Elder De Danw

"Lunar Light of the Converging Silverstorm Beam!"Shadow roared at the top of his lungs as a beam of moonlight burst from his borrowed sword at the Brilliant Sword Sect Elder. The Spirit Stone on the sword's handle lost its luster in a few seconds and he rapidly replaced it with another."Tsk." Elder De clicked his tongue. Running from an attack made by a Golden Core Cultivator was beneath him, but it came from a Spirit Sword powered by a Spirit Stone. He had to defend himself, or even he would be hurt.His floating swords moved to intercept the beam as he stood unmoving in the air, hands clasped casually behind his back.The two collided and the beam split as it struck the many blades. Like shooting stars they shot in every direction, forming massive explosions where they touched the ground. Shadow roared in a maddened rage, replacing Spirit Stones on the blade and feeding it his own energy, even as his body started to decay.His skin cracked and his fingers began to burn, yet he didn't stop. He was determined to kill the Elder or die trying.And then he suddenly began burning his Soul, and the attack intensified."That's quite enough." Elder De moved his hand and swiped down with two of his fingers. A line of white lightning followed his movement and touched the ground beneath Shadow. The man immediately stopped and remained motionless.Then his hands holding the sword fell by his side and his body split down the middle and fell down with a wet plop. Then it burst into flames and began to burn. He was dead.I took a deep breath as his Soul was absorbed into mine and I felt all of his emotions and memories burst into my consciousness straight away. I forcefully pushed them down and stuffed them to the back for later. I needed an absolutely clear mind because I wasn't sure how I could win.The bladed Disciples I already quietly finished off and secretly gathered their swords and cash. Of course, the Elder noticed, but once again, he didn't seem to care. He was the strongest, the rest of us were but ants in the grasp of his palm."Hmm…" He looked at me, appearing bored. "It's you and me now, kid. Oh, wait no… That girl's still there. Give me a moment…" He pointed a finger at Vilya and gathered a small sphere of energy.I grabbed the fistful of Spirit Stones I was holding, sent a burst of energy into them, and threw them at Vilya.[Sanctuary!] I roared.Runes flashed into existence, forming lines, and pulling energy from the stones. In a split-second a dome formed around Vilya's golden shield, and then another, and another. Three-layered barrier formed around her and I hoped it was enough.Elder's attack smashed into the barrier, exploding into a web of silver lightning, and cracking the first layer. Luckily the rest of them held.[Go! Get the Elders!] I shouted. Soul Cuirass formed around me and all known manner of enchantments burst to life, empowering my flesh. A common man would burn to ashes in seconds with the energies running through me, but I was immune to flames![Go!] I roared again and jumped between her and the Elder when I saw her struggle to tear the talisman. It was just a piece of parchment! How weak was she?!"Oh, no… None of you are leaving this place." Elder De said as a matter of fact. There was no doubt in his voice that we would remain where we stood. And if there was one thing I despised above all in the world, was when someone told me I couldn't do something."Cease all resistance and kneel."I saw Vilya struggle from the corner of my eye as she was forced to drop to the ground. I felt a tingle in my mind, making me realize it was a direct Soul order. The bastard thought I would kneel before him. He could dream.[Hands off my… stuff!]I dove deep into my psyche and gathered all the rage and anger I could muster, bringing forth experiences of thousands of living beings, their hate and fear of death. I projected all of that into Vilya to counter Elder De as I roared my orders.[Stand up and tear the talisman! Get the Elders and don't look back! Go!]She was jolted upward and her hands tore the piece of parchment without a moment to spare."What?!"By the time a second went by and Elder De Danw realized something had gone wrong, Vilya's body already turned into lightning and she shot out of the barrier toward the Sect at speeds faster than a bullet."You…" Elder De frowned and pointed at me with his swords. "Stand down. Don't move."I felt another tingle in my mind.[How about...] I growled and began twisting space. [You suck my balls?!]All eyewitnesses were gone, and only my opponent remained. It was time to throw away the limiters I was keeping in place and see what my body was really capable of.I roared as my body shot towards him and I blasted out the 100% of my Killing Intent as my eyes began to glow and claws grew from my fingers.[DIE!]***De Danw nearly puked out blood. Somehow a Golden Core First Layer managed to resist his orders. He didn't even look bothered in the least.That was unheard of! While he, as a young Elder, was just at the First Step of the Spirit Realm, such a thing was unheard of. Heck, he easily crushed the guy that was at the peak of Golden Core Realm, yet the weakling managed to resist?Then again, he was responsible for the destruction of their Portal Nexus and managed to survive Sicario's assassination, so he clearly wasn't simple.What De Danw didn't expect, however, was that he would be attacked by Killing Intent of all things. When the bloody thing struck his unguarded mind, his first thought was to break all his defensive treasures and escape at all costs. But, luckily he caught himself just as he was about to consume some rare stimulants. They would boost his power temporarily, but the backlash would be severe.As he shook away the fear and got himself back under control, he realized his back was drenched in cold sweat. His heart was beating like mad and his hands trembled.He licked his dry lips to moisten them and then quickly manipulated his swords to block his opponent. The man attacked like a rabid dog, shooting beams from his eyes, spitting flames from his mouth, attacking with blinding golden claws, the density and purity of energy he had never seen before, and above all, he was pushing him back."What in the blazes?!"Wide-eyed De Danw realized the man was not standing on anything, yet he kept pushing. His strikes became increasingly aggressive, and his energy seemed inexhaustible. And he was floating!"Spatial manipulation?! How?!"He formed a barrier around himself to block the weaker Mystical Arts and push those scorching flames back. Even with his superior body of the Spirit Realm, he felt the danger from those beams. They clashed with his energy, almost pushing it back, but with the chasm separating Gold and Spirit Qi, he was safe. In fact, he realized, he was pushing back. And that was just by defending."Ah, ahahaha! You weasel, you! Almost got me there. But your tricks won't work on me."Convinced it had to be a fluke or some secret treasure that knocked him off-kilter, De Danw regathered his wits and began manipulating swords as a proper sword Cultivator should.He pulled on the decades of ingrained techniques and began his counterattack. He went slow at first, careful not to kill his opponent, as a live one would most certainly bring him more from the Sect. He was the great enemy they all were searching for after all. The rewards for his capture were massive!He blocked a fist and claw and retaliated with a cut on the forearm or through the palm. He knocked away the leg and left a laceration on the thigh. And when the other hand came, he cut the bicep, down to the bone, and cut the tendons above the foot of the other leg.Lacerations on the chest were followed by those on the shoulders and back as he danced around his opponent, yet for all the damage he did, the enemy never seemed to tire. In fact, as he came back around, the wounds were nowhere to be seen."Haaaah?!"De Danw looked at the canvas of his work and found it empty. Thinking he must have imagined things, he sent two swords forth, piercing the man. They slipped past his defense, pierced the golden armor plates, and sank into the flesh of his torso. Smooth like butter, they poked out on the other side.Yet the enemy still moved, unconcerned by the energy disintegrating his flesh, and attacked.De Danw was confused. It was like he was battling a rabid animal and not a man. A beast that knew no pain or rest.But he knew how to deal with those beasts. The silver sword floating above him turned, and electricity began to crackle and pop, arching from one part to the other, with sparks stretching out like tentacles, looking for prey.He used the same technique as he did to kill the girl, Lightning Smite, and sent the blade into him, into the rabid beast. It pierced his chest and discharged in a flash. Lightning ran through the monster, illuminating his bones for a full second, and fried him from within.For a split second, all muscles flexed and then went limp, and Gerald fell from the sky.De Danw watched with great interest the life drain from his opponent. It drained fast, yet not fully. At a certain point, it stopped, and he crashed to the ground like a rock.Floating down slowly and majestically, De Danw kept his blades close. And he was glad he did. Suddenly the unmoving body of the young man burst into flames and jumped back up. The two's eyes met and De frowned. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.When he saw the man take a fistful of Spirit Stones and stuff them into his mouth, he nearly spat out an ocean of curses. What was a Golden Core Cultivator doing eating those stones?! At least he didn't chew them and instead just swallowed them, but still. Complete insanity.[DIE!]With the foreign energy running through his body, Gerald became the incarnation of a natural disaster. Energies mixed and collided, lightning mixing with flames and wind, they tore his flesh to pieces, and using his own blood as a catalyst, he attacked."You are insane!" De Danw shouted, yet his words went unanswered. Gerald jumped, faster than before, and with Spirit Qi leaking out of his body, he struck. The metal of De's blades cried as the two collided, fist and sword, and the bloody fist lost, but just barely.There came another roar as pure chaotic energy left Gerald's mouth and eyes. Drops of blood as sharp as knives and fast as bullets splattered on the young Elder's barrier. The beams of energy pushed, testing the limits as they attacked in waves, oscillating between the eyes and mouth.De Danw gritted his teeth in anger. Never before had his power been so tested by someone that much weaker than him. At least that's how it was in his mind. He could never accept that a kid in the Golden Core Realm could almost rival him in raw strength and power. And while much of the energy was borrowed from the stones, it couldn't compete with the lake of his own."Enough!"Frustrated he even had to go that far, De Danw summoned his Avatar. A spitting image of him, five meters in height, formed around him and then moved, separating itself from him. It moved as he did, and as De Danw stretched out his hand to grab the air, his Avatar wrapped his large fingers around Gerald's torso and squeezed.