Long Wu looked into the distance, at nothing in particular. Ever since he defeated the person he hated the most through brute force and overwhelming power, he felt the drive inside him cut in half.
He closed his eyes, feeling something lost inside him. He knew that the drive for revenge was his primary reason for growing so strong. But now that he had fulfilled the goal of his life, he felt the thing that drove him forward had disappeared.
‘But I still have something to look forward to, a purpose for living and a disciple that I need to take care of. Can I produce the same kind of drive when my goal in life has changed?’ Long Wu’s mind was filled with these kinds of questions.
He opened his eyes as he internalized the questions, filling him with a new purpose, a new drive to keep him bothered.
He was standing on the branch of a tall tree where he could see that in the far west, a giant tree was reaching towards the sky. His sight shifted to the object and he knew that it should be the Sacred Tree of the Elves.
Below, there was a convoy led by Hecates, walking through a forested terrain. The Transcendent Group was on the move and the Cerulean Defense Force hoped that they could take care of the Sacred Tree if possible.
The primary mission of the Group was to assess the enemy's strength in their territory. They had an estimate of the power that the Elves could project along with the Sacred Tree but the Group had to test it with their own senses.
“This is where the Elite Elven Team had been sighted before. According to the report, they had melee fighters among their ranks as well as long-range attacks. They should be the ones who would obstruct us on our way.” Long Wu looked down and saw the traces of Ether and some remnants of a skirmish happening at his current place.
“How long are you going to stay up there?” Hecates shouted from below.
Long Wu exhaled an air before he went down. He had seen what he needed to be seen. The Ether near the Sacred Tree was dense and quantitatively large. Even his sight and sense supported that notion.
“We are near the Sacred Tree so the concentration of the Ether in the air increased. Be careful when you let out your transcendent energy.” Long Wu reminded Hecates and Hecates reminded the rest of the group.
After numerous battles, the Transcendent Group only had people at the Core Formation Realm. Lots of undead element became the primary factor for the quick advancement of the people who initially at the Nothingness Realm.
Hundreds of Core Formation Realm transcendent were a formidable bunch and Long Wu believed that they were suitable for undertaking the mission to gauge the Sacred Tree.
He also remembered the words said by Lucian. Turned out that he was the one who was tasked by the Headmaster to heed the words of his disciple.
They even teamed up against the Mist Glings and weakened them further. No wonder Long Wu felt that the condition of the enemies he and the Hunters had faced was more advantageous, so it was that reason.
‘I should discuss this further with Lucian and my dear disciple. I kind of miss out on something important.’
Long Wu and the Transcendent Group walked quite a bit and found the plains had turned into a flora-invested terrain, filled with trees that they had never seen before. Another forest that became the outer ring for the Sacred Tree.
It was already quite a distance they had traversed so all of them exercised caution. The plains were easier to travel since they offered a full view of the surroundings. The forest, however, was the advantageous home ground for the Elves.
Just as they were walking deeper into the forest, another attack came from somewhere deep in the forest. It carried the Ether and reinforced the projectile, so the attack was quite heavy if hit.
“Enemy attack!” The transcendents were prepared for it so they either pulled up their small but durable shield or dodged as much as possible.
Then another came as if it were a rain of arrows imbued with the Ether. The rest had no choice but to put up the shield as the attack saturated their position and dodging became improbably difficult.
One of the transcendent let out a gust of wind as their surroundings were cleared from another transcendent energy, letting them use theirs. While they were enduring the barrage of attacks, Long Wu noticed that there was some movement from the front.
Long Wu chose a position that did not get attacked and moved closer to the source of movement. He circulated his energy while letting his core spin as much as possible before he gripped his dagger in a reverse grip.
Then he lunged right at the front-most Elf and the clash of weapons made from metal and wood reinforced with transcendent energy made it so that the clash became intense.
But soon Long Wu realized that due to the recent gate opening that he did, his body, energy path and the transcendent energy became stronger and could load more. This resulted in an advantage in a clash as Long Wu’s dagger pushed through the Elf's sturdy wooden sword.
Then Long Wu quickly did a slash right at the throat, his gaze shifted quickly after realizing that the Elf in front of him became a lost cause, died due to the blood loss combined with the undead element infesting the wound, becoming unhealable.
Then Long Wu moved slightly to the right to avoid being punctured by the spear. He quickly found that the enemies were in a formation and it looked like they were reorganizing.
The barrage of the long-range attack was finished the moment Long Wu managed to kill one Elf so the rest went to reinforce him. The Elves then slowly did a strategic retreat while letting out a strange scream.
“Hit and run tactics, huh?” Long Wu shook his head, already expecting the enemy to do this.
However, it did not dampen their morale as they drew closer and closer to the Sacred Tree. They moved with caution and steadiness, gaining ground as they advanced.
As for the corpse, it became another undead servant that would help the group.
The Ether in the air became more apparent to the naked eye the more they came closer to the Sacred Tree. The transcendents felt like they were on thin ice, treading very carefully not to trigger the violent reaction of two opposite transcendent energies.
“Fortunately, our shield and the timely wind caused the Ether to be swept away too, allowing us to use our undead element.”
“The shield is durable enough but without the reinforcement of the undead element, it would become easier to break.”
There were murmurs and noises from the group. They felt that the attack from the Elves was designed to slowly exhaust them physically and mentally. Unfortunately for them, the group had a concrete objective so they knew the risk involved.
“Advance but be cautious!” Hecates reminded while looking at Long Wu. He realized that the man in his sight had become stronger than ever. He caught a glimpse of the exchange and knew that it was something monumental even to him.
All of the transcendents had a cap at the third heavenstage at the Core Formation Realm and it was still being researched the reason why they could not break through to a higher heavenstage. So any increase in power was a surprise.
Additionally, they had to deal with the occasional traps set by the elves on their route. This caused the speed of their advance to slow down but with each trap set off and dealt, the more they were closer to the Sacred Tree.
Then the group saw that the forest had a clearing and also structures could be seen in the far distance despite being covered by the trees. Long Wu realized that the location near the Sacred Tree was filled with fortifications.
And in front of the gate that became the only way to the Sacred Tree was the Elite Elven Team, looking in their direction.
Emotion for the sentient beings was a universal language that even everyone could connect to. That was what the transcendent group could glean through the facial expression of the Elves.
“Look at them. They look angry!”
“Overall, their expression showed determination. Have we cornered them?”
“What’s the order?”
Everyone looked at Hecates. Hecates knew that the moment had come for him to decide things. He could even see the trunk of the huge Sacred Tree so he knew that this was the push that could decide the tide of battle.
With a look that could temper steel, Hecates shouted one thing.
“Charge at them!”
-
“They’re here!” the youngest elf in the Team shuddered when he saw the group of transcendent that appeared near their settlement. Although it was fortified, it did not mean that it was to the point of fully impenetrable.
“Prepare for battle!” a cry resounded as they were the ones who had to face the intruder head-on. They had to because if the intruder entered the settlement, they had to ask the Sacred Tree for help.
Ether circulated in their body before the archers let the arrows free from their pull, heading straight to the enemy.
But the intruder was obviously prepared and only formed a wall of shield while there were the weapons that the Team described as letting out a mouthful of fire. With that weapon, it unleashed a barrage of undead element equal to their arrows.
Every weapon was gripped and prepared to be used.
But the Elves could only dodge to the side and only a few had shields with them. Those with shields came forward to protect those behind.
The reaction of the two transcendent energies caused more destruction to the wooden shield as the barrage of shots stopped and the two now started to lock in melee.
Those with a shield bashed at the enemy, often they bashed at each other that which created a reaction and forcefully repelled each other. Most were ready for that so weapons made of wood and metal clashed.
Hecates swung his axe repeatedly, giving the elf in front of him no chance to get into position and posture. He kept overpowering the elf until the moment when the elf lost his entire posture and Hecates finished him off within seven moves.
Long Wu, on the other hand, was moving around, assisting the other transcendents in dealing with the Elves. He did not care what kind of enemies he had to face but if it endangered him and the world where he lived, he would not hesitate to help, even if it meant killing.
The youngest elf was dealing with the transcendent when he caught a glimpse of Long Wu. The reaper was using the dagger to rain death upon his fellow kin and he did it with surprisingly fast speed.
Then he pushed himself as he used the wooden knife in his hand to form a slash as it managed to graze the transcendent’s body and penetrate the undead element under the skin. A line of injury appeared but the youngest elf in the Team was not satisfied with this.
That was why he strode forward to end it in one go.
‘The transcendent is just like me, in the Second Rank and recently advanced too.’ The elf thought before he deflected the attack from the blade of the transcendent. Then he quickly moved his hand and held the knife in a reverse grip before lunging it into the neck of the transcendent.
Just as he was about to succeed, a dagger intercepted his wooden knife reinforced with the Ether. To his horror, the very reaper he sought to avoid was now in front of him.
“Leave him alone!” The senior was also arriving to help him. But her help was limited since even the reaper was able to slay their top ten warriors.
“No, please no!” the youngest was screaming for her to hear it. He knew how capable the reaper was in reaping the lives of his kin. It looked like so effortless for him to do that so he hoped that the senior who was beautiful and capable, would not face that kind of thing.
He knew that the transcendent he had targeted was protected by the reaper so his chance was now gone. The female senior was now by his side, assessing the situation.
The battle caused them to spread around quite far as not to affect each other’s battle and she was done with her enemies.
The reaper’s eyes now saw that casualties had appeared among his ranks and it caused him to release a killing intent that made the two elves shudder. But the two stood still despite their legs growing weak.
“Don’t worry, I will protect you. You should not face him just yet.” The senior shielded him from facing the reaper. The reaper shifted his eyes and looked at the female elf and realized that she was the one who had killed one of his.
Because of that, he moved directly and even the youngest had to double check and saw that there were multiple of the reaper figures in the field of sight alone. But his instinct kicked in as he felt a sensation of death coming from his left side, where the senior also sensed.
The senior used her sword to parry the attack and the youngest helped her because he knew that if they faltered, it would be them who were cut down. The sword, the knife and the dagger were locked as the transcendent energy reacted and causing a small reaction, causing the three to separate.
“Senior, let me help you. He is dangerous. He is in another league in force alone.” The youngest commented in his words.
The female senior nodded her head in agreement. The technique of the reaper was a notch better than the group around him but what unsettled the two of them was that the reaper muttered something that they did not understand.
“Get ready and don’t directly clash like before.” The senior’s warning came, a bit of warmth but also resolute. The youngest nodded his head as he felt numb on his wrist. But he quickly used the Ether to do a rapid recovery on his body.
Then the reaper moved faster and the senior tried to face it. But then the reaper accelerated unnaturally and the youngest realized that the sensation of death multiplied and was coming from his right side this time.
‘He bypassed senior!?’ thought the youngest in surprise as he saw for himself that the movement of the reaper increased dramatically and even the senior could not catch up.
He lifted his hand, trying to parry but even when the attack was supposedly intercepted, the dagger was not only durable but able to cut through his wooden knife like cutting through butter with a hot blade. The youngest realized that everything slowed down, from the movement of the Elven Team around him to the shocked expression of the senior as she realized that the true target was him all along…
Even with that, it could not save him. This was the realization of the youngest elf as he felt a metallic touch on his neck. It cut cleanly as the undead element reacted to the injury, causing secondary damage.
Then the sight that the youngest saw was that of his own body, separated from his head while the senior was in an attacking position, fury on her face. That was the last thing he had seen before he was landed in the afterlife.
Meanwhile, Long Wu finished dealing with the weaker link in the two-person combo in front of him. He also tested opening the gate slightly during battle. The result was not disappointing as it offered a direct combat prowess increase.
But he still needed to control it properly or else the berserk energy would cause chaos in his body. Then he casually used his dagger to parry the wooden sword the female elf was swinging at him. This time, Long Wu felt the emotion through the transcendent energy.
‘She is furious and grieving! But that won’t save her here.’ Long Wu knew that the female elf was the one who killed one of his own so a blood debt must be paid with blood if possible.
Exchange of moves happened between him and the elf; her emotion became the drive for her to gain an advantage but it was all like a temporary advantage. Long Wu had experienced such a thing and knew the strengths and weaknesses of enhancing the transcendent energy through emotion.
She screamed something but Long Wu did not understand her at all. He thought that it was because something was preventing the three races from understanding the other's language, at least during the Star Battle.
It was an interesting study material that scientists still tried to unravel but why did her scream resonate something inside him? It was as if he could relate to her grief, fury and helplessness.
But it did not mean that Long Wu was going to spare her. No, it would be better to end things as respectfully as possible, no victory or defeat until one’s death.
Long Wu managed to follow the erratic pattern of the female elf and that period of enhancement came to an end. Long Wu found his opening that he had been waiting and did not waste a second. He plunged the dagger deep into the female elf’s neck as another blood stained his dagger.
She twitched while letting out blood through her mouth before she fell, defeated.