The Clan's End (6)

In his powered-up state, Nalos swung his sword at Corin, but unlike previous times, Corin was lifted off his feet. Corin's flight artifact was the pair of metal boots he wore so he managed to quickly stabilise himself in the air. However, now he was in the sky, just where Nalos wanted him. While both of them knew wind-attribute spells, nothing Corin had in his arsenal could compare to the Heavenly Wind Spell.

Nalos started by capturing Corin in a swiftly rotating ball of sharp wind and tightened the ball of wind around Corin. He knew that this alone wouldn't be enough to kill him, so this was just the first step. Nalos raised Windy Peak with both hands and prepared to swing down and deal the final blow, but then he sensed something astonishing.

"The barrier...?"

Everyone at the pavilion looked up at the barrier, that was now slowly losing its colour and fading. All of their eyes widened, but most had smiles while two had dark faces. Nalos and Bartos quickly spread their spiritual sense to the core of the array that was placed in a secret underground room of the Sky-wind Pavilion. They had been watching this place since the barrier was raised, but they had loosened their guard when they ate the pills and switched to full offense, unfortunately in that short time something horrible had happened. The core had been broken by unknown black-clothed men that suddenly appeared from the underground room.

There was an array master in the Black Dog Bandits who used a communication terminal held by the bandits to give instructions to their spies who had snuck into the clan beforehand. Bartos and Nalos didn't know all of this, but what they knew and what scared them was the destruction of the core and the appearance of four more enemies in the late Soul Realm.

"Shit! They must have been hiding here before the barrier went up."

Bartos tightly gripped his hammer while Nalos refocused on Corin and tried to finish him off, but he was stopped by an overwhelming pressure. Four men, including the leader of the Black Dog Bandits, flew on artifacts over the clan and looked down on Nalos. Of them, it was the weakest and the one who Nalos was familiar with, that wore a smirk while the others were expressionless including the one who was pressuring Nalos.

"So the Clite clan really cooperated with outsiders. Do you people have no shame!?"

Nalos shouted at the same elder who he had defeated in the ancestral lands. The three beside him were likely in late Earth Realm, if not peak Earth Realm but Nalos' resolve had not weakened. He only lost the hope to live for a few more days.

"Hmph, drop the pretenses Nalos. Someone weak and about to die like you has no right to criticize the victor. Rather than keep hold of your useless pride, why don't you offer up the Heavenly Wind Spell? Who knows, a few of your remaining younger generation might be spared."

"Not even worth considering."

Since Nalos wasn't focused on Corin anymore, the ball of air encapsulating him dispersed but he didn't make a move since he had paid attention to the conversation with spiritual sense. He stayed silent and anxiously watched these four, but Kran tried to speak to them with a relieved expression. Inwardly, he sneered at Bartos for choosing the wrong side.

"My lords, I'm glad that we could help you. I promise to continue being of use to-"

Before Kran could finish licking their boots, the elder from the Clite clan grabbed his neck with mental control and broke it in two. Corin squinted his eyes at this scene but only sighed.

"You're not planning on leaving any survivors are you?"

In response to this exasperated question from Corin, all four of them revealed smiles. They told the traitors that they would live if they helped them, but how could anyone truly trust traitors? When it was revealed that the Clite clan had thrown their hat in with that figure in the capital, the ones behind Storm Sky Manor would act in all seriousness to destroy the clan so they had to take care of the two clans as quickly as possible. The two bandits beside Roy prepared to defeat Nalos, Corin and Eclos while black-clothed figures surrounded Bartos.

The black&clothed figures could barely move but Bartos couldn't increase the gravity enough to immobilise all of them, and Nalos knew that he wasn't capable of beating Roy. It was truly a hopeless situation. Then he appeared.

"Must you pressure these children so much?"

A soft yet powerful voice rang throughout the battlefield. It was as if the person saying these words was right beside them when he obviously wasn't. No matter which side they were on, everyone looked around franctically in search of a possible suspect, except for two. One of them was the Sky Realm master who had been sent from the captial. He got up and looked at Skywind Pavilion.

"So the rumour was true."

The other was Nalos who looked behind with wide eyes and an open mouth.

"High elder?"

Hearing this title from Nalos, made all those familiar with it focus on the ruined building that was Skywind Pavilion. A plain yet terrifying aura was coming from it. This aura forced everyone except the Sky Realm master to break out in cold sweat. Even Roy took a step back as he looked at the building with fear in his eyes. He looked back and sighed in relief when he saw the master from the capital taking steady steps in the sky towards them.

"Fellow brother, why don't you show yourself?"

His voice also reverberated across the battlefield but it was less mysterious and more imposing. His white robes and handsome face made him look like an immortal imagined by mortals. However, this 'immortal' had a stern expression as he focused on the dangerous aura coming from the Skywind Pavilion.

Even after waiting for a few minutes above the sky of the Heaven clan, that person didn't come out. Angered by this, the Sky Realm master was about to cover the clan with his aura and crush a couple members of the clan to mere bloody splats on the ground. However, along with a sigh, an opposing aura restrained his.

"It looks like there will be no escaping this calamity."

An old man with squinted eyes suddenly appeared above Skywind Pavilion. His clothes, long beard and hair were all white, and he hunched over while relying on a cane, but not a single person thought less of him. This person was obviously nearing the end of his lifespan, but his strength was above everyone else's. The Sky Realm master was surprised to see that this old man actually had a higher cultivation than him, but he wasn't afraid. His vitality was like a waning fire, it wouldn't be long before it went out.

Nalos was the only one who could recognise the High Elder since he had been brought to meet him by his grandfather, but no one of the Heaven clan doubted his identity. The fact that this old man was their ancestor was imprinted in their bloodline. The High Elder took gentle steps in the air towards the Sky Realm master. Most would think the difference in vitality would make the winner obvious, but though he didn't fear the old man, the Sky Realm master was very wary of him. According to the information he had, this old man had been a key figure in the earlier days of the Heaven clan, when it was an average-level force. Even if he would kick the bucket soon, that didn't mean he couldn't bring him down as well.