The Clan's End (4)

The one who had landed a sudden strike on Bartos was a scruffy and gaunt man with bloodshot eyes. Bartos' armour and quick reaction had saved his life, but this deranged-looking man still broke a few of his bones and caused blood to drip from his mouth. Bartos could hardly recognize him and wondered if this was a bandit who had snuck into the clan somehow, but Nalos recognized him instantly.

"Eclos!?"

In response to Nalos' shock, Corin calmly said, "That's right. I freed him from his cell. He's in bad condition but I managed to get him back to about seventy percent of his former power."

"Corin, you, you-"

"Hold that anger back, Nalos. You're not wrong, I used forbidden medicine to get him back to fighting strength, but so what. Don't forget Nalos, you're the one who locked him up for your own selfish reasons. Well, he would probably be on the traitors' side if you hadn't regardless."

Though Corin said this with a chuckle and showed a smile, Nalos was gritting his teeth. There were many types of the forbidden medicine that gave various unbelievable effects, but not a single one promised good ends. The forbidden medicine fed to Eclos allowed him to fight despite the deterioration of his mind and body by using his remaining vitality. In this case, he would likely die by the time the day was done. However, while Corin merely saw Eclos as a tool to put to use, despite also having a hand in this, Nalos pitied the man.

With Eclos at seventy percent power, if given enough time he would be able to defeat Bartos and take the main controller, so Nalos had to beat Corin as quickly as possible. He took out 'Windy Peak' and got ready to fight Corin who assumed a fighting stance and clenched his fists.

"This shall be our last fight, friend."

"I have no friend like you."

While Nalos and Corin began their battle, Bartos had to face the beast known as Eclos. Eclos was at the first level in the Earth Realm, making him the weakest out of Corin who was at the second level and Nalos who was at the third level. However, in terms of skills alone he was comparable to Nalos since they both met the progenitor. But luckily in his beastly state, Bartos only had to deal with his raw power. Even so, he had to use his full ability to resist.

Bartos took out a war hammer from his pouch, and as soon as he did, Eclos felt immense pressure on him and the surrounding nature energy swirled around the hammer. This five-feet hammer was the last of the three supreme spirit-rank artifacts that Bartos made, and due to the strong earth-attribute materials used to make it, the war hammer had the passive effect of creating a pseudo-domain that increased the gravity in the radius of ten cales around him.

It seemed to counter the wind-attribute cultivation method of the Heaven clan, but it actually had good synergy since the gravity didn't change for the one wielding the hammer. With Eclos' mobility limited, and his intelligence almost non-existent, Bartos felt that he had a chance to go up against him for a short time.

"Aghhhh!!!"

Several projectiles made of wind fired at Bartos, but he deflected all of them with his hammer while getting closer to Eclos who screamed like an enraged animal. Bartos reached three feet away from Eclos when he changed his attack. Instead of projectiles, giant, sharp claws made of spiralling winds were formed on both sides of Eclos.

"The Heavenly Wind Spell?"

Bartos had heard of the spell passed down to every member of the Heaven clan to receive the addition of 'los' to their names. This spell had a unique form based on who used it so it was never cast the same way by two people. Eclos' version of the spell allowed him to shape different parts of a vicious beast with razor sharp winds.

The moment the two claws of wind appeared, Bartos became wary of them, but he still took a step forward. When he did, the right claw swung down as if to smash a bug on the ground. Bartos managed to stay firm by putting up a barrier, but the claw simply stopped slamming down, and instead slapped him from the right.

Bartos flew into the air and barely managed to keep Eclos within the pseudo-domain by using his hammer to slow down his flight. However, before he could stabilise himself, both claws reached for him. Even with his barrier, Bartos had no confidence that he would be able to defend against this. But just as the claws were about to attack him, they were struck by a blast of wind and backed off.

Despite being in a battle with Corin, Nalos still had enough room to support Bartos. This didn't mean Corin was weak however, since the gap in cultivation between them should have been enough for Nalos to defeat Corin by now. But Corin practiced a body strengthening manual and so he was able to endure Nalos' attacks and prolong the fight.

Right as Nalos sent a blast of wind to help Bartos, Corin charged at him, but Nalos kept him in place with a gale from his sword. Nalos' Heavenly Wind Spell gave him control over the strength and density of air so the breeze from a simple jab of his could become a terrifying tempest.

Once he confirmed that Bartos was back on his feet, Nalos continued his offense by directing a wide swing of his sword at Corin. The swing generated a fierce wind that ripped up the pavilion but Corin was able to stand his ground. Furthermore, he broke through this wind and used a spell to attract a large volume of air to his hands before launching the compressed attack at Nalos by slapping his palms together. This attack could break the bones of a peak Soul Realm expert, but Nalos easily dispersed it with one hand. This was the balance they had, neither had enough power to properly damage the other.

But their appearance shook that balance.

"Wow, looks like the old man is in a bad situation."

Three people approached the wrecked area. The gloating of the one that spoke might have painted a different picture, but not a single one of them looked pleased. That wasn't surprising, one of them might have been unharmed but one had lost an arm and the other had a dangerous wound in their gut. Iris, Kran, Lus and the other elder had won against Nate but not without paying a price. Nate might not have had a fast cultivation speed like Shui or Kate, but in spear technique he was fully deserving of being called a genius. Even against three opponents close to his level, he managed to do this much damage. To be fair, they were holding back so he could be captured alive but that was no excuse.

Despite losing his left arm, Lus didn't look in pain as he spoke to his father.

"My big brother's been defeated. If you want him to live you should stop resisting and put down the barrier old man."

"Hmph, no son of mine would wish for me to bend my knees to traitors."

"Well, I guess I'm not your son then. Did you hear that, bro?"

After being swiftly rejected by Nalos, Lus pulled out an ear from his pocket. It was obvious from the blood that the ear was fresh off someone's head and from the aura left on it, it was easy to tell whose it was. Nalos gritted his teeth and glared at Lus. Before he looked at him like a disappointment, but now he was an enemy. However, Corin wouldn't miss this moment of discomposure. The swift jab he aimed at Nalos hit his chest, forcing Nalos back three steps and making him grunt. Corin's next strike was blocked but only barely; he now had the advantage.

"Bartos has the main controller, help Eclos take care of him."

Kran and Lus didn't like being ordered around by Corin, but they still went to Bartos. They were surprised to learn that the beast was Eclos but didn't feel any differently since they weren't close to him. With Corin gaining an advantage against him, Nalos no longer had the leeway to aid Bartos even though his circumstances had worsened.

'I'm sorry, Bartos. Please, hold on.'