Chapter 5: Alliances

We stood still for a few minutes, making sure that the sects truly left. After they had all left, I turned to the other Supreme Elders. Garmond was still staring out into nothingness, but the others also turned to me.

“Now that they have left, tell me, just how did the Sect Master manage to get poisoned?” I asked. He’s a peak Legendary Saint, while the Ping and Pong brothers were only peak Mythical Saints. The distance between two such beings, would be astronomical. There should be no way in hell that they could poison the Sect Master, except if it was through food, but even then, he should be able to sense the poison in the food, before he swallowed it.

But by the sound of it, they had poisoned him in the middle of the fight. It was really bugging my mind.

“Those brothers were very sly. This poison works in several stages. Except if you are a legendary saint, the first stage won’t do much. It is designed to weaken you, but it won’t weaken you more than to the Mythical Saint level, no matter what. The second stage, is where it spreads out into the veins, and then the third, and last stage, it starts corrupting your soul. After that, you won’t have much time left to live,” one of the Supreme Elders said.

“While the other brother was fighting, the Ping Sect Master put the poison on his own neck, and several other areas. It was a big gamble, but then he attacked Sect Master Assiel. Assiel grabbed Ping by the neck, and the poison is so potent that you will be affected, if you only touch it. Thus, Ping had managed to poison the Sect Master, but at the price of suffering the poison himself.

We don’t know if they have a cure or not, but they most likely did, or they would not have played such a risky gamble. Unfortunately, we do not know of any said cure. Since Ping was at the peak of the Mythical Saint level, he didn’t get weakened, so the two Sect Masters ganged up on Assiel, and thus managed to beat him down. As soon as we arrived, they quickly managed to flee the scene.” The female Supreme Elder explained. I nodded. They had truly gone to great lengths to do this, even risking their own lives, but in the end it paid off for them. After they finished explaining what happened, we went into one of the palaces, where several Elders were gathered. There were five seats prepared at the end of the large table, while all the Elders sat around it.

Garmond, the first Supreme Elder, was the first to rise, and speak.

“Someone report the casualties!” He ordered. The Martial Elder in charge of keeping count of disciples, rose.

“As the battle was short lived, there were not many casualties. About five hundred Disciples died, as well as twenty three Martial Elders. The numbers on the enemy side, were a bit higher,” he reported. Garmond nodded.

“Alright. Our current situation is quite tight. It seems the Demon Sect has rallied against us, by gathering sects. It is certain that they have at least five powerful sects on their side, but it is highly likely that the Ping and Pong Sects are with them as well, as they were responsible for poisoning the Sect Master. If there are eight sects against us, where one is just as strong as us, with a peak Legendary Saint, we are highly outnumbered. But there is still hope. The Demon Master has not been seen for four hundred years, since Sect Masters and his last battle. The Demon Master was very heavily wounded, so he might still be recovering.

Supreme Elder Isaac reported that he stabilized Sect Masters condition, and it will take up to a few dozen years until he wakes up again. If we can hold out until then, everything should work itself out.

Thus, for now we need more allies. This Sect war, will undoubtedly turn into a war spanning the entire continent, and it will affect other clans, so it will turn into two sides. The sects that are with us, and the sects that are with the Demon Sect.

So we will go to as many sects as possible, and have them join us. As you know, there are five sects which we have always been close to. The Fen Sect, the Lai Sect, the Lin Sect, the Vu Sect and the Death Sect. We, the five Supreme Elders will go to these sects. You, the Martial Elders, go to all the sects with similar morals as us. Anyone who worships the Demon God, and his group, will most likely join the Demon Sect, so go for the ones that worship Death, Life and Nature, and the others in the God of Death's realm. You’re dismissed!” Garmond ordered. The last parts of his speech surprised me. I didn’t actually know that much about the sect, and I certainly didn’t expect them to be worshipers of the Dread Father. After all the Martial Elders left, only the five of us were left. I had a few questions to ask, as well as a little thing to say.

“Do any of you know where my wife, Amelia, went?” I asked first. The female of the Supreme Elders, Nana, said, “I believe she went on sacrifice mission, in the name of our religion. I was surprised how fine she was with it. After all, it’s basically murder.”

“That’s not weird, as we have always been followers of the God of Death, as he was the one that created me. Perhaps you have heard of the divine nature of my being?” I asked. Now everyone was even more surprised.

“We heard, but are you really a Demi God of Death? I was expecting you to be from some lesser god,” Garmond exclaimed. “But this is good! Now that I think about it, you are still at the Saint level, right? That explains everything. That’s why you could withstand the ‘Chaos God’ method. Good, very good indeed!” He continued.

“Alright, now we need to decide who goes to which sect. Isaac, you go to the Lin Sect, as you sparred with their Supreme Guardian, the Sect Master's brother. Rumours say that he’s even stronger than the Sect Leader, but preferred to let his brother rule. He acts as the guardian of their sect, as well as the executioner. A very strong man, but still inferior to you, Isaac. Now that you are here, you would be the equivalent of him. Therefore, I do not mind imparting my position, as first Supreme Elder, to you.” Garmond stated. I looked him in the eye.

“Elder Garmond, I do not wish to take your position away. I am a Demi God, and I was tasked to adventure the world, to get stronger, and more experience, by Dread Father, so I cannot stay here forever. I will at most stay here for a few hundred years, before I continue my journey. Therefore, I am satisfied with my position. After all, I have lived almost my entire life as the top figure, the strongest there is, so it is a refreshing change, to know that there are people above me. Now, at this moment, counting all the empires, Mage Schools, and organizations here, I don’t even number in the top hundred. Amongst the cultivators, the ones with the strongest force, I only number as the third strongest. Refreshing indeed. But if there is no other matters to partake, I shall leave now, for the Lin Sect.” I said.

“Well, if that’s your wish, fine then. We won’t hold you any longer, Elder Isaac.” Garmond said, then I turned and left, wings sprouting from my back. When the Elders saw my wings, it reminded them that I wasn’t human, nor elf, or any race they knew of. Nana, the third Supreme Elder, was in fact, an elf.

The Sword Sect had several different races in it. Although the majority of the Sect was human, they were still only about seventy percent of the population. There were several different races, like Elves, Dwarves, Draconians, and a few avian bird races.

As I flew through the skies, I realized, I had no idea where the Lin Sect was. Luckily for me, there was a caravan below me. I quickly flew down to them, first giving them dear, before they marvelled at the sight. They were more than happy, to point me in the direction of the Lin Sect, as well as the nearest city, that could teleport me there.

Thus, I flew at full speed, towards said city. Like that, it only took me one hour, going to the city, and teleporting to the city nearest Lin Sect, then flying over to the Lin Sect. Quickly, I found the Sect Master, who was not happily surprised, as I interrupted him.

“Who are you?! How dare you bulge in like that!?” He said, as he released his heavy aura, but my response was to do the same. My aura had been altered, by the ‘Chaos God Technique’, so it was far heavier than his own. His aura quickly disappeared, and when it was gone, I willed my own away.

“Relax, I’m Supreme Elder Isaac, from the Sword Sect. Your brother should have told you about me right?” I asked him. The Sect Master seemingly relaxed.

“Oh, it’s you? You really scared me there, thought I was about to be assassinated as well. I heard about Assiel, how is he?” He asked.

“He’s fine now, but he’ll probably be out for a few years, at the least. I managed to heal him, for the most part. But that is not the most pressing matter right now. A few hours ago, we were attacked by five sects, who we assume to be controlled by the Demon Sect. A massive war, between all sects, is about to break out. It will be between the Sword Sect, the Demon Sect, and all sects on either side. So I have hurried here, for the sake of your support.” I explained.

“A war is about to break out? This is bad. You can count on our support, as I have always been good friends with Assiel, but how do you think our odds are? There are more Sects that worship their Divine Sphere, than ours, and they have the Demon Sect,” he said.

“Well, as long as the Demon Master doesn’t come back, we will have the other hand, as I’m the third strongest between sects, and the other two are out of commission. My strength can compare to four peak Mythical Saints, and from my spar with Ley, he should be the fourth strongest, and compare to two Mythical Saints. I do not know of the situation on the other side, but the chances of them having someone comparable to Ley is low, and it’s impossible for them to have someone like me, considering that Demi Gods on my level, are beyond rare.” I said. When the Sect Master heard me, he was clearly shocked.

“You’re a Demi God?! What God do you belong to?!” He hurriedly asked me. I smiled at his eagerness.

“I’m a Demi God of Death, belonging to Gebados, although I don’t have any death related abilities, except maybe my ultimate technique, and defiance against death.” I said, causing the Sect Master to raise an eyebrow.

“Defiance against death? What does that mean?” He asked. Hearing of my abilities, you would think that it would hint at being a vampire, especially since I was the son of Gebados, but people didn’t know whether vampires came from a god or not, or which one, as it had been several millions years since they were last seen, at the least. The people who could remember them, were very rare. All that was left were stories and legends.

“Well, I’m very hard to kill. I regenerate extremely quickly, which is what allowed me to train in the ‘Chaos God Technique’, amongst others.” I said. He nodded, understanding that he shouldn’t ask further. Cultivators and practitioners had many secrets, they didn’t want others to know about.

“So I can count on your support? Good. Also, I never got your name. I spent the last ten years, training in seclusion, so I haven’t learned about the important people of the continent yet,” I said.

“Oh, I am Walton Lin, Sect Master of the Lin Sect, nice to finally meet you,” he said. I nodded in return, and introduced myself,

“I am Isaac Coldblood, head of the Coldblood Clan, second Supreme Elder of the Sword Sect, son of Gebados; God of death; as well as Sylvia and Edward, and Demi God of the God of Death, Gebados.”

Quite the lengthy introduction, but it felt weirdly satisfying to say. As I finished my introduction, Ley entered the room. He had seemingly heard the introductions.

“And I am Ley Lin, brother of Walton,” He said. “There, that’s enough for an introduction. You don’t need a forty word speech.” He said, causing me to laugh at him.

“Good to meet you again, Lin. I come here today, because war is brewing, and we need as many sects as possible on our side,” I said, then proceeded to explain him, the happenings of the day.

“The Demon Sect is acting up? That’s bad, now that Assiel is down, but hopefully, the Demon Master is still not recovered, or maybe he even died.” Ley said, but Walton cut in,

“No, I doubt he’s dead. If he was, then the Demon Sect wouldn’t be acting up. But, he might still be recovering, as this war might last decades, or even centuries. After all, they didn’t think that Isaac would be here, or that he would be able to heal Assiel.”

Walton had always been the smarter one, while Ley was always the stronger one, but don’t mistake, they were both powerful peak Mythical Saints. Ley even thought that he might break through soon, which would make him the first Legendary Saint to be born in a long time, as well as the third in circle of Sects.

The Sects were the most powerful force in the Sword Continent, to the point that it was even named after the Sword Sect, but that was only because of Assiel and the Demon Master, whose name was known by few. No one knew how they became so strong, as they were by far the oldest beings on the continent.

An early Saint could live for a thousand years, but that lifespan grew wider, the stronger they got. An early Mythical Saint could live for ten thousand years, plus. Then you had the Legendary Saints. Legendary Saints had such long lifespans that the vast majority of them died in battle, instead of age. Also, you stopped aging completely after reaching the Saint level.

But even a peak Legendary Saint wouldn’t remember vampires, since it was just that long ago. It was completely forgotten, most facts about them corrupted by time.

As I was talking, I suddenly remembered about one of my goals, so I decided to ask them about it.

“Have any of you ever heard of the Legendary Saint, Palazar? He was a necromancer, and was killed as he was about to transform into a Lich. I don’t know how long ago it was, I received his legacy, and want to avenge him if possible,” I said. Ley suddenly looked at me with wide eyes.

“Palazar, the Necromancer? You received his legacy? Does that mean you’re a necromancer?” He asked. I shook my head.

“No, I received the manual on Energy Manipulation Magic, which is a very powerful magic, but it isn’t necromancy. My guess is that he used energy manipulation for battle, while he used necromancy to raise undead minions, and prolong his life. But have you heard of him?” I asked.

“I see. And yes, I have heard of him, but it was only in one of my conversations with Assiel, a few thousand years ago. Back then, it had already been a very long time since he disappeared, so I don’t know much, except that he was very famous, and powerful. I would ask Assiel for more, when he wakes up. He might know more.” He said.

I nodded my head, and thanked him, before turning around to leave, my wings springing out once more. A few hours later, and I was back at my residence at the Sect. Apparently, Amelia wouldn’t return for another few days, so I sat down in a room, preparing to start on the second stage of the ‘Chaos God Technique’.

This technique wouldn’t cause as much chaos on my surrounding as before, but it was much harder.

I began circulating my energy as before, I started absorbing it into my flesh and bones, then returning it to my core, and forming it into small spikes that pierced back inside, then rinse and repeat, until my body couldn’t take it anymore. From there, I started circulating my energies differently. This time it was much calmer, surrounding my bones and flesh, healing them, then covering my core, where it started filling the holes where it expanded. First the core became bigger, by a tiny amount, then it started covering the round shaped core once more, but instead of entering it, it started compressing it, making it smaller and smaller. In the end, it was a tiny bit smaller than before, and more pure and potent.

End of chapter 5.

Hey there loyal readers. Tis' I Lord Martin, Lord of the Dark Realm, Master of rambling.

Now that this chapter is finished, I have a small announcement to make. After a few conversations with RagNarok, we've decided to rewrite the first fourteen or so chapters, so I'll be doing that over the next few weeks. Don't worry though, I'll still release chapters for both Hunters of the Night, as well as Rise of the Vampires.

After the rewrite is finished, I plan on publishing the book on amazon. It will be in e-book format, as I don't have the financial support for physical books.

Anyways, thanks for reading and please rate and review, follow and favorite. It makes my day, and also helps bring this novel into the light.