Chapter 164 Malta's Betrayal

The Immortals and soldiers stared at the reverse waterfall of blood rising to the sky in profound disbelief. It had all happened so fast.

Less than a minute after they gathered outside the south side gate, the mountain got torn to shreds, killing thousands of soldiers before their blood rose into the air.

Despite that, the speed, the images of crumbling trees, raging rivers of blood, and the sound from the attack breaking the sound barriers carved themselves into their minds.

Now, the emperor was making warnings to Malta after their victory. However, instead of feeling victorious, the Immortals and soldiers stared forward in a shocked daze, unfeeling.

Each was in denial, unbelieving that their kind leader had destroyed a mountain and killed a thousand soldiers. However, the proof was before their eyes, slowly churning in a reverse waterfall.

Contrary to expectations, the person most shocked was Crux. She wasn't phased by the waterfall, as she had seen multiple blood manipulation techniques in Meridian City. However, the first attack shook her to her core.

[Harrowing Winds].

It was a sacred technique she had only seen in her dreams.

The man named Kaze Lexicon acquired it after a two-year journey, searching for power to help her and the Ice Phoenix win the Killian War.

Unfortunately, while Harrowing Winds had unparalleled potential on a plane with only seven confirmed sacred techniques in its history, he couldn't use it.

A single usage left him dangerously Qi-deprived. Therefore, he became a last-resort, one-shot trump card. However, he refused to be a trump card and asked for a cultivation technique.

Things weren't that simple, as practicing the last resort technique was suicide. Despite that, the man's stubborn resolve and strange love for her leader gave him the strength to use it and help turn the tides of the war. It became a critical resource, thus burrowing itself into her memory.

However, what she had just witnessed—

—was not what she had seen in her dreams.

While Harrowing Winds was a sloppy weapon of mass destruction, akin to a hurricane, violent and impossible to avoid, what she had just seen was horrifyingly refined, devastating, and complete.

It was so refined that not a single blade hit the ground until they stopped miles down the mountain.

The contrast was so extreme that she wanted to discount it as another technique—but couldn't. She knew it was the same technique because of [the sound].

It was called [Harrowing Winds] for a reason.

The technique created a sickening sound of thousands of objects colliding simultaneously.

It sounded like a rattle made of human limbs, sloshing sounds, cracking trees, breaking rocks, and blitzing wind before the sound barrier broke, and everything crashed down.

Crux no longer doubted that he was the cultivator in her dreams—

—and that he wasn't the same human she knew.

To Sky Plane cultivators, Kaze Lexicon was a god.

"It seems some amongst you have remained." Kaze smiled sinisterly, "Therefore, I will answer your call, and immortalize you in the annals of history!"

He waved his hand, and dozens of blood shards the size of spears shot from the waterfall, streaking across the sky like shooting stars.

No one saw where the red streaks went or what they were trying to do. However, they saw ant-sized black streaks crash downward in the distance, followed by multiple crashing sounds.

While they processed the situation, Kaze grinned and turned sharply, waving his hand around him.

More blood spears shot out, shooting past his back. A moment later—

BOOOOM! BOOM! Boom! Boom, boom, BOOM! Boom!

—a symphony of massive explosions rocked the sound waves, staining the lightly cloudy sky a muddy orange color.

The Immortals were confused, not understanding why the first set of jets and skycruisers didn't explode, but the next wave did.

However, the soldiers, including Kane and General Michaels, shook with fear after hearing the explosions.

If a non-incendiary attack made a vehicle explode, it meant one thing—

—the military was shooting missiles, and his blood spears intercepted them, hitting their trigger and making them explode prematurely.

There were seven explosions, shot from various directions. It showcased they were surrounded, and Malta tried to bypass the missile defense systems by overwhelming them.

The soldiers shuddered, realizing the attack would likely have succeeded, and they would have all died if Kaze hadn't intercepted the bombs.

"Do you see that, soldiers?" Kaze asked boldly, "Your government has abandoned you after only one counterstrike!"

A wave of negative synesthesia shot through the ex-special forces, weaving their fear, anxiety, and feelings of betrayal into an inextricable pattern.

"And for what?" The emperor yelled angrily, "They betrayed their ally to gain our cultivation techniques. However, what value does indiscriminately killing us all have?

They've wasted valuable lives trying to kill you, seemingly without return. Tell me, soldiers, what would they gain from your deaths?"

The soldiers felt icy chills crawl down their spines. No one could answer their question—except Kane and General Michaels, averting their gazes.

"I'll tell you why." Kaze declared with fiery eyes, "It's because they know we will attack their military bases after they kill your families!"

Dead silence followed.

Fear.

Uncertainty.

Doubt.

"Your leaders organized their transfer to Lainwright military base." He explained, "As a result, thousands of civilians got transferred to one base.

To you, they're family. However, to the military, they are resource-consuming deadweight.

Therefore, they seek to kill your families, soldiers! However, they know we will seek retribution for their heinous crimes. That's why they're wasting resources to kill you!"

The soldiers turned to Kane and General Michaels. Both met their gaze with pain-stricken expressions, nodding.

After getting confirmation, the soldiers' hearts filled with primal anger, and their eyes flashed with killing intent.

"Their effort will not end here!" Kaze roared, "The military will do anything it can to ensure you fall here today. However, if you follow us, you will survive!

And once you survive, those in Lainwright will face annihilation if they touch your families!"

As if to prove him right, his words triggered an immediate response from Malta in the form of dozens of strategic ballistic missiles, shot from a remote location like nuclear weapons.

Kaze's eyes became cold and flashed with murderous intent. He waved his hand, intercepting the missiles with his spatial technique from a mile away.

New rifts opened up above Immortal Skye at angles pointing at the military encampments set up by the Maltian soldiers encircling the mountain.

BOOOOM! BOOM! Boom! Boom, boom, BOOM! Boom! BOOOOM! BOOM! Boom! Boom, boom, boom… BOOM!

Malta's main base of operations, ten miles from the mountain's base, was razed to the ground instantly, turning to cinders after the massive explosion.

The same was true about soldiers en route from cities on multiple sides of the mountain. However, he couldn't kill anyone on the mountain with the missiles, as it would start a fire.

That didn't make the soldiers safe. No one was safe.

Kaze closed his eyes, concentrating. Once prepared, he waved his hand, and more spatial rifts opened above him and behind the reverse waterfall of blood, still churning fifty feet in the air.

Immediately after, the waterfall became a sphere before exploding, sending thousands of blood shards into the rifts.

Every shard exited from above, sending red streaks crashing down on the mountain from all angles like a meteor shower, causing screams from soldiers to echo in the distance.

The Immortals and ex-soldiers were stunned, not understanding that the emperor could sense Qi from miles away using a sight technique.

"Soldiers!" Kaze roared, "General Peyton has declared Malta will use the Airbreaker Unit on us soon.

After seeing that their ballistic missiles are more harmful than beneficial, it's all but guaranteed."

Waves of dread washed over the soldiers after hearing Malta's elite airforce would attack them.

Unlike shooting missiles from a distance, they'd drop ordnance from above, carpet-bombing the area.

Since the planes were so fast, they would fly low over the area before dropping the bombs. That way, triggering them prematurely would still cause them to explode in Immortal Skye's face.

Reversing the missile's course would only send it upward before the bomb fell back down. It was the nightmare scenario the Maltian military devised in the event its missiles didn't work.

"Malta has forsaken you and your families!" The emperor roared, panning the soldiers' faces, "Will you accept their betrayal!? Or will you fight back for your lives, comrades, and families!?"

Their primal emotions turned into wrath and hatred. They thought about their lives, playing back a lifetime of loyalty and dedication to Malta, and contrasted it against their country bombing them.

It made their blood boil.

"I'll fight!" Sandra Mills, the soldier with straight brown hair in a ponytail, declared, "For my family and life, I will fight them!"

"So will I!" Aaron Levingston, the read-haired soldier, yelled, "I've given my life to Malta, yet they abandoned us all without question. That's unforgivable!"

After their leaders spoke, the soldiers exploded in war fervor.

"Immortals!" The emperor yelled after their moment, "Will you let them be the only ones defending your home!?"

"I WON'T!" Larkin roared, "I'LL FIGHT ALONE IF NO ONE ELSE JOINS!"

Waves of assent waved through the area, building momentum until everyone's heart lit ablaze.

"Then get into position and look alive, Immortals!" Kaze yelled with fiery eyes, "For we have special guests visiting, and we must greet them with a warm welcome!"