Divine Slaughter

Not long after Shi shot away from the battlefield, off into the distance, a golden flash of light appeared in the midst of the crowd, drawing most gazes away from the departing madwoman.

When the blinding light subsided, revealing three domineering figures within, gasps of shock resounded throughout the chaotic region. The battlefield immediately fell still. After a few moments, a crazed laugh sent thousands of weaker cultivators flying backwards, whilst many directly exploded into mists of blood under the impact.

"Law Empyrean you ugly bastard, did you finally decide to let me eat you?!"

The man who spoke was Primal Savage, one of the eight Empyreans in the current world!

Primal Savage was a large human man, but interestingly, the fact that he was almost nine feet tall had nothing to do with his cultivation…he was just tall. He wore beast furs around his legs, but his upper body was completely bare. His hair was long and unkempt, but not unclean, and his primal appearance was completed by the scar carvings engraved into his flesh, and the beast fangs hanging from his ears.

Primal Savage was said to be one of the oldest humans in this world, so old that he was from Law Empyrean's generation. Aside from the Primordial Demons, those from this ancient generation were the oldest beings in the 2nd Origin Era.

Primal Savage came from a cultivator tribe, but his tribe had long since died. Even so, he retained his tribe's customs of dressing in beast furs, scaring his flesh with bloody tattoos…and eating human flesh.

Wave after wave of power emanated out from this imposing man, creating a region of danger that nobody dared to breach. Primal Savage was a Qi refiner, but he cultivated his own unique self-created technique, which fused his Qi with his killing intent, strengthening his body to the level of divine body temperers!

Very few people in this world could match Primal Savage's killing intent; his killing intent was so powerful that he used it to form a sword, this was at the level of solid killing intent!

Aside from Yaan, who developed burning killing intent after slaughtering almost every living being on the Spirit Plane, solid killing intent was the most profound level of killing intent that could be found in the 2nd Origin Era.

That's not to say that Yaan had killed more people than even the Gods from other Eras, however, but the physical manifestation of killing intent within a specific Origin Era, depended on how much a person had killed in that specific Era. The reason for this was said to be related to the Heavenly Dao and even the Origin itself, and how their laws of operation underwent changes in each Era.

Anyway, the killing aura of a person with solid killing intent, was enough to slaughter anyone below the Divine Step instantly if they dared to get too close. Of course, this didn't apply to divinities, and especially not an Empyrean like Law Empyrean...and the other two Empyreans by his side.

Indeed, finally, Law Empyrean, Rainbow Empyrean and Love Empyrean, the three Empyreans of the Divine Court, had arrived at the main battlefield in the Divine Star System!

After Shi destroyed the Eternal Prison and escaped with Primal Savage, Reckless Demon and Blood Deity, many divinities immediately took the chance to join the chaos and attack the Divine Star System. However, a star system was an enormous region, and over the past few hours, multiple battlefields had arisen across this key territory of the Divine Court. The main battlefield was right here, in the region of destruction where the Eternal Prison had once been, very close to the entrance into Divine Heaven. The attackers in this place were the most daring of the invaders, they actually wanted to break into Divine Heaven, but others were taking the opportunity to create trouble for the Divine Court elsewhere.

Or at least, they were.

Law Empyrean stared at Primal Savage without any change in his expression, only speaking after the surviving members of the Divine Court quickly appeared by his side.

"Primal Savage, you will not be eating anyone else today. If you believe that reinforcements are on the way, or that the Divine Court is struggling to deal with those opportunistic demons, then I will have to disappoint you. The other demonic fiends have been handled, only this battlefield remains."

Primal Savage's eyes slightly narrowed, but he didn't back down, and instead roared with laughter.

"Is that so?! I was wondering why you three didn't show your faces for so long, even after three of your pathetic subordinates died so miserably in this place! So it turns out that you left your men for dead in order to round up those other flies! Tell me, how many died this time?!"

Law Empyrean's words filled the Divine Court members with relief and satisfaction, but Primal Savage caused them to feel enraged.

It was exactly as Primal Savage said - in this battlefield, three members of the Divine Court had lost their lives! Three divinities, in a matter of hours!

There were not many divinities in this world. Just yesterday, across the three planes, there had been 72 living divinities. Just yesterday, there had been 24 members in the Divine Court, but now, there were 21!

"Of the nine invading fiends, five were killed, four were driven away." Law Empyrean spoke calmly.

Instantly, the faces of those opposing the Divine Court fell. Just moments ago, the battle was in their favour, but in an instant, everything changed!

Destruction Empyrean, one of their two Empyreans, had suddenly left! The invaders were massively outnumbered by Divine Court members in this battlefield, but they had two Empyreans, their enemy had none…but now, their enemy had three Empyreans, they had just one, and their reinforcements had been slaughtered!

For some reason though, Primal Savage's laughter became even louder, and every single one of his 'allies' felt extremely bitter.

Why did they feel so bitter?

Because this man was a madman! It was true that he had killed a member of the Divine Court, but he also killed Blood Deity, whom was on their side! As for Reckless Demon, the other prisoner who had been released, he fled from the battlefield as soon as Shi stopped paying attention.

The Divine Court now had them vastly outnumbered.

"I was captured at the end of the last great war, and now, I have been released at the beginning of another great war! It's been less than half a day, yet how many divinities have fallen already?! You guys killed five, I counted six that died here…that's nine! Nine divinities, in under half a day!"

"…"

As everyone stared at Primal Savage with speechless expressions, Law Empyrean, whom was already familiar with his inability to count, turned to Rainbow Empyrean by his side.

"Rainbow Empyrean, myself and Love Empyrean can handle this battlefield. Follow Destruction Empyrean - she is heading towards the World Demon. Do not engage them, just observe. We still do not understand the abilities of the two new Empyreans, but regardless, do not forget…those two are fated to survive the end of this Era. There would be no meaning in attempting to kill them."

Rainbow Empyrean sighed and nodded.

"Understood…"

However, just as Rainbow Empyrean turned to leave, Love Empyrean gently touched his shoulder, prompting him to turn back questioningly.

"I shall go. I wish to meet the World Demon."

Rainbow Empyrean looked surprised. Usually, Love Empyrean didn't care about anybody, though he supposed there had been one or two exceptions.

When Law Empyrean also glanced at her, she only briefly explained herself before shooting off into the distance.

"I have been in seclusion for too long, I missed many things that have transpired over the years. The stories of this World Demon…interest me."

It wasn't long before Love Empyrean caught sight of Shi, who was flying crazily with no regard for her surroundings. Every now and then, black bolts of lightning would erupt from her body and obliterate a nearby planet or moon. Love Empyrean sighed and shook her head when she saw this, but she continued to conceal herself and did not intervene.

She loved all living beings in this world, but she was also a very intelligent and rational woman; she knew that interfering with this madwoman would only result in more problems.

As Love Empyrean flew, thoughts of Yaan's exploits filled her mind. The Divine Court's ability to investigate a person and discern every little detail about their life, was simply terrifying, so she knew many things that others outside of the Divine Court did not.

She had spent most of the past million years in seclusion, feeling unwilling to involve herself in worldly affairs after the last great war. It was only after Law Empyrean summoned her several hours ago, that she had been informed of Yaan's existence, and how he had shaken the world.

However, Yaan's power, his speed of cultivation, and all he had done to shock the world, were not what caught her attention. It was actually some of the finer details, details that most overlooked, which truly shook her heart.

"Yaan…I have met many broken people in this world, but very few are as broken as the stories make you sound. And yet, that brokenness helped you to complete your dao."

"Your parents and baby sister were killed when you were a child…and yet, knowing that your mother's reincarnation resided on the Spirit Plane, you still destroyed it; you destroyed her. Your baby sister became the spirit of your sword, but you sacrificed her to destroy the world plane. Your father's reincarnation remains alive, and is in fact living within one of our subordinate sects, but you ignore him…"

"The world sees you as heartless, but I can feel that this is not the case at all. No…you are actually one of the rare few divinities, who truly understands love."

"You loved a mortal wife, but you let her die. You loved your mortal niece, but you left her behind, only for her to become your shadow of destruction. You loved your childhood friend, but her connection to you resulted in her dying at the hands of the Primordial Devil. You loved the mad elephant, but it sacrificed itself to save you…"

"I am sure that these examples known to the Divine Court are not the only ones."

"You have experienced so many forms of love, but you managed to let them all go, without any reservation or doubt."

"World Demon, huh…?"