Black Onyx - Phoenix Resurrection

Somewhere beyond the Western desert, in a lush green forest, an ash-skinned individual was seemingly speaking to himself.

“Yes, commander, the sentinels have all been taken out without raising alarm. Yes, they were replaced successfully with the help of Master’s creation.” There was a momentary pause. “Everything is going according to plan. The reinforcements should be here soon. Yes, the cannons are ready. Yes, yes. Orders received.”

The conversation ended and the person turned, addressing the empty forest around him. “Listen up, Brothers and Sisters. The task is clear. We will infiltrate the dwelling of those pale-skinned rats and flush them out. We will be swift and precise. They will not know what hit them.”

There came a whisper of voices, silent as the wind, yet distinct in the stillness of the forest. The leaves and grass trembled as shapes moved silently past them, invisible to the naked eye.

“Let’s go.” The speaker said and took the lead, his form soon melding in with the environment. A concealment technique only he and his kin knew and used on the regular.

A silent march continued until they came to the edge of a forest, a small outpost made of crystal and stone carved into the landscape. A shimmering dome encased it from all sides, yet it was little more than a barrier holding back the energy inside. Its defensive capabilities were comparatively weak. It was supposed to be safe as they infiltrated deep into the enemy territory after all.

There, at the edge of the forest, the troop of invisible warriors stopped, waiting for the signal.

Things were happening in there, and they waited in complete silence. A ritual was taking place, one to summon soldiers from afar. The warriors patiently waited, hidden from sight.

Suddenly, a surge of energy, accompanied by a blinding light, broke through the barrier, and on a large raised platform, at the edge of the outpost, hundreds of people appeared all at once.

“Cannons ready.” The leader spoke with his voice firm and his form shimmering into existence with a large, circular, metallic weapon in hand. The others did the same, dozens of cannons forming from thin air, aimed at the group. Energy began gathering at the opening.

“Hold.” Came the order. The newcomers were approached by a smaller group of men, seasoned warriors each one of them. Many present knew their faces, gritting their teeth in anger.

“Hold. Not yet.” The leader held up his hand, waiting for the opportune moment. The two groups met, exchanging words. Their defenses were at their lowest at that moment, distracted by each other.

“Now! Fire!” Came the order.

The cannons shone brightly for a split-second, and then the calmness of the world vanished.

So, after speaking with the old man in charge and getting the badge, I was free to do whatever. I took that time to relax in The City and have some fun, and a few days later I received the information about the transfer.

A large group of us gathered in the combined hall of all three Clans where warriors from all three families gathered. A few Elders and Grand Elders were there to send us off, though we didn’t receive much information on our mission. Supposedly we would learn everything we had to at our destination. Up-to-date information and all that.

A few hundred of us gathered on a large teleportation platform, a great part of people in early Spirit Realm, though there were some at the peak of Golden Core still. A bunch of young people basically. Barely over a century old.

Something I immediately noticed, however, was that most of the people present were seemingly anxious, angry, or otherwise unwilling to be there. Troublemakers? Was fighting against the Drow a punishment for those who were being difficult? The old man certainly warned me the job had a high mortality rate.

As the activation sequence began and we were wrapped by a blinding white light, I couldn’t help but grin, excited for all the death that was to come. It’s just that I wasn’t expecting for it to happen so quickly.

As soon as the light faded, we found ourselves on a large platform at the edge of a small settlement, surrounded by a forest, and with a group of men approaching.

“Welcome recruits!” Their leader shouted as he came closer, spreading his hands wide. “Welcome to your new home. Before we begin, be warned that here on the outskirts of civilization- Ah!”

I saw a basketball-sized orb fly from somewhere and strike him in the back, stopping his speech mid-sentence, after which he screamed, and a second later exploded.

We were showered by fresh blood and viscera, the closest of us receiving a coat of crimson on our faces, yet none had time to react to what happened as more than another dozen white spheres struck the group of recruits at random. After another ten or so explosions sounded out, the people finally recovered. It was all happening so fast, the hundreds of Cultivators scattered in all directions, some of them even attempting to fly away.

“Fuck this shit! I’m not dying he- Ah!”

The guy flying away was hit by three orbs at the same time, bursting like a defective firework.

“What is happening?!” Another screamed hysterically, people around him popping like an overinflated balloon.

The small group that came to greet us fared no better. They reacted faster, setting up barriers, but the white orbs didn’t seem to care, simply passing through without affecting it. They were the first to die as they were the only ones stationary, trying to resist the ambush instead of dodging the orbs.

Luckily it was not hard to see where the attacks were coming from, even if there was nobody we could identify, but hundreds of Cultivators pouring their all into attacking a single place had devastating consequences.

“Stop running! Fight back! There, all at once!”

I wasn’t sure who was the genius who shouted the order, but he was right. As soon as the initial panic subsided and people remembered they weren’t completely helpless, the forest and the general area around the platform turned into a hellish landscape in almost an instant.

Hundreds of spells and Mystic Arts were invoked at once, bombarding the earth with death like an angry god delivering judgment.

The enemy attack almost instantly stopped, but not before I was struck in the chest by a glowing white orb that came from seemingly nowhere. There was so much chaos everywhere, it was difficult to tell what the fuck was going on.

As soon as the orb struck me, I felt a sharp pain in my chest, and then with incredible haste, the energy burst inside me, creating an immense pressure that tried to tear me apart. The pressure needed a release, but I grit my teeth, trying to fight against it. Ultimately it was too much and I surrendered, letting it run its course.

The intense sensation built up until… I burped.

It was a loud burp, and then the tension was gone and I was left feeling refreshed.

[What a nasty sensation.] I grumbled and cracked my knuckles with a frown. Someone out there was courting death, and I was more than happy to help.

I jumped into the heart of all the madness and released a roar. Disruptive energy went out and the dust and smoke were pushed out and cleared, leaving me standing in an open field. At almost the same time, blurry figures appeared in my vision, their cloaking techniques breaking just enough to make them visible.

“Kill him!” Came a shout from one of them. I saw what appeared to be silver cannons turn towards me, and then they fired.

Swiftly putting up barriers I shielded myself, but the orbs acted as if they weren’t even there. The pressure began building inside me, but as I was hit all over the body, it shifted around weirdly after a moment of rampaging around. What followed was the longest fart I have ever experienced in my life, leaving even my assailants shell-shocked.

It was… humiliating!

[How dare you… do this to me!] I roared and my body began to expand. My mind was bathed in righteous fury, and I saw blood.

The closest blurry figure shouted and fired off the cannon, striking my arm. I imbued my flesh with Qi, and the hit… tingled.

I swiped with my claws to the left, my sizable tail coming from the right, and as it was an unexpected move, I soon felt a satisfying crunch.

There was a scream and I saw a grayish humanoid creature ragdoll across the landscape. They weren’t kidding about the Drow being physically weak. That guy snapped like a dry twig!

I didn’t let him recover and jumped after him. I could see the white of his eyes a moment before my foot stomped down, creating a crater and crushing him dead.

[Hahaha! A Spirit Realm Cultivator? You guys are so weak!]

I felt something scraping against my scales and noticed some weird magic trying to chew its way through. It appeared corrosive, but apart from removing the sheen from my scales, it did fuck all.

[Weak!] I lifted my hand and crushed another Drow. As I grew, they became no bigger than my fist in comparison and not at all fast or agile. The rest split up, trying to escape.

[Wak! Arcane Blaze!] I roared and a beam of energy was blasted from my mouth. Instantly three of them died. I then jumped into the sky, instantly locating the rest as I figured out what to look for, and formed small energy spheres at the tips of my fingers.

[Weak! Weak! Weak!]

The Magic Bullets instantly shot in multiple directions, guided by my Spirit Sense, and a moment later hit their mark. They detonated inside each shadow, spewing out beautiful chaotic energy that utterly destroyed anything in a 50-meter radius, and flattened the land a kilometer across.

They were dead. All of them.

[Hahah. Piece of cake.] I dropped from the sky, unconcerned about the damage I would cause, and landed with a boom, forming yet another crater.

I saw other Cultivators flying from the distance, but they were late. With the enemy gone, all that was left was to collect the loot.

“Hey, you! Who are you? What happened here?!”

I turned and saw an older man with a graying beard and hair flying over from the settlement. He felt strong, but not quite at the Sky Realm level. He was probably the one in charge of this little operation, but I just ignored him. Loot was more important, and there were others to explain what happened.

But just as I began searching, I realized there was something missing.

[Hold on… Where the fuck are their Souls?!]