The Clan's End (2)

In the night, on the same day that the bodies were sent back to the clan, a meeting was held in Sky-wind Pavilion. The ones participating in the meeting sat behind desks arranged in a circular manner around an empty open space. At one particularly grand chair, Nalos sat and looked at the other members. He didn't know who the other traitors were, but he couldn't execute any plan without the help of these people, so he asked for all of them to be here.

Among them were his two sons, Kran as well as Bartos. Since Bartos was closest to Nalos, it was obvious who he trusted the most now that Corin was basically a confirmed traitor. Since he couldn't bring this information to his father beforehand and he also trusted Bartos, Nate didn't mind this arrangement. However, Lus and Kran's group were livid. If the situation wasn't as dire as it was, they would have certainly brought attention to it and wasted time.

Nate started the meeting by reviewing the situation so far before handing over to Nalos.

"So, what should be our next step?"

Everyone stayed silent, but exactly because of that, Nalos could pick out a few more of the traitors. He could hardly hold back the disappointment at the amount of his clansmen who were no longer qualified to be called such. At this moment, Nalos gave up. It was unfortunate, but with this many traitors the clan would definitely fall, he could only hope that the younger generation could revive it.

'I wonder if he's safe.'

A boy came into his mind, but only for a brief moment.

"Nate, based on the information we have, what do you think is the chance of us winning in a head-on clash?"

Nalos knew it was hopeless but he wasn't going to roll over and be stomped on.

"Since they were able to kill Camble in one hit, the enemy likely has at least one person in the Earth Realm. Since this was well planned, at worst they have more Earth Realm masters than us."

Considering that Nalos was the only Earth Realm master active, it wouldn't be hard for them to be outnumbered. Eclos was still imprisoned, but after being in such a state for a few years, it would be hard to expect him to have a stable enough mind, putting aside whether or not he would want to fight for the clan. Furthermore, there was also Corin on the traitor side so even if the enemy only had one Earth Realm master and Eclos could fight, they would only be equal in Earth Realm masters, but their morale was low so it was hard to believe the rest of the clan would be able to fight properly.

"Can we expect reinforcements?"

"I've sent word to Storm Sky Manor but even if they use their fastest team it'll take about a week."

A week didn't sound impossible since there was a protection array, but since Corin knew about it it was safe to assume the enemy would definitely come up with a way to deal with it. Furthermore, Nalos knew that they didn't have such a high level of importance to their guardian sect.

"Do you think they would accept our surrender?"

"Since they killed the ones that escaped I find that unlikely."

Even though Nalos brought up surrender, no one blamed him for it. The state they were in was just that bad. Nalos looked at those in the room once more before standing up. He had given up, but he still possessed the dignity of a Patriarch.

"I won't make anything up. The coming battle will likely be the end of our clan. Like you just heard, we probably won't be spared, but that doesn't mean we're gonna wait for our deaths. Since they want to annihilate us, we have to make them pay an adequate price. If we can't live, then we can at least die with honour. Begin the preparations, this is war."

After dropping these powerful lines, Nalos left with Bartos. This would be a war of annihilation, either they died or the enemy. However, the hope that they would win was beyond the realms of possibility so the two of them had a different goal in this war. The enemies were one thing, but they definitely wouldn't allow any traitors to get away cleanly. Since they were going to die, they would die together.

The tension in the air of the clan lasted for a few days, and then, they could see figures surrounding them. These figures were men who wore brown fur coats over their bare upper bodies and had black tattoos of dogs on their chest.

"Black Dog Bandits..."

The tattoo alone gave away their identity. Anyone, which included most of the clan, who knew of them gave up any tiny piece of hope they still had. Many of these clansmen had supreme special-rank artifacts in hand, but they didn't believe they could win against an opponent that outnumbered them and had destroyed many minor-level forces like them.

"It's over..."

"We're all gonna die!!!"

Other than Corin, the other traitors in the clan could still smile at the incoming threat. They were confident that they would be left alive after the massacre that would occur. Few among them felt sorry for their dying clansmen, but told themselves that it couldn't be helped. Unlike Corin, the thought to plead for the weaker ones to be spared didn't even cross their minds.

However, several metal balls that flew over the clan to the approaching force froze those smiles. These balls seemed like rocks from afar, so the men dressed like mountain bandits didn't even flinch when they saw them. Even when they could tell that they were made of metal, many smirked at these silly projectiles. Only when one hit a man on his face, and those nearby saw his skin melt into purple goo, while screaming to his death, did they realize how dangerous those balls were and quickly tried to get out of the way as they fell.

When these metal balls broke, some released corrosive liquid, some exploded, some released poisonous gas. The Soul Realm leaders among the frightened men quickly tried to help but besides deflecting the metal balls with barriers they had no way to guard against the various effects. The blueprint for these metal balls were made by Shui using the ones he had as a reference. Shui gave the blueprint to Bartos since he got bored of it after figuring it out. Bartos was fascinated by how easy it was to make these one-use weapons so he spent much time practicing how to make them and made his apprentices learn how to as well. The amount he and his apprentices had made so far wasn't enough to kill all of the Mortal Realm warriors in the Black Dog Bandits, but it could at least make them wary.

However, this wariness only lasted for the hour until the metal balls ran out. Once the attackers realized that the metal balls were finished, they began gathering the courage to charge. However, just in case the Heaven clan, which they had previously thought would be easy prey, dropped any more surprises, the stronger ones stayed further back so that they could deal with any trouble the leading ones faced.

They had gained hope when they saw the enemies suffering from the metal balls, but facing them as they got closer made it harder for most of the clan to stay firm before the enemy. They wanted to protect their families, but they also knew that they would likely be unable to. Seeing the opposition having even less morale than them, the Black Dog Bandits began shedding their wariness and increased their pace with fierce smiles as they dashed towards the prey in front of them.

"Ahhh!!!"

Soon enough, the bandits regained their morale and charged with reckless abandon. Suddenly, a roar echoed throughout the battlefield.

"Now!"

Then, a clear white barrier literally cut off the bandit force. Not a single bandit above mid Soul Realm made it past the barrier and the two Earth Realm bandits that quickly reached the frontlines and struck the barrier could do no damage. While the bandits inside the barrier were still distracted and confused, a fierce force made up of the members of the clan ready to sacrifice themselves went straight at the confused enemies and started to cut them down.

"Kill!!!"