“Drop your weapons and surrender, in the name of the Golden Dragon we guarantee your lives, stop this pointless conflict!”

“You’ll guarantee our safety? How can we trust someone like you, weren’t you the ones that started this dispute?”

“That is incorrect and you probably know it already. The Long Clan attempted to assassinate our Patriarch, they did nothing to protect us when the monstrous beings appeared and even now continue to deny all allegations like the cowards they are!”

“P-preposterous, the Long Clan wouldn’t do such a thing!”

An elder shouted in anger at the accusations that were being presented. Their group of warriors had barricaded themselves inside a large structure. It was their last bastion that was protected by a few layers of formations.

“It wouldn’t? Then where are they? Why did they leave all of you here? They certainly didn’t believe that you could hold us back. Look at the facts, they left you all here to die.”

On the outside, there was a large group of cultivators. They were formed up in several formations that created water serpents and other creatures. All of them had stopped the siege as they didn’t want to waste their time on such a matter. This battle was already over and the people inside were just postponing the inevitable.

“That’s impossible they would never…”

“Never? Why do you still deny the truth? We offer you a way to save your life, the ones you serve would never give such an opportunity to their enemies! Do you wish for more lives to be lost? You might hold out for a few days at most and then what?”

“T-the Long Clan will surely send help…”

“Oh? They will? That’s not what our scouts reported.”

“What do you mean?”

“Have you not realized yet? You all have been abandoned, your governor who was a member of the Long Clan left before the battle even started. Do you think it was us that blocked the teleportation gate from working? No, they destroyed it by themselves so that no one else could follow after them.”

The elder on the inside couldn’t muster up any words as he knew that something was wrong. When the large armada was seen approaching their leader suddenly vanished without a trace. The teleportation gate was activated once and then stopped working as some other people were trying to escape. Their group assumed that the enemy did something to block their escape device as some of the other teleportation talismans they had weren’t working either.

“H-he really abandoned us?”

“Yes, that’s how the Long Clan does things, haven’t you heard already?”

“So it was true, they don’t care about us at all! We are just a branch family …”

“No you must not give in to their words, we should wait …”

“Wait for what? Do you think the Azure Emperor will appear to save us when he has not been seen anywhere for hundreds of years?”

The people inside the structure started arguing with each other. Some had heard the news about branch clans being offered up for slaughter and also the rumors of dealings with demons. Both sides were throwing these accusations at each other so most people assumed that it was just the usual tactic. Placing themselves on the moral high ground was a standard tactic for war. It gave people the excuse to slaughter their enemies if they were vile monsters in the eyes of others.

“Maybe it won’t be so bad? Why are they even asking us to surrender…”

“What do you mean?”

“They should be able to break through our defenses soon… why are they offering us a way to survive?”

“Because they are liars and they won’t be able to get in?”

“Do you really believe that? All of you know that we have been abandoned, I for one would like to survive…”

One of the men that was talking looked to the side where his wife and child were huddled up with others. The attack had not come as a total surprise but they were not able to evacuate people from the city. One of the reasons was due to the governing member from the Long Clan. He had forbidden anyone from leaving the city and many here had already realized why. With their families stuck inside the city walls, they would do a better job at defending the Long Clan’s investments because if they fell, their family members would be next in line.

“If we just wait, help will come…”

“Are you sure? Wouldn’t it be better to at least try, is there something besides our lives that we can lose?”

The group stopped arguing and instead began to think. What were the realistic chances of their side turning it around on the enemy combatants? Their city was not that much of an important location in the grand scheme of things. It was a city meant for leisure without any strategic meaning. What these people from the United Element Sect were doing was just passing by.

Their leaders had probably all escaped to the next city that was entrenched in a mountain region and would pose a bigger threat. There was no reason for them to come back as they would only risk losing their combatants. These people were probably on the way over there so it was better to wait and fight at a more favorable location. This of course meant that they would all die instead as no help was coming.

“I heard that the Golden Dragon is righteous… what if the rumors were true? What if the Long Clan was the aggressor all along?”

“I would rather live with disgrace or as a slave than see my children die here…”

“But what if they use us for demonic rituals?”

“Will it change anything if we don’t surrender? Do you think we can beat them? You’ve seen their might…”

The people on the inside started to consult each other for more input. It was clear that they didn’t know what the right choice was. Their will to live was strong but they didn’t want to be labeled as traitors. The people on the other side continued to wait patiently but they didn’t have time to wait forever.

“Have you decided?”

“What will you do with us if we surrender? Will you kill the men and take in the children?”

“Kill the men? We are not barbarians, in the name of the Patriarch you will be detained and taken to a temporary settlement. There you will live until this war is over.”

“A temporary settlement?”

“Yes, you will not be permitted to leave but fear not, your families will not be mistreated or used for slave labor.”

The conversation continued as the people painted a picture of what the other sect had in store for them. Normally prisoners of war would either become slaves or just be killed outright. Any cultivator in the world had the potential to grow powerful and then seek vengeance. Thus the winning side usually performed a cleansing by either killing everyone or destroying their cultivation base.

Due to these facts, the people that were on the losing end had trouble trusting their potential captors. What if they all get sent out to some type of cleansing facility instead of the promised temporary settlement? To some of them, it was better to at least try to fight if they were just going to get massacred. Scattering in all directions was also an option, perhaps a handful of people could survive and to some, this was a valid option.

“W-what if we just run? At least some of us should be able to escape?”

One of these people proposed to flee. Yet when looking at the other people in here, they didn’t seem to be of the same mind.

“Are you crazy? Did you see the flying ships they have and those trapping formations? None of us will be able to leave the city. They already blocked off all the secret escape tunnels.”

All escape attempts have been thwarted. It was as if their enemies had information about their escape routes. Many had already tried to escape and they were forced to retreat to this place to seek shelter. It was a temporary solution and within a few days their enemies would probably make it in.

“So what then, do we trust them? What if they skin us alive?”

“You believe those rumors too much.”

“Yeah… Did you all notice? They didn’t seem as ferocious as those rumors were saying…”

“The might actually let us live…”

Some of the people here were there when the fighting started. During a war when an enemy went down, they were given a death blow but these United Element Sect people didn’t seem to follow through. It was as if they were given the order to conserve lives. Due to these facts, the group finally started giving in to their fears and made a decision.

“We will surrender, just swear on your honor that you will uphold the things that you said to us!”

“We of the United Element Sect don’t lie, I swear on the entire sect and the Patriarch’s good name that you will not be harmed.”

Finally, the defensive formation was disabled and the cultivators from the United Element Sect rushed in. The people inside were scared but just as they promised their weapons landed on the ground. If the other side betrayed them this would be the best opportunity but no carnage came, instead they were guided outside where some other city residents were.

“Brother, I thought you were dead?”

“I thought so too… it might take some time for my cultivation base to recover… but they didn’t kill me.”

People that were left on the outside were mostly here. There were some deaths but a lot of the soldiers actually managed to survive and were being detained instead. It seemed that what the people from the United Element Sect said was true and they would all be able to survive.

Soon all of them were being guided towards a circular gate. It was one of their own teleportation devices that had been seized by the other forces. There were some strange metallic parts on the sides applied to it that the people here didn’t recognize. As it churned to present them with a path forward they steeled their nerves as what awaited them at the end could be their undoing.

“Oh, you finally made it through?”

“Uncle? Huh? Didn’t you perish a week ago … “

“Perish, nonsense! The lies of the Long Clan have spread too far! Come, let me fill you in on what has been happening lately…”

When on the other end they arrived at a strange place. It looked like a new world with a different sky and some of the people they knew from other cities that had been previously captured were also there. Soon they would realize that a lot fewer deaths occurred in the recent push of the United Element Sect…