Chapter 001: The Downfall
It was a serene winter night with a cold white moon looming over the frigid, desolate plain. Its silvery light shone upon the glistening crimson river which flowed from the blood of millions dead human bodies, fallen warriors who had participated in the Holy Crusade. Their blood dyed every inch of the soil and turned what was previously white into striking blood red. Even the whiteness of fresh snowflakes falling upon them was not able to cover them and instantly turned red when they landed on the ground.
Crows, vultures and many other scavenger animals and stray beasts were partying upon the charred, destroyed bodies of fallen warriors of the Argoth Continent. A flock of birds were plucking the innards and the eyes of the dead bodies while the four-legged mutated beasts gnawed on the carcasess' bones and skulls.
The caws of the birds, the roars of the mutated four-legged beasts were music to the ears of a middle aged man that stood tall and firm atop the highest hill of human carcasses in the middle of the battle field. He was the Pope of Hollians Church, Abaddon.
Just below him at the foothill of the dead bodies, Wei Shen was dying due to his extremely wounded body.
Although he was reincarnated to the Argoth Continent and was already at the Peak God Realm in terms of cultivation with hundreds of Mythical Beasts at his disposal, Wei Shen still couldn't defeat the pope who wielded dozens of Heavenly Artifacts.
The Pope stepped down among a pile of dead bodies. "I commend your tenacity in reaching this far against me as a mere Beast Master, young human."
The two white and black wolf-beasts growled and snarled while standing protectively over their master. Wei Shen couldn't move his body due to the excessive Qi Deviation after the intense four-week battle he was embroiled in without rest even for a single day.
Hoarsely, Wei Shen mumbled a spell to undo the contract with the wolf-beasts. Soon enough, two wolf tattoos on the back of his hands disappeared to thin air.
"Little Hei… Little Dai… You are all free now, thank you for everything. Now go… I can't bear to see you guys die before me."
Hei and Dai whined and started to shed tears. They nudged Wei Shen's shoulder to revoke the contract spell to them.
"Don't give me those eyes. That won't work this time. GO! LEAVE ME!"
The two wolf-beasts won't listen to Wei Shen and move on their accord instead of leaving the battlefield. They charged so fiercely towards Abaddon without any fear even though they knew their attempt was futile.
With just two swings of his massive longsword, Abaddon beheaded the wolf-beasts effortlessly.
"No.. NOO!" Wei Shen cried at the top of his lungs.
The Pope swung his longsword to get rid of the blood to the ground. He then brandished it to Wei Shen's neck.
"Hah! Those pesky dogs reminded me that one eyed old fart also had two wolves with the same color as yours, Wei Shen. Hahaha! Although you are reincarnated to this land, becoming the biggest villain in all the history of Argoth Continent. You still can't defeat me, Abaddon, The Holiest!"
Ptooey!
Wei Shen spat his blood onto Abaddon's face, "Holiest my ass. You are just a paranoid boomer. If you think Argoth would be a better place with your shitty religious cult, you are wrong big time. There will be others like me who will overthrow your so-called Hollians Church. Your doctrine won't last forever."
Infuriated, Abaddon wiped the blood from his face and kicked Wei Shen straight into the chest.
"Your Heresy ends here!"
Wei Shen coughed out a mouthful of blood, "Pah! Heresy you said? You clapped hundreds of innocent young women, you killed tens of thousands enslaved men for your so-called holy sacrifices to your god. You come to my fief just because my town and folks are getting stronger. Your baldy head is just afraid of the unknown. You're just afraid of the changes, you're afraid of ME!"
Pa!
Abaddon slapped Wei Shen's cheek with the side of his sword and scratched his left cheek. However, Wei Shen chuckled and smirked even though he knew his life was about to end.
"Any last word?"
"Yeah… " with his last strength, Wei Shen raised his left middle finger with a proud face and smirked.
"You are a dead meat!"
Infuriated, Abaddon's sword energy peaked to the brim and ready to take out Wei Shen's head.
Slash!
With just that one stroke, Wei Shen's head was beheaded mercilessly and rolled down from his neck. A flock of vultures quickly descended down to feast upon his head and body. That was the last view that Wei Shen saw before he went into oblivion. Pope Abaddon laughed like a maniac after he beheaded his nemesis which hindered his plan to rule the Argoth Continent.
Or… That was what it ought to be.
Wei Shen opened his eyes and found himself on a familiar altar in the middle of a massive hall. The white and cold limestone was the first thing he felt on his half naked body. A few seconds later, a beautiful voice of a female echoed throughout the hall and she appeared in front of Wei Shen.
"You're back, Wei Shen?"
He sat upright and met her bluish eyes. "Minerva… It's been a while!"
Plak!
One hard slap landed on the back of Wei Shen's head. The Goddess of Wisdom, Minerva was extremely irritated due to Wei Shen's laid back expression even though he couldn't complete the task that she gave to him and died miserably.
"It's been a while your ass! It's only been five years and you're already dead? What a shame! I have high expectations of you and put an end to that Outer God who controls the Pope's mind, once and for all!"
"That's the problem, oh my beautiful goddess. That Outer God is stronger and way wicked than you think! I need more power and resources in order to defeat that baldy head. Yet, you just give me a single piece of land and limited resources."
"Sigh, you are such an ungrateful bastard. The system that you got is the finest amongst all systems that I could offer to you, you know that so well!"
Even though Wei Shen was agitated, he held his anger and tried to convey his words to her.
"I need more than individual strength! The System alone won't suffice me to defeat the whole Argoth Continent! I need a fucking kingdom! Or maybe an Empire would be nicer." Wei Shen smirked while rubbing his chin, imagining what a lavish life he could have for being a king or an emperor.
"Sorry but I can't do that. With your trash life karma when you are on Earth. You can't afford it. And you will get penalized due to your poor prior performances. Your power and cultivations will be stripped away. Thus, you will also be reincarnated back to Argoth 10 years prior before the Holy Crusade!"
"Bah! Then just send me back to Argoth! And I will build a kingdom by myself. Just make sure all my systems, knowledge and skills tree are intact!"
"Which means you are going to be reincarnated as a mere bumpkin,"
"Tsk! Yeah whatever... that'll do! But, This time... I will do this my own way! I will slap every man who opposes me! I will clap every beautiful chicks that I like. As long as I can defeat that Outer Gods of yours! Does that satisfy your terms and conditions?"
The Goddess sighed heavily, she couldn't deny him. Since Wei Shen was the only person with Level 10 Soul Aptitude. Only one amongst billions of births on Earth that could transcend into other dimensions.
"Okay, then. Just be careful. I wish you could win the war this time."
"Actually, I don't care about your war with that Outer God. But that Mfr is clearly messing with me and the worst of all, he killed my beloved wolves! That's unforgivable!"
"Alright! Here we go! Clench your jaws or you will bite your tongue!"
Zzzzzzz!!!!
Wei Shen's body was illuminated so bright with golden lights. Series of Spell Circles were drawn automatically around his body. The energy friction was so strong and chaotic. If one's Soul Aptitude was too low, the latter's soul would be torn and shattered into pieces and impossible to construct the soul back to one piece.
Wooosh!
With just that, Wei Shen was back to the eastern part of the Argoth Continent or most likely the Eastaros Sub-Continent. The place where he could cultivate his strength along with many other cultivators.