The First Clash [2]

Like a puny mystic beast horde could pose a threat to his people. They had survived far too much for such a simple thing to pose a threat to them. Especially in this backwater.

Little did he know, however, that the dark angels were not just inciting a mystic beast horde...they were agitating all of his people as well, along with the cultivators that were against Wang Zizai, trying to instigate them to come, and therefore increasing the chances of Dei's people accumulating more negative karma. Especially if they did not have much negative karma to begin with (as some most certainly did.) Wang, however, did sense their malicious intentions, and shuddered at the thought. It didn't matter that he had just met these people, he felt a desire to protect them from this all the same. He muttered a soft prayer to me, praying for their safety, before leaping into the air, feeling divine power flowing into him from the top of his head and down to his heart, forming a blade that severed the connections the dark angels had made. Once again the dark angels were left stunned at this action, having expected that someone technically weaker than them would be incapable of such an action. I, on the other hand, was once again left satisfied knowing that Divine Love truly is the strongest force in the universe.

Wang Zizai gracefully soared through the skies amidst the pouring rain, the power granted unto him by right of karma keeping him aloft as he charged towards the dark angels, radiating a spiritual, golden light. His guardian angel muttered something like a curse as he too once more launched himself forwards to clash with one dark angel, the duo's fight less flashy than Dei's or Wang's, and more along the lines of struggling over influence. To my eyes it was two balls of light surging back and forth, one a holy white, and the other an evil grey, their 'light' struggling against one another in an attempt to gain an upper hand. Wang's was along the same lines, though was a bit more colorful.

Flashes of gold and green, all but invisible to the mortal eye, erupted from Wang's hands as he thrust them forwards, a giant gold and silver Yin-Yang symbol appearing behind his back, slowly rotating as it pulsed with power. A green blade, formed of divine love, lashed out to sever the connections his opponent was trying to make with the surroundings, while that dark angel continued to slowly suppress Wang's divine aura. Each pulse of power from Wang Zizai broke the unrelenting force that was the dark angel's will, but it was almost instantaneously repaired, not quite giving him a break. His face was pale by the second minute of battling, understanding that if this persisted he would inevitably lose. Silently he asked for my help, praying that I, the Divine Soul, would give him the power to overcome this tribulation, but I didn't help him. Do not get me wrong. I absolutely want to help him. It's just that he himself was blocking me from truly doing so. To receive my help, one must first surrender one's self to me, allow my power to embrace them, and then can I channel my power and will through them. It is not as simple as just asking. Plenty of people can just ask.

"What, is that all you've got?!" Dei roared in defiance, hurtling forwards once again after having been sent flying by a casual swing from the angel. Of the three, he was by far faring the worst. Despite all of his power in cultivation, he was all but powerless against something in the Spirit Realm, which he (due to his level of karmic attainment only being at the Solar Plexus) could sense but not see, and would only be able to truly see and interact with upon attaining immortality. Dei is not one to let that stop him, however. Soulpower poured from the tip of his spear, carving wide swaths into the dark angel's aura as he consistently advanced, the essences of fire, water, and earth swirling around him and pushing him forward, the world bending to his will as he forced himself closer and closer to the dark angel. With every step his body trembled, unable to fully withstand the raw energy of the dark angel, but still he forged onwards, circulating his cultivation base and expending his Qi to speed up his healing process. "GET OVER HERE, BITCH!" Dei roared, leaping forwards with a sudden burst of strength, his spear lashing out and striking at the dark angel. With a casual wave of its hand, as it had taken the form of a Fae in order to 'fight' with Dei, the dark angel countered Dei's soulpower-filled blow and knocked him flying backwards, blood trailing from his mouth. Wang Zizai's expression flickered as he saw this, and the first angel couldn't help but be distracted for a split-second, worrying about the traces of corruption he saw the dark angel leave within Dei.

In that moment of distraction the dark angel managed to push back the first angel's aura by a large amount. The first angel muttered a curse and forcibly pushed back, halting the dark angel's advance and forcing him to remain tied down by this angel. A soft sigh echoed through me as I watched Dei struggle to get up, cursing at the dark angel as he sensed it not even give chase. Said dark angel no longer concerned itself with Dei, instead spreading out its feelers to connect to the residents of the forest, once again agitating them. They had already been on the move, the effects from their brief connection earlier still lingering and making the connection easier. Wang Zizai attempted to move his green blade to sever those connections, but he too found himself blocked by his opponent. It should be once again reiterated that dark angels are equal in power to regular angels, and that although all of this took time to describe, not even Dei's people found the time to act as it all happened in the blink of an eye.

"Dei! What's going on?!" Celene shouted, teleporting to his side. She was technically at the Heart Center level of karmic attainment, but had a much less profound cultivation base than Dei and chose to have her consciousness at a lower point than the Heart Center, so she could actually sense less than him.

"Don't know. Something from the Spirit Realm...three things, dark, evil things are here. I don't know. One of 'em tried to control me." Dei hissed, wiping the blood from his mouth and glaring at the sky. "That other dude and some really powerful spirit's fighting the other two. Fuck! I don't have a clue what's going on." Dei muttered, looking at the surroundings and noticing that the tension in the air was ratcheting upwards.

"It feels like a beast horde is coming. Are the two connected?" Celene asked. Dei grunted and stood, twirling his spear expertly and closing his eyes, extending his senses outwards. He may not be able to sense the dark angel well enough to give it a good fight, but he can clearly sense everything physical around him. And what he sensed disturbed him. Normal mystic beast hordes were basically the lower-tier mystic beasts, only in the first to second or third stages of cultivation, running wild due to some disturbance (any higher and the beasts started to gain a sense of self, and were less susceptible to such instincts.) However, what he sensed was not only were the lower-tier mystic beasts moving, but some of the higher ones were as well. In fact...not just some.

"Shit. Why the fuck are there three Greater Beasts all the way out here?!" Dei cursed. He would've expected such a thing closer to the Life-Giving Tree, but not all the way out here, on the edges of Pangea! (Little did anyone but I know that, as soon as I had gone into true secluded meditation, the dark angels and dark forces had been aiming for this battle and many others, and had positioned forces all over this area. The mystic beasts around here were steeped in corruption and evil...which is part of what attracted Wang Zizai. He wanted to heal this area.) "Celene, get our people ready. This is not normal mystic beast horde, all the mystic beasts in the area are being driven towards us by three Greater Beasts. They're weaker than myself, but not by enough that I'd be able to take them all on with ease." Dei hissed, shaking his head. "I can't deal with them anyways. This is being caused by those damnable dark things, and I've got to figure out a way to beat at least one if we're going to survive this." Celene paled at Dei's words, understanding that if the great Dei, the single most powerful Fae cultivator that ever has been, was worried about survival, then it would be incredibly dangerous.