Fenrir's Journey : I Shall Devour The Heavens!

While the Branch of the Devouring Moon Sect was the primary target, the rest of the City had not been spared by the assailants who purported themselves to belong to the Searing Sword Palace.Though it was obvious to most that the attackers were likely from an entirely different Sect, their words had a powerful impact on the normal citizenry. They were easily shepherded by the strong and, while the more astute among them understood the falsity behind the claims, it didn't change the fact that they couldn't do anything to resist.By the time any of the other Sects residing in the Devouring Moon City reacted, fires had spread through the more impoverished areas and, while the stronger Sects had yet to be touched, many of the smaller families had already been wiped out. The invaders had unhesitantly slaughtered anyone who did not immediately join their cause and, as a result of several months of planning, they already had several hundred people within the city to sowing chaos.In order to try and gain control of the situation, the Devouring Moon Mercenary Guild had declared a state of emergency that required all active Mercenaries to fight against the invaders. They were headed by the Branch Master, Liang ZhenKang, who had already piled up the corpses of more than a hundred attackers. He took it upon himself to use his golden staff to beat the majority of enemies to a pulp while directing the Mercenaries and a few drafted civilians to deal with the spread flames.With his onyx-black eyes reflecting crimson light, Liang ZhenKang shook his head as he looked at the devastation and muttered, "Another pointless massacre to further the agenda of a few foolish people...what a farce..."Unlike the majority of people, the Branch Master knew exactly who their attackers were. They were a family from the neighboring Sacred Spring Bamboo City known as the Peng family. While they were nothing special, the grandson of their current Grand Elder had been scouted by one of the branch families associated with the Searing Sword Palace. This made him foolishly believe he could use their authority to do whatever he wanted and, as a result, the neighboring city had recently changed its name to the Rising Flame City.Liang ZhenKang knew that it wouldn't be long before an Enforcer from the Searing Sword Palace rid the world of the arrogant young master of Peng family but that meant nothing in the present. Rather, in order for them to have mustered up such a force in such a short period of time, it was obvious that the Peng family had a hidden backer...Using his staff to leave a 10cm dent in a man's skull, Liang ZhenKang could only sigh in exasperation as he turned his head toward the Devouring Moon Mountain and stated, "I hope you really do have a powerful Master, young lady...this world isn't kind to those without a strong background."Though even Wen Xiulan wasn't able to expand her senses beyond the city, Lian ZhenKang was very aware of the phenomenal aura that was quickly accelerating toward them. He could even feel the air begin to drop in temperature, despite the fact that pillars of fire surrounded him from almost every angle...(Fenrir's Commentary: 'The city is on burning...!? Fenrir will kill them all...!')

Fenrir hadn't been in a particular hurry to reach the Devouring Moon City but, after seeing plumes of black smoke and hazy red flames covering much of the city, she turned into a wispy blue phantom that left a black trail in the void as she tore through the air at hypersonic speeds.While doing her best to maintain her 'human' transformation, Fenrir landed within the city and, after looking around at the slaughter being carried out all over, her eyes began to blaze with scarlet light as she vanished from her landing position.To those that could perceive her, there suddenly seemed like multiple Fenrir all over the area for a brief moment before her actual body reappeared at the end of the street. Everywhere a version of herself had manifested, an ice sculpture of a man was left behind and, due to the heat of the flames, it wasn't long before they fractured apart and started flaking away into a pool of bloody viscera.Though she wasn't intending to scare them, Fenrir appeared before a woman hiding two children in one of the poorly maintained sewage ditches, asking in a wrath-filled tone, "What is going on here?"Fearing for her children's lives, the woman tried to shield them with her body, pushing them further into the muck and grime as she answered, tears in her eyes, "It is the Searing Sword Palace! They are slaughtering everyone! Even those they obeyed ended up being burnt to death! Please, help us...!"Fenrir scrunched up her nose as the woman tried to grab at her trousers in an effort to plead for the lives of her and her children. While she did pity them but, hundreds would die in the time she used to take the three to safety. Thus, after splashing the trio with clean water, she said, "Find somewhere safe to hide. I will kill the attackers..." before vanishing from her spot.The woman felt an overwhelming sense of despair when Fenrir splashed them with water but, as it actually cleaned the majority of waste from their bodies, clarity returned to her shortly after. It was only then that Fenrir's words resounded in her mind so, without hesitation, she grabbed her two children and fled toward one of the previously burning buildings. She didn't notice when it had happened but, while much of the city was still burning, the flames in the surroundings had been extinguished in their entirety...With her ability to sense the differences between certain kinds of Qi, Fenrir rapidly moved through the city, slaughtering anyone that even remotely seemed like a bad guy. Since there were many who sought to take advantage of the situation for personal gain, there were a lot more enemies than the original invaders. However, with a blackish-blue aura around her hand, Fenrir cut through them as if their defenses didn't exist, leaving many horrified as their bodies quickly turned into fragile ice.As she continued to make her way through the area, Fenrir found a heavy-set man trying to push down a young woman in the shadows of a destroyed wall. This caused her rage to build even further as, for a brief moment, the young woman made eye contact with her, tears staining her face.Before she willed it, Fenrir's body moved and, in less than a microsecond, the man had lost, not just his head, but the upper half of his body. His body was also ripped away from his victim and, as a result of the force behind the impact, it spewed blood in a helical pattern as it flew through the air for several tens of meters. By the time it hit the ground, Fenrir was already gone and, after several long seconds of stunned silence, the woman, her previously ragged figure covered in warm furs, crawled to safety with renewed vigor...(Fenrir's Commentary: 'Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill...!')

Though they had originally wanted to try and help Gong Xinyue, Hua Yan saw Wen Xiulan throw her from the arena surrounded by a protective coating of Qi.Knowing he wouldn't be of much help in the fight on stage, Hua Yan had his brother, Xuan Yan, protect Mao Qiu, Xiao Lan, and Susu Lengshi as he and Zhu Qiu cut a path through the red-robed attackers targeting members of the Devouring Moon Sect.It didn't take a genius to understand that an enemy Sect had used the tournament as an opportunity to try and destabilize the Devouring Moon Sect but, as he still intended to join, Hua Yan considered himself an active disciple. He wanted to pay back a bit of the debt he owed the mysterious woman who had spared them so, while he wasn't going to lay down his life for complete strangers, he would help those he was able to.With this in mind, Hua Yan used his longsword to deflect the attack of a man who appeared to be in his mid-twenties. He had been trying to cut down two outer disciples of the Devouring Moon Sect with a vicious smile on his face so Hua Yan had no qualms about stepping in to put an end to the murderous man's attempt.Having his blade intercepted, the man performed a swift pivot on his heel that caused his body to blur as he angled his sword and drew a secondary arc toward Hua Yan. This caused a crescent of red flames to pour from the blade as he shouted, "You dare interfere with the matters of the Searing Sword Palace...!?"Hua Yan was momentarily surprised by the man's exclamation but, as the most powerful force on the continent shouldn't have such weak practitioners, his reasoning propelled him forward. He was able to use his own flames to diffuse his enemy's attack and, while his speed seemed to be a little slower than the man's, Zhu Qiu had appeared from the flank to sweep at him with his spear.Surprised by the emergence of a second attacker, the man twisted his right hand to form a rune out of flames but, before he was able to fire off the attack, Hua Yan threw his sword in a flaming arc that bisected the man at the waist. This caused the light to quickly fade from his eyes but, rather than go peacefully, crimson red blood began to flow from his mouth that quickly erupted into an intense inferno.As the red-robed man was not the first to lose his life, there were several infernos raging throughout the arena and, while many normal citizens had been able to flee, there were still hundreds of charred corpses littering the battlefield. The only place that was largely untouched was the stage used in the tournament as, after the initial surprise attack, Wen Xiulan had been able to claim the arm of one of her attackers while the other had been frozen solid in a pillar of pure white ice.After looking around the battlefield for a brief moment, Hua Yan forced the two cowering disciples to follow along with his group as they made their way to safety. They could easily be killed by any stray attack from anyone near the level of the Sect Master so staying to observe was not an option. Since he wanted to reunite with Gong Xinyue, as they were fellows from the same original Sect, he urged the group to make haste as he cleared the way through the intense flames that had already started spreading through the city itself...(Fenrir's Commentary: 'I smell burning...')

Chapter 86: Undercurrents