Immortal Paladin

291 Battle in the Skies

Technically, Bai Zheme wasn't even running. He was just flailing through the air, desperate to get away from me. I landed squarely on his back and pinned him down, the impact cracking through the forest floor and toppling a handful of trees. He twisted his gauntleted arm to block, the red wing on his back dissolving into the war fan that spun away before boomeranging back toward me. I met it with a Flash Parry, my palm striking with enough force to send it reeling. "Why did you flee like that?" I asked, incredulous. "Did I really spook you that badly?"

"You are a disgrace!" he roared, straining beneath me. "You will get nothing from me, Unholy Taint! You brought ruin to the Empire!"

Huh. A bold claim, but I wasn't buying it. "Funny, because just a moment ago, you said 'you shouldn't be here,' as though you knew exactly where I was supposed to be. Doesn't that sound strange?" He'd been smart, choosing words that painted me as the Empire's blight rather than admit his panic. Yet, wasn't it a little irresponsible to abandon his post and leave his men behind? I understood my reputation, sunderer of the Summit, and a villain whispered about in taverns, but reputation alone couldn't account for that kind of fear. And with my Divine Sense active, any lie of his would ring louder than truth.

The fan returned a second time, spinning faster, humming with energy. My hand rose instinctively, parrying again, but the instant my palm connected, the fan shattered into a storm of crimson feathers.

Bai Zheme raised one hand, and the feathers writhed, morphing into blazing imps tethered by black chains. The creatures reeked of sulfur as they surged forward, exploding in fiery bursts. I exhaled and drew Soulsunderer from my Item Box, the heavy, single-edged blade humming with power. No more half-measures.

That was when Bai Zheme burst off his restrictions as crimson feathers formed on his shoulder. He burst in flames, reappearing a short distance away.

"This is farewell, Da Wei," said the old man as he fled to the sky.

I was about to chase, when I saw a single red feather slowly hover in front of me and I could feel it was dangerous. Not so soon, I was proven right as the feather burst into a massive imp, taller than the trees around us as it slammed its fist into me, hurling me backward until my boots dug trenches into the earth.

Dark tar coiled up from the ground, binding my legs and halting my movement.

Great, a mutate imp trying to get clever!

Flames trailed the sky as Bai Zheme vanished from my sight, determined to escape. With a grunt, I tore free from the tar in a burst of raw strength, Soulsunderer cleaving down the giant imp. Instead of dying cleanly, the creature fragmented into dozens of smaller imps, each shrieking before exploding around me.

That was it. Now, I'm pissed. The ground beneath me lit with intricate formations, arrays flaring as Bai Zheme's layered spells activated. The winds shrieked into blades, ripping through stone and splintering trees with slicing force.

"Armor of the Indomitable! Sacred Bulwark!"

Golden light layered across my skin, my stance hardening. The explosions tore into me, but the imps' detonations rebounded off my bulwark, their own deaths ripping through their numbers as wind and fire consumed them.

"Oh, someone is gonna get hurt."

The imps shrieked one last time before I cut them off with Judgement Severance. A rift shaped like a golden cross opened, and its consuming brilliance devoured every trace of supernatural energy. The hellspawn constructs unraveled instantly, leaving only silence and the sharp edge of my intent.

I tightened my grip on Soulsunderer and drew in a breath. In that moment, I recalled Yuen Fu's faith in me, the memory of his movements, and the weight of his martial arts. My martial arts had always been grounded in the Smite series as its core, a paladin's craft. But Yuen Fu had transcended even that, brushing against the threshold of Martial Ascension. I wanted to see if I could do the same.

With a bound, I invoked Heavenly Thundering Step, a variation of Yuen Fu's techniques. The sky boomed as I vanished and reappeared just behind Bai Zheme. In the same breath, I layered Flash Step, cutting through space to slash his shoulder and wing with Divine Smite. The strike seared him, and before he could scream, I dropped a crushing knee into his back, pinning him flat to the earth. Blood gushed from his mouth as I drove Soulsunderer through his torso, pinning him to the ground like a broken insect.

Then the feathers came. Crimson, rotten, and alive. They gathered into a grotesque form… It was a demon clad in feathery flesh, with a skull-like beak for a head. Its aura pulsed with the might of a Demi-God, enough to dwarf many mortals. With talons like razors, it lunged at me.

I answered with a grin, pulling Hellcleaver from my Item Box. The axe cackled madly, eager to bite demonflesh. I met the beast's lunge with a blazing Searing Smite, only for it to parry and snap its jaws open wide, as though it meant to swallow me whole. My surprise only lasted a blink. I summoned World Aegis and smashed forward with a Shield Bash. The knockback hurled the demon away, its screech tearing through the forest.

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Raising my hand, I called down judgment. The heavens darkened, and a colossal golden blade pierced the clouds, descending with the weight of divine will. Beneath me, Bai Zheme writhed against the steel pinning him.

"I thought it was strange," I teased, "you wielding a different war fan than before. But this? Consorting with demons? That's a new low."

His face contorted, eyes blazing with both defiance and desperation. "Long live… the Eternal Dream." He raised his hand, dark chains bursting from his wrist. They coiled and latched onto the demon, the same foul chains I'd seen in Northshire.

But then, shockingly, they shattered.

Bai Zheme laughed through the blood on his lips. "I've broken the contract, and now that I've set you free, feel free to let loose!"

The demon's aura swelled, and the pressure was crushing. What was once a Demi-God's presence now surged into something greater… a true God's might. It was the power matching that of an Eleventh Realm or Ascended Soul.

"I am the Crimson Soul, Greater Demon, and I shall devour you," bellowed the demon. "Perish!"

An Ascended Soul's prestige was measured by their level, their greatness etched into that number alone. Yet true potency was what separated the terrifying from the forgettable. I was the rare exception who could punch far above my weight, my potency enough to bridge the gulf of prestige.

The demon's presence swelled. [Level 2], [Level 3], [Level 4], [Level 5]… each surge felt like the world itself bending… until it stopped at [Level 9]. That was the realm of my twin sister's strength. Nine layers of immortality. Meaning I would have to kill it nine times. My lips curled into a grin. I had already slain a Demon King at [Level 8]. She had prestige and potency, but I'd wiped her from existence. This one? Not so much.

Heavenly Punishment descended. A golden sword fell from the heavens, bursting into a column of searing radiance. I sensed three layers of immortality peel from the demon's being, visible only to Ascended Souls like me as veils of presence unraveling.

Rage burned in me. Bai Zheme's corpse melted into tar at my feet, smearing half my robes in black filth. I torched the mess away with a Searing Smite, disgust heavy in my chest. The demon staggered to its knees, roaring in pain, its remaining layers blazing brighter.

Why did immortality matter? Not simply for extra lives… it was because each layer fueled Immortal Arts. An Ascended Soul without an Immortal Art would be incomplete.

With a cry, the demon's wings unfurled, vast and bleeding shadow. A pitchfork materialized in its grasp as it charged. I dismissed Hellcleaver and World Aegis, grabbing Soulsunderer from the ground. I blessed it with Holy Sword, lacing its edge with the fury of my Asura Soul.

The pitchfork missed. In a blink, I used Flash Step, cutting with Divine Smite. My blade cleaved it in half at the waist, stripping away another layer. [Level 6].

It erupted in crimson feathers, chaotic and shrieking. They spun into a vortex, striking at me with thrusts faster than lightning. My Divine Sense caught every twitch and angle. I parried, step by step, until I seized the pitchfork's shaft, wrenched it aside, and lopped off its head. Another layer was gone, just like that. [Level 5].

I pressed forward. Thunderous Smite crashed down, missed by a feather's breadth. But the follow-up Divine Smite carved deep, tearing its essence further. [Level 4].

We soared into the skies, each blow rattling the clouds. Even here, distant from New Willow, I felt threads of faith tugging at me. My people's devotion trickled into my veins through my Immortal Art: Divine Appointment of the Faithful, slower but steady. It was enough to remind me that I couldn't drag this fight out. I'd hate to attract the wrong kind of attention.

I called upon Holy Wrath, empowering my next skill. Finally, I cast…

"Heavenly Punishment."

The golden sword descended once more, tearing the sky apart, and devouring the demon in divine tribulation.

The demon looked pitiful, its charred feathers ragged, flapping like a crippled chicken trying to escape a storm. With one step I seized it by the neck, its shrill cries ringing in my ears. I paid them no mind. Bai Zheme had dissolved into tar, leaving me no corpse to question. This little monster was the last lead I had.

I pressed my palm against its chest, channeling my Asura Soul. Divine Possession surged, binding my essence into the demon's core. The world flickered. My eyes closed, then opened again… not in the forest or the sky, but in hell.

The landscape was a furnace of shadows and fire. Rivers of molten ash ran across the ground, and souls writhed like maggots under a bleeding sky. I tried rifling through the demon's memories, but something slammed against me like a wall of thunder. A presence stronger than the beast itself burst forward, cutting off everything.

A silhouette stood ahead, darker than even the fires of hell. My body stiffened. "It's you," I muttered, recalling the specter I had once glimpsed in Liu Yana's kingdom. "I believe we've already met."

The figure's glamour peeled away, shadows cascading like silk. Long dark hair spilled over his shoulders, his robes midnight black. The face was unmistakable, though older, sharper, and far less arrogant. My words slipped before I could stop them. "The fuck? Shenyuan!?"

The man smirked faintly. "Incorrect. The name is Yuan Shen. As for Shenyuan… he was my carcass. The husk left behind after the Supreme Beings utterly erased me. A contingency. Forgotten from history, and discarded from the world. To my surprise, the void touched the remains, birthing sentience. Strange powers followed. In short… Shenyuan was a problem. One I thank you for removing."

I snapped my fingers with a grin. "Oh, then we might be pals! If you hate the Supreme Beings, we can be the best of friends!"

"Stop the pretense." His voice carried no warmth, only iron.

I dropped the smirk, my tone hardening. "What do you want?"

Yuan Shen folded his hands behind his back. "My demons kept dying recently. So I left my essence in their cores, here and there. A tether. Then one perished… and I find you. We must be fated, if destiny insists on crossing our paths."

I spat on the ground. "Sorry, buddy, but I don't swing that way. As for your demons, you'd better expect a shortage. I had a little talk with the supplier. She's dead now. Real tragic."

For the first time, he smiled. It was calm, chilling, and without mirth. "We'll meet again."

The hellscape shattered. My vision ripped back into my body. In my hand, the once-twitching chicken demon sagged, its body collapsing into a puddle of black tar that stained my palm.