Rigol and the four lieutenants continued to discuss how to deploy their forces. Finally, it was agreed every student received the attention of two Fiends and every teacher received the attention of four Fiends. For now, they would ignore the teachers and the more powerful cultivators as there weren"t enough Fiends. They would begin with the weak students first. After making quick work of them they would go after the stronger students. Eventually, as they wiped out students they would double the number of Fiends attacking each individual.Those cultivators who formed groups would face groups of Finds in battle formations with the weak cannon fodder who were already present serving to hara.s.s the cultivators until the strong cultivators were ready to strike.
It was a vicious strategy but given the maze slowing people down and their desire to finish things quickly, it was the best plan.
The Lieutenants a.s.signed their Cannon Fodder cultivators to attack and the order to attack them in. In the unlikely case, anyone on their side was killed, the names would be redistributed. Everyone departed for their a.s.signed target.
After a few minutes, Master Compa.s.sion felt he was ready to attack the Fiend Gate. Just as he was about to make his move, he felt a metallic hand grab his shoulder. Surprised, he turned back to see a Warbox he was unfamiliar with.
"Warbox...?" he sent through a silent transmission.
"I am Warbox Nimle, sir," the Warbox responded.
This Warbox was actually just created by BS42; he was created from the Fiend leader Lorne encountered at the door leading to the maze. The process to create a Warbox was pretty quick and the method to free a Fiend from the Fiend Fate didn"t take very long at all.
Ever since Lorne had his experience with the Great Fiend, he and BS42 have researched how to free a cultivator from the Fiend Fate. It was important to keep this information secret because if the Fiends new such technology existed, they would focus all of their attention on this world and force their way in to destroy this world.
Even though the general method was to establish a foothold in a new universe, gather Fiend Stones and create a Fiend Gate, there were times when a new technology or cultivator was so threatening the Fiends would focus all of their attention like a laser to pursue the technology or cultivator until they were completely destroyed. They would sacrifice worlds and even universes if they felt it was necessary. Lorne knew this so he and BS42 could only act discreetly for now, until they were able to spread the technology to the higher dimensions.
Nimle was the first Warbox created from the Fiends and he was immediately dispatched to take care of the Fiend Gate. Upon arrive; Nimle detected Master Compa.s.sion through his Warbox scanning display. Like Master Compa.s.sion, Warbox Nimle was using stealth technology to hide his presence.
"Pardon me, Master Compa.s.sion, I was sent here by the Invincible Hero to destroy this gate," Nimle said.
"That"s why I"m here, why did you stop me?" Master Compa.s.sion asked.
"Sir, there is surveillance technology being used throughout. If you were to act rashly, General Maek himself would come to destroy you before you could lay one finger on the gate. Trust me, sir; you are not strong enough to stand against a Fiend General." Nimle said.
"A Fiend General? Are they really that powerful?" asked Master Compa.s.sion.
"Yes, sir, they are higher dimension beings. They represent the pinnacle of the realm they command in," Nimle explained to Master Compa.s.sion.
"Pinnacle of a realm?" Master Compa.s.sion asked confused.
"Sir, There are three realms to all of the universes in all of the multiverses. There is the Under Realm, the Mortal Realm, and the Heaven Realm. We are in the Under Realm and General Maek is a pinnacle existence in the Under Realm. This means he is merely a step from becoming Cannon Fodder in the Mortal Realm," Nimle explained.
"Cannon Fodder, who would want to be such a thing?" Master Compa.s.sion said with shock.
"Being Cannon Fodder is the same as being a soldier for cultivators. It just means, your power level is so low you can be used without worry, you are dispensable," Nimle said with a sigh.
"You seem to speak from experience," Master Compa.s.sion probed.
"Sir, we do not have time to talk about these things. If you want to destroy that gate, I can help you, but I need time to block the security devices," said Nimle.
"Won"t they notice something is wrong and send people down?" asked Master Compa.s.sion.
"No, sir, because I"m going to show them an empty room just as it looks now. I need to concentrate, you should watch for Fiend Guards. They"ll appear soon, take them out if they come in here but be discreet about it," said Nimle.
Master Compa.s.sion merely nodded his head.
In the other parts of the secret realm, Lesser Fiend Cannon Fodder approached their unsuspecting targets. So far, the cultivators had an easy time. They realized this was just a trap and after defeating Fiends and destroying traps, they would gather the leftover materials. The materials could be broken down and resold in their simplest forms.
Currently, Aerun Mounkeh was walking through the maze cautiously. Aerun joined Lorne and his group when they were headed to the Water Rock Supreme Sect (they arrived there in Chapter 57). He cultivated quietly in the sect and was barely able to gain admittance to the Supreme Immortal Heavenly Rain Sect. Even though he was weak compared to others from his sect, he was still an almighty existence compared to those in other sects.
He was amused when he discovered one of the Masters from the new sect shared his last name Mounkeh. He thought it might be fate, or maybe they came from the same family line. Aerun talked with Master Mounkeh and learned he was likely a member of a branch family that disappeared a few hundred years ago. It should be they were related, but Master Mounkeh didn"t seem to incline to care.
It was at that time, while Aerun was thinking of Master Mounkeh, two Fiends in black armor appeared before him. He was shocked and surprised but immediately pulled out his own sword. Aerun favored an Espada Ropera as his sword. Know generally as a rapier. It was light and fast and focused on thrusting to finish off opponents.
Most sword masters preferred thicker swords to transmit power. Aerun, however, preferred a graceful weapon. He combined his love of fencing with his powerful soul techniques which he combined with formations. Using his sword he quickly created a formation using soul energy. The formation he created was a shield; next he created an offensive formation and then a befuddlement formation. These three formations were formed in an instant by Aerun.
The two Fiends eyes" glowed with a deeper red. Without a word, they began to attack Aerun together. Aerun fought desperately. His formations were amazing, but these two Fiends were so powerful his formation could barely keep them back. Every second was a matter of life or death for Aerun. As he was fighting one of the walls of the maze exploded to Aerun"s right. Through the wall flew a bloodied Prince Karretun who was getting up and pulling out some of the devices he created. When he saw Aerun he ran over and the two began to fight back to back. Combining Aerun"s formations and soul strength with Prince Karretun"s device gave the pair a little breathing room.
However, the Fiends were not any less troubling. In fact, there were now four of them and they formed a sword formation and attacked even more fiercely together.
"Hey Prince, remember when we first met, weren"t we fighting Fiends?" asked Aerun.
"Yeah, they nearly killed me," the Prince said.
"I guess it"s ironic that we meet like this facing Fiends once more. Maybe we"ll die at their hands, but even so, I don"t regret anything," said Aerun.
"Me either, let"s see if we can take them down with us!" shouted Prince Karretun.
"Okay!" replied Aerun.
The two men came to the secret realm with great antic.i.p.ation. They both realized their journey down the martial path was limited. More than likely they would complete their training in the Supreme Immortal Heavenly Rain Sect as average students. They had both planned on returning to the Water Rock Supreme Sect at the end of their time in the Supreme Immortal Heavenly Rain Sect. There they would become Elders or maybe one of them could become the Sect Master after some time.
News of a secret realm reinvigorated them; secret realms often held the key turning a kitten into a lion, a flea into a world-devouring monster. There was a chance they could find a chance to change their fates. Alas, it wasn"t meant to be. This whole thing was a trap, they should have listened to Lorne, when had he ever steered them wrong?
Just as their thoughts came to this point, the Fiends finally broke through killing both Aerun and Karretun. Their bodies lying on the ground as their eyes grew dimmer and dimmer. One of the Fiends approached and finally spoke.
"Cultivators are so weak!" He spat on the two and the four Fiends left to find new prey.