629 The Dark Castle

Moye was not prepared for this. He had been able to improvise some form of defense at the beginning, but Lie Jintian's attacks quickly battered it. Even the strongest defense could not hold off attacks forever. Lie Jintian's battle arts were a result of generations of accumulation over centuries; every move was a divine intervention that went beyond the measures of a normal attack, be it in terms of speed or intensity.

A normal attack wouldn't be of use in this battle anyway. 

KOM!

The red lotus bloomed again. 

Brimming with energy, Lie Jintian rounded his eyes and mouth, snarling as he punched at Moye's head with abandon. With a loud and crisp bone-crunching sound, Moye's head lolled unnaturally to one shoulder. His body stopped all motions, arms hanging about like a ragdoll. Then, as quickly as the first attack had come, the second attack landed on his chest, and the force threw him onto the ground.

The ground cracked open underneath Moye by the impact. The sight had shocked all the dark ones. It was their almighty lord, but right then, they couldn't even feel his soul energy.

Lie Jintian clenched his fist excitingly as he was absorbed in reflection. From becoming an Einherjar to inheriting House Lie's power, he had been through a lot in his life. Life had taught him many lessons, and he knew that emotions were better kept to himself. However, he found it difficult to hold back his pride at this moment. It reminded him of his father's approving smile after he had won the competition of the seat of power of House Lie.

Floating in the air, Lie Jintian was gripped by the swelling emotions. 

When the dust on the ground settled, the dark ones saw what was left of Moye. His head had turned backward, body slumped on the ground, and limbs bent in gut-churning fashions. He seemed to have shriveled in size as well.

The human soldiers cheered and shouted while the purple guards were rendered speechless and motionless.

Suddenly, a coldness rose in the air as Moye dragged himself onto his feet. Each movement was accompanied with the horrific sounds of bones grinding and snapping. When the ordeal was over, Moye held his backward head with both hands and slowly twisted it until it was back into its natural orientation.

"What a lovely human art."

Moye's lips hardened into a twist that could barely pass for a smile.

Despite his tattered body, there was a deadliness in him that permeated throughout the air, strangling the human soldiers with an invisible hand.

"I admire the humans' ability to use the natural force. How much do I wish that I would be able to wield it too! Nothing will be able to stop us then." Moye murmured, fascination and longing flickering in his glinting eyes. 

Lie Jintian was unfazed by Moye's resurrection as he asked, "Is that your last wish?"

"Hehe…Einherjar Lie, I consider us old friends. One of us will die today, so don't be so anxious. We have a whole day to figure it out." Moye cracked a smile as the energy crystals in his body started to scintillate, lending him power. He raised his hands and snarled, releasing a burst of energies.

Unlike Lie Jintian's borrowed natural energy, it was all from the dark one's body, and was more powerful. 

The power kept on building up until the human soldiers started screaming in pain. Their bodies burst from inside, painting the ground red. Their life force formed a trickle of energy that flowed into the energy crystal on Moye's body.

By the time Lie Jintian thought of stopping the deadly spell, all the human soldiers were dead, their bellies wide open. The stench in the air was unbearable.

Lie Jintian averted his eyes from the gruesome scene, but when he found Moye again, he noticed that the dark lord had changed. The life force of his soldiers had helped him grow in size; he was already twice the size compared to when he had first appeared. And there were more: his body no longer resembled a human, but a primordial beast that walked on the planet millions of years ago. His body was covered in scales with the dark color of dried blood; his hand had turned into claws, and two huge energy crystals were set squarely in his scaled chest, visible only due to its shimmering light passing through the crevasses between scales. 

"Please excuse me. If I had a choice, I would not use this ugly form…Hehe."

Halfway through his sentence, the dark lord disappeared, but the voice kept on coming. Before the monster's thin laugh receded, Lie Jintian was dealt a blow that had seemingly come out of nowhere.

Another attack came as quickly as the first one, but this time, Lie Jintian saw it coming. He tried to block the giant claw that bore down on him, but his power had fallen short. There was no time to summon the natural force, so Lie Jintian had to use his own GN force. But, Moye's power was a few magnitudes greater than that of Lie Jintian; the dark lord unleashed level thirty power without the assistance of the natural force.

KOM!

Lie Jintian took the brunt of the blow, and his body was sent flying. When he thudded back to the ground, his body disappeared after an explosion. The Einherjar was nowhere to be seen, but his battle cry could be heard everywhere; there was a pain in that battle cry. Lie Jintian swallowed down the pain and hurled a glowing energy ball at his enemy. Packed inside the ball was pure GN force freshly drawn out of his system.

Moye watched the glowing ball and smiled contemptuously. He snarled in a deep beastly voice as a gush of energy spilled forth from his mouth at the glowing ball. With that, the energy ball dimmed and then disappeared into thin air. 

Before Moye's howling had receded, he turned around and attacked the Einherjar with his tail.

KOM!

The whiplash of the tail caught Lie Jintian off guard and slammed him down. The dark lord quickly slithered his writhing tail onto the Einherjar's body in a constraining hold. Moye lifted the other up at the tip of his tail and slammed him hard on the ground again.

Lie Jintian would not just sit around and be played with by the dark lord like a doll. He gritted his teeth as flame sprouted out of his body. As he amassed energy inside him, his body temperature could melt steel. Yet, the dark lord's hold was unwavering. The sharp tip of the tail found Lie Jintian's chest and burrowed deep into it. Blood welled from the deep wound, spilling out onto the ground. 

"Hehe…I told you to be patient, didn't I?" Moye smirked.

By then, energy had stopped flowing inside the Einherjar, and the tactics of the Blaze had halted. Moye knew exactly where and when to strike in order to cripple the deadly tactics. 

Dark Lord's tail pulled out of Li Jintian's chest, but quickly found another target. It slithered down to Lie Jintian's thigh and wrapped itself around his leg, pulling the Einherjar's knee of its socket with a loud and gut-churning pop.

Lie Jintian's guards rushed to save their commander, but they all ended up as food for the purple guards. 

Moye's tail found more targets as it threatened to tear the Einherjar's flesh apart piece by piece. Moye's lips curved into a satisfying grin. "What is pain, human? It's a delightful art beyond your comprehension."

Lie Jintian had scarcely let out even a wince. He gritted his teeth until his gums started to bleed, biding his time for his last strike: Self-Immolation!

Moye had seen through Lie Jian's plan, so he thrust the tail right through Lie Jintian's sea of consciousness, ending his ability to fight once and for all. 

Moye was amused as he saw the hope on Lie Jian's face ebb away, a hope that he had given him just so that he could see it being crushed.

"One day, humans will kill you all!" Lie Jian managed a few words out of his mouth. He knew this day would come; he took comfort in the thought that his son would avenge him one day.

"Is that so? Then, maybe I should let you live. " Moye was amused. A hint of hope flashed across Lie Jintian's face, which was caught by Moye immediately.

Moye's lips thinned into a sneer, "What was I thinking? How could I pass up such a delicious meal like you?"

All around him, the purple guards were already feasting on the bodies of the humans.

The sudden raid had uprooted the headquarters of the Martian front, leaving no survivors. The sudden tragedy struck human resistance hard; without a leader, the defense started to falter, and the offense was halted completely. Gripped by fear and sorrow, the public was at a loss. The top priority for the human resistance force right then was to elect another commander.

Lie Jian should have inherited the commanding rights from his late father, but he was stranded in the Zerg territory. Therefore, the responsibility might have to rest on the shoulders of another man.

Moye had swooped down on the human world when its guard was lowered, and attacked where it hurt the most. Moye knew the human mind very well, a strength that he wished his dark one subordinates could learn from him.

When the faction leaders were debating who should be the next leader, surprising news came to them. Zambrotta and his men had joined the War God's knight order and become its first dragoon regiment.