Chapter 62: Little Gathering

At the second line of defense of Yan. The soldiers there stared right at the sky. Even artillery bombings stopped. The banshees collaborating with each other to protect Paradiso.

"You will be giving Nian back!" Chongyue's body got covered in energy and it flowed to his dagger-like tail.

It stabbed through the air at breakneck speeds, targeting Ash on the dot. His tail quickly reached him and it cracked space around Ash as he blocked the massive tail.

A concentrated space quake then got released right at his face and the battlefield trembled like a leaf.

Chongyue used his powers on his fists and he released spheres of shockwaves with every punch he did, shadowboxing.

His men ran away for their lives, the mountainous regions they were hiding in for an ambush crumbling. Landslides of boulders and mud were falling down like an avalanche.

"What destructive power, Nian. He's your brother right?" Margaret was awed at the destructive might of the dragon.

"Yeah... Chongyue is the eldest, and he's kind of the strongest one?" Nian chuckled nervously, forgetting to tell them about Chongyue.

"It doesn't matter, look at what's going to happen next." Shining pointed at Ash's energy dragon.

The black serpentine dragon roared and it raised its hand. A seven branched sword appeared. It acted like a lightning rod and the terrible lightning storm concentrated on the sword.

Swinging its arms, the dragon caused mayhem with the sword. Kilometers of land glassing because of the plasma and arcs of electricity.

Chongyue had to focus on parrying the dangerous attacks. The dragon also fired a beam from its mouth. With a quick inhale, Chongyue had to fire his own breath, pure shockwaves coming out of the dragon's mouth.

Oscillating waves crashed against a plasma beam and lightning poured everywhere like a Tesla coil. Changing the landscape into molten glass even further.

"Interesting, but you're too big Chongyue. A pretty nice target to practice on." Ash looked towards Paradiso and he shouted fire.

Chongyue howled in pain as the howitzers were loaded with armor piercing, incendiary, HE rounds. The phalanx turrets and GAU avengers also focused fire on the city sized dragon.

The first ones to hit were the 155mm rounds, piercing his scales due to the tungsten core and the package it had exploded into his body. Taking a chunk out of him every time one hit.

Without a single beat, he quickly returned to his human form and dropped to the ground.

He was riddled with bullet holes. But Chongyue glared at him. "You fight dishonorably." The dragon spat and Ash snorted.

"Like your country does. You can stand on your moral high ground all you like. But your country is rotten. It smells of decay, I can feel it. Isn't that why the smallfolk are so ready to cause a civil war? We just gave them a little nudge and they were ready to overthrow the regime." Ash laughed and Chongyue's eyes went wide.

"Y-you! That was your doing!?" Chongyue was shocked and outraged.

"Yeah, it was a nice strategy no? It was a good plan, if I do say so myself." Ash proudly nodded and Chongyue blinked.

"You must be a Tyrant. With your despicable tactics, how much does the infected in your so-called paradise slave away." Chongyue growled.

Ash just laughed at him and he even teared up. "T-that the best you can do? What a joker. Your censors ordered Lungmen to kill all of the rabble in the poor part of town." He suddenly went ice cold.

"This wouldn't even happen if your so called superiors just stationed one of your Sui siblings in Lungmen. Talulah won't get captured. And Kaschey won't have the chance to get an exemplary host for his arts."

Ash was gritting his teeth and his rage was swirling around him. "Ignorant fool, you're just a lapdog of Yan. What do you know about what's happening around the world?" The storm got more turbulent.

"Your emperor of ancient times was a greedy little piece of shit. Disrupting the balance of the world, majority of our kind were in Yan. Yet they hunted them down to force them into servitude." He snorted.

"Such arrogance, your nation thinks it owns the world. Discarding the lives of infected. Treating them like a plague! And in the end, the chain of events took away my last family." Ash went quiet for a second.

"Now, dog. I will offer you a chance. Keep panting for your rotten country and I will kill you where you stand. Or surrender and let Nian control you with a leash like the lapdog you are." Ash took out his sword from a small pocket dimension he made.

Forming it after bending space. Manipulating gravity and extension, time to his will.

The crimson sword pulsed and it emitted a blood red light. An eye forming on the hilt, erratically looking around. It was bloodshot and the excitement it had is palpable.

Even the people from Paradiso shivered from its sinister aura. The cursed demonic sword felt so otherworldly. And not in the good kind of way.

The thing then formed a mouth on the flat of the blade. Blade-like teeth appearing and black drool dripping from it. The hunger for blood and the soul of the living apparent.

"We can't let him kill Chongyue Kjera. The guy's too stubborn to surrender and Ash as you know doesn't tolerate bullshit." Nian talked to Kjera.

Kjera nodded and they flew to the skies. Nian released a roar, hoping that they were close enough.

"Nian, Kjera... Why protect this stupid dog? No matter, I just need to put you on leashes too." Ash shook his head and the duo knew he would pull through with what he was saying.

Throwing his sword right at Chongyue, the demonic blade pierced his abdomen like it was made of butter.

He then gave a bloodcurdling scream. The sword was absorbing his energy. Slurping it up with glee, a deity's essence was delicious.

Nian and Kjera winced, they prepared for a beating of a lifetime.

Ash crouched down and he leaped. Leaving a large crater below him as he launched himself at Kjera and Nian.

Not expecting him to move so quickly, Ash's spectral hand appeared and it held onto Kjera's throat in a heartbeat.

Nian felt a sinking feeling in her stomach as she saw Ash drag Kjera onto the ground. Plowing the earth with her body as he slammed her to a mountain with earth shattering force.

She knew that he was much stronger than their previous fight. But not that ridiculously stronger.

Kjera shook her head, she could feel her body ache. She breathed in and attempted to do a breath attack.

But her maw was closed forcibly by his giant arm and Kjera's head got pinned on the ground. "I don't have qualms hurting you Kjera, stay down or you'll be in a world of pain." He looked at her large eye.

Nian moved and spikes of metal tried to skewer him. Emphasis on tried, because the steel spikes that would kill normal people got bent when it hit his body.

He took one of them and straightened it out manually. Ash then threw it right at Nian, manipulating the air so no drag would slow it down. And loading it up with kinetic energy, turning the spike into a railgun projectile.

Nian got nailed right on her body and she howled in pain. He then increased its weight by manipulating gravity. Making her fall down to the ground or risk catastrophic damage.

"Big brother... It is time to stop." Narcissa arrived at the battlefield with her weapons and he raised a brow.

Narcissa squinted her eyes and threw one of her tungsten spears at breakneck speeds. Like orbital bombardment, it hit him with kinetic energy equal to ordnance bombs.

She then kept one of her arms free in order to intercept attacks. While the other three prepared for combat, holding her metal arms the size of houses tightly.

"Hmmm, I taught you well Narcissa. Why not try to test your limits against me?" He held back unconsciously and Narcissa thought her gamble paid off.

With the size of her arms that were as long as a city. The speed on how she swung her weapon gave him a surprise and it hit him. A shockwave exploding upon impact, making him fly for dozens of kilometers.

She then used her arts to help Nian. Narcissa went on Kjera's head and they flew towards Ash.

Meanwhile, Alastor and Astaroth were holding their own demonic weapons and poured in their energy to them.

They went to Chongyue and nodded at each other. "Old man, this is going to hurt." Astaroth explained to him.

"O-old man?" Chongyue was flabbergasted even through the pain. He didn't have time to think useless thoughts as the twins hit Ash's sword upwards.

Chongyue screamed as the demonic sword held on with its mouth. Refusing to get off the delicious meal it was devouring.

"1, 2, 3." The twins treated it like a job and they swung against it again. Demonic energies clashing against each other.

The twins did it a couple of more times. Without its owner, Ash's sword couldn't really move due to their contract. It can't move on its own without his direction.

They managed to take it off and the duo smartly left it there for now. "Come now, old geezer. We need to help them." Alastor helped Chongyue up.

"Come on, turn into a dragon or something. They're too far away." Astaroth hurried him with an annoyed tone.

Chongyue grumbled and he transformed into his dragon form, flying the twins towards the battlefield that wasn't looking pretty.

A tsunami of metal sand rose to hundreds of meters and it swallowed everything it crashed on.

It did nothing to the target though. As Ash wrestled Nian's control on her metals and he repurposed it as shackles.

Controlling it magnetically, Ash speared through Kjera's tail and arms. He then staked her to the ground. Massive arcs of metal dropped down on her body and it chained up nicely.

Nian scowled. "You overpowered bastard!" Narcissa tried to take it off while Nian battled him. But she was clearly in a disadvantage.

Their sizes were too different and Nian couldn't hit him. He was just flying circles around her.

And when he willed his spectral arm to do a hammer fist on her head, Ash's hand was repelled by a sword that came flying. Demonic energy exploding at impact.

"Alastor, Astaroth." Ash looked to the side, Chongyue was flying slowly towards them and the twins were crackling with their powers.

Violet lightning covered Astaroth while Alastor was burning with crimson fire.

"Big brother Ash, this isn't like you. Calm down please." They pleaded, but he shook his head with a sigh.

The twins furrowed their brows and they gave a meaningful look at each other.

Alastor raised her hands and the blood from the earlier battle raised to the skies. A glob of dark red blood formed and it got siphoned to their weapons.

Their demonic arms greedily sucked it in and the twins floated in the sky with their telekinesis.

"Then you give us no choice." The duo created sonic booms after flying towards him and their swords crashed right at his hands.

Ash caught it without problems, the swords coated with their powers. But he did notice that it cut his hands until it reached his wrists.

He backed off and let his hands regenerate, but it was quite slow. There were remnants of demonic energy staying in his system.

Ash grinned and he never thought they'd be the most dangerous ones amongst their midst.

"Hmm, I'll have to take you two a bit more seriously." Narcissa frowned and that was something they were trying to avoid.

Ash clapped and the heavens seem to be falling down. Violet energy leaked from his horns. And his eyes were glowing.

"Weight of the world." The air became stagnant and everything went silent for a second. Then came overwhelming gravity.

The mountains were flattened to the ground. Fault lines shook and earthquakes almost reaching magnitude 10 seemed to make the world tremble.

Earth was torn asunder. Tectonic plates forcibly moved from the increase in weight. Like a god, the peasants had to plant their foreheads to the ground, unable to raise it against the deity.

The first ones to lose consciousness were Narcissa and the twins. He controlled it meticulously and let them float around right after so they won't get affected by the tremors.

"Submit! Yan will fall today, and I will make sure to do so." The three dragons couldn't resist. Their bodies creaked from the weight. Their organs felt like they would rupture and their bones would turn into dust.

Ash then raised a brow when mist swallowed them and they disappeared.

"Scary... Nian really had to bring someone so dangerous to Yan huh? Imagine my surprise when I was about to get some more alcohol and I felt my brethren here." A blue haired woman carrying a lantern appeared. (pic)

"That girl always was and always will be an idiot. It's been a long time, big sister Ling." A black haired woman greeted the other. (pic)

"Hoh? What do we have here? I think I'll be having a little change of plans." Ash squinted his eyes, grinning at the devious plan that entered his mind.

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Thanks for reading everyone, ciao.