills with the sword may have dulled with old age."

The man's scarlet eyes curved up in mock amusement. "Come, face my blade. It's time the new strike down the old."

To his credit, the Ravenborne Grand Elder didn't flinch or frown at the Winterwrath's provocation. Instead, his eyes grew colder and narrowed as if he were scouring the skyline for something. "Your cheap tricks won't work on an old man like me."

The Ravenborne Grand Elder began to retreat toward his mountain's peak, but the Winterwrath Grand Elder barreled forward with his knees bent slightly and the blue sword lowered to his side as if preparing to do an upwards cut.

Ashlock almost thought the man teleported with how quickly he closed the gap. The Ravenborne Grand Elder cursed and summoned a second sword to defend himself. As the blades clashed, a wave of Qi flattened all the buildings below for miles, sending the Ravenborne Grand Elder rocketing down as a ball of blue flames into the ground below.

The dust settled as the Ravenborne Grand Elder emerged from the crater and rolled his shoulders. He seemed distracted by something, his grey eyes looking over his shoulder at this peak that towered behind him. Then he seemed to notice something, and Ashlock followed the gaze.

Vines covered in green flames were slowly crawling up the peak like snakes.

The man's eyes went wide, "You sly bastard teamed up with the Evergreens, didn't you!" The Ravenborne Grand Elder roared and jumped to the sky, only for the Winterwrath Grand Elder to smash him on the head with a brutal overhead slash, sending him hurtling back down into the hole for a second time.

"Stay down." The albino man sneered as he sheathed his blade. "Watch as your descendants are devoured like the dog food they are."

The other four men that had come down with the Ravenborne Grand Elder were each busy trying to fend off green and white flame cultivators of similar strength from ascending the mountain. They were outmatched, two to one, and the green vines restricted their movement. Their defeat was inevitable.

The Ravenborne Grand Elder took the skies once more—his poker face was long gone and replaced with a wrathful fury. His blade shone with power as he stepped and appeared in front of the Winterwrath man. The two exchanged a flurry of attacks, decimating the land below and sending echoes throughout the valley.

They moved with such speed and violence Ashlock struggled to keep up with the combat.

"So this is the peak of power in this world. If just one of these people managed to invade Earth, they would become the world's undisputed king. Yet Stella said there were higher realms? How has this entire planet not been destroyed yet? How can the mortal people even survive?"

Ashlock suddenly felt very weak and small. What great power would he reach once he achieved the Star Core realm and was on the same level as the Grand Elders alongside his cheat-like skills?

Then a horrifying realization dawned on Ashlock. "These people can summon storms, fly at the speed of light, and obliterate towns with just the sound waves from their swords clashing, yet an entire sect of these people had to move due to a beast tide? Just how strong are the monsters in this world?"

Ashlock hoped he would never have to find out, but with rumors of one on the way, he may find out sooner than later.