Faster than the blink of an eye, faster than either of them could react, the "Demon King" had done something that they had only heard of in legend: he had opened a gate to a wandering ruin.
Like any good cultivator worth their salt, the two of them had been inside wandering ruins before in order to train and get their hands on rare treasures. As such, they had been to enough of them to pick up little nuances about them, notice some commonalities in the same way that certain bars and inns always seem to have a similar smell to them.
The moment they saw this gate open, which was just long enough for the [Malice Blood Urn] to begin falling in, they could detect that wisp of weird energy that always seemed to permeate in every set of wandering ruins.
That said, neither of them had the time to appreciate the grandeur of the endless library they had seen a mere glimpse of, due to having to focus on the main part of their clan’s revenge plan suddenly falling into another reality at the hands of this weird stranger.
They had no idea as to why this "Demon King" wanted their urn, but they could’ve at least had the decency until their revenge was over before stealing the main lynchpin of it all!
Unfortunately for them, the "Demon King" didn’t much care for what they wanted.
The guardsmen could only shout in heartbreak as they failed to react fast enough to prevent the urn from falling in, and failed to go in after it as the gates closed as quickly as they opened.
At this point, the two of them had only two options before them.
They could either run away like cowardly traitors and save their own skins at the cost of betraying their clan and the plan, or they could try and get some well deserved retribution, obviously dying in the process due to the power gap, on the monster that destroyed their revenge plan.
Evidently, they were raised on the idea of "death before dishonor", so they chose the latter option.
Perhaps it was madness, perhaps it was desperation, but as soon as they had the chance, the two Masters of the Fallen Clan turned to attack the "Demon King", all while burning up their aether in such a way that was sure to cause them to self-destruct.
The "Demon King", however, acted as if he was expecting this course of action from the beginning.
Before either of the Fallen warriors could act further, the "Demon King’s" hands moved as fast as lightning as he grabbed both of the charging warriors by their mouths.
This would’ve been the perfect moment for the Fallen warriors to blow themselves up, taking the bastard’s arms with them, but that didn’t happen. Because as soon as they attempted to circulate their aether, agitate their bodies to explode, the "Demon King" had injected them with this weird energy that caused their aether to [stutter/change!/meltdown...].
Whatever this energy was, it prevented them from going down in a blaze of glory due to their aether being unwieldy.
They couldn’t even do any basic aether strengthening.
As the two warriors struggled though, the "Demon King" simply brought the two of them closer to his face, as if he was about to whisper to them a secret. As this occurred, a third arm manifested from the demon’s [Regalia] and placed a pointed finger over it’s owner’s face in a hushing motion...which is when he actually hushed them.
’Well that takes care of that...now what do I need to do?’
Having said what he believed an appropriately dramatic line, Zhen Liu forcefully slammed the captured enemies into each other’s heads, in order to render them both unconcious.
He had thought of snapping their necks at that moment, but he figured it’d be smarter to keep them alive for now.
One couldn’t have too many spies after all.
But with his business now done, Zhen Liu began to make his way out of the underground chamber after laying his two unconcious victims against a nearby pillar.
Zhen Liu still had one other piece of business to attend to...
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’So how long until this fog and curse both disappear?’
=Well, good news is that without the urn, the cursed blood fog it released will eventually disappear like most other fogs. Also, Archanidame and Lacerage have managed to make contact with your family and are now assisting the extraction effort.=
’...oh... that’s not...hold up...did you just say "second"? Then who’s the first?’
<=Who do you think?=>
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Back at the arena above, a little after Zhen Liu managed to spirit away a certain cursed urn...
After releasing a weird aether art that only the 24th Imperial Prince couldn’t identify, the matriarch of the main clan had managed to shatter the spatial barrier that was separating the three of them from their respective family and the rioting chaos that was rocking the arena.
That and a weird ass blood fog that seemed to be sapping the strength from all of the Zhen Clan warriors, specifically.
<> Zhen Xun Tian cursed, <>
<> Zhen Shi shouted while pointing in a direction.
In that direction, Zhen Xun Tian could see that her son and the other three High Elders were fighting for their lives against several enemy Aether Grandmasters. A highly unusual sight to be sure, but an understandable one given the current circumstances.
Zhen Xun Tian could sense that the blood fog was thinning out at this point, but it had been concentrated long enough that it still had some, if not all, debilitating effects active on many of her kinsmen.
A part of her was pissed off that he couldn’t be there to help her descendants and clan fight off these assholes until just now, another part was glad that she wasn’t caught up in this blood fog yet.
Because that meant she could go all out at peak condition.
The branch clan patriarch and 24th Imperial Prince left at almost the exact same time, and like clockwork, Zhen Xun Tian began to circulate her aether in a manner exclusive to those at the Aether Emperor level.
As she did, a giant covered head to toe in rune tattoos began to manifest behind her with an expression of pure rage that perfectly mirrored her own.
An oppressive aura soon filled the entire arena, one that was so noteciable that practically everybody in the arena paused whatever fighting they were doing in order to determine the source.
Depending on who was who’s side, this was either the best thing to happen all day or the worst.
Not noticing, or perhaps not caring, the cries and lamentations of the Fallen warriors, Zhen Xun Tian focused exclusively on the cries of relief coming from her clansmen.
She couldn’t help but to notice that there weren’t as many as she had hoped, and she could only assume the worst as to why this was the case. A thought that angered her even further.
Zhen Xun Tian took a deep breath in order to steady her thoughts, and as she did, the rune covered giant behind her did the exact same motion.
Once the breath was done, she took on a fighting stance that the rune giant, once again, mimicked perfectly.
In a vain effort to be brave, several of the Fallen warriors redirected their focus towards the matriarch and began to put up defenses.
Not that it was going to help much.
Zhen Xun Tian spared only the faintest of glances at each of the Fallen Warriors before settling her sights on one in particular, a reedy looking fellow that was standing over the body of Zhen Clan guardsman that appeared to be hunched over something. Upon closer inspection, one could see that there was a child being protected by the Zhen clansman’s form.
She was going to start there.
Without saying a word, Zhen Xun Tian simply punched in the direction of the reedy looking warrior.
What followed was the sound of someone popping like a bubble.
This was the start of the Zhen Clan’s counter attack, and it was going to feel good.
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Above and away from the arena, the Gate Elder and the Puppet Elder could see the [Hateful Blood Fog] beginning to disappear in the same manner as normal fog does on a sunny day.
This was a positive development to be sure, but the sounds of battle was still going on.
In fact, they could sense the aura of the matriarch herself going on a rampage!
The Gate Elder and Puppet Elder had briefly thought to go down there and enter the fray themselves, until they sensed something familiarly weird coming from the horizon.
Namely, the aura of that War Elder from earlier coming from the prison and straight towards them. Well, straight towards the matriarch from what they could sense.
In other words, things are going to get messy.