Chapter 667: Hope.

"Monster, she’s a monster..." Sunni coughed as Ogun checked her vitals after being kneed to the chest. "I know those eyes, the eyes of someone who looks at us like insects..." She groaned as she tried to sit, but Ogun prevented her from moving her body.

Sunni wasn’t the type of person who would lose her composure easily, but seeing how anxious she was, Ogun didn’t need to understand the threat they were facing. He looked at the standoff between Ruen and the Heavenly Alliance after Ma had decided to take the matter personally.

"We have Alliance Leader Ma now, you need to stop moving and recover because your internal injury is serious," Ogun said as he looked at Sunni, trying to calm her down and rest.

Ogun was about to look at Ma when suddenly Sunni clutched and gripped onto his wrist tightly. He saw Sunni shaking her head slowly, and she looked at him dead in the eye.

"My instinct is telling me that Alliance Leader Ma won’t be able to defeat her," Sunni said quietly.

Ogun furrowed his brows and couldn’t believe that Sunni questioned Ma’s ability and skill, but Sunni was a Grandmaster, a Zenith, someone who stood at the top as a martial artist. He wanted to question her words, but she had countless experience in martial arts and fought countless formidable martial artists in her whole life. To question her doubt, it would be disrespectful because Sunni never doubted his intuitions because she believed in his skill and craftmanship.

"In this situation, doubt can prevents regret, Master Strategist," Sunni muttered as she coughed and blood coated her chin and down to her ears.

Ogun nodded with understanding and knew that regret was one of the origins of wisdom. He took Sunni’s words not as a consideration but as a fact. He tried to assess the situation where the Zeniths and Ma wouldn’t be enough to deal with the Queen of the Night. He looked around and spotted Rasmus, thinking if he could help them, they could win against a Grandmaster of a Demonic Cult.

"No..." Ogun muttered to himself as he shook his head. "Alliance Leader Ma has decided to make him an enemy," he said under his breath and closed his eyes.

As soon as Ogun said that, suddenly Jin and Rukan got thrown away right next to him. He was startled and turned around to look at them, petrified when he saw Jin lose his right arm and Rukan get his own sword stabbed right in his chest. It hadn’t been a few seconds since he saw the standoff, but now he saw more Zeniths lose to Ruen.

Out of seven Zeniths, three had lost, leaving only Magura, who had gone to grab his spear, Yuna the Blade Empress, Tenzin the Hand of Light, and Woon the Shapeless Blade. Rukan was the closest to reaching where Ma was in terms of martial arts, and if he lost that easily, the remaining Zeniths wouldn’t be enough to hold a candle to Rune. It was what Ogun thought to himself after he saw the state of Rukan and Jin.

"There’s another way..." Sunni pointed out. "Light the incense..." she suggested.

Ogun’s eyes widened and he had almost forgotten about it, about the Ancient Great Spirit and Great Spirits who had blessed the mountain and entrusted the Heavenly Alliance to maintain order and peace. He realized if he could summon them, they would come and help them deal with Ruen.

"Go..." Sunni groaned.

Ogun nodded with understanding as he stood up and ran as fast as he could. He looked over his shoulder at Ruen pointed her sword at Ma before she suddenly disappeared and appeared in front of Ma. The moment their swords clashed, a shockwave sent Ogun and the Zeniths flying.

Ogun hit a pillar and collapsed, feeling something was broken in his back. There was no more stage, no more craters, everything was flattened. He took a glance at the way Ruen could push Ma back from the clash and the way she grinned at him in excitement made Ogun realize that Sunni might be right about it.

Ogun pushed himself up and tried to walk as fast as he could when he felt like knives stabbing his lower back whenever he moved. As soon as he managed to escape the courtyard, he looked up at the long stairs that went beyond the clouds, making the stairs seem endless. He took a deep breath and began to climb the stairs without trying to doubt his ability to reach the temple in his condition.

At the same time, Ma and Ruen exchanged attacks to gauge each other’s strength. In doing so, the courtyard had become a dangerous place for anyone to be around. Ma was calm and collected even in the middle of exchanging blows. His movements were almost like air, moving through even a tiny gap that Ruen exposed.

Rasmus witnessed what a true martial artist and a swordsman could be. Although Ma was overpowered by Ruen’s strength and speed, the experience and the timing of his movements were superior to her.

After a few seconds since they clashed, Ruen threw a back kick after she adapted to Ma’s unpredictable movements. Ma managed to block the kick and got pushed away quite far. He slowly swung his sword and saw the blood on the blade before he stared at the cut he did to her side and arm. Although he managed to cut her, his hands were shaken by the clash, noticing that he wouldn’t be able to block her attacks if he kept clashing his sword with hers.

Rasmus didn’t expect Ruen to be that thorough in her appearance, making herself bleed like a human being, removing the suspicion that she wasn’t a human to begin with. However, there was one thing that made Rullein different from Aris, as a Dark Spirit, her adaptability what made her the ultimate threat to the world. Aristoria knew how dangerous Rullein was when she took her in because Rullein’s true nature was the embodiment of destruction.

"Shin Ma, the man who was once feared by the Demonic Cult. We feared that sword you wield, the one who stabbed our Heavenly God. You must have heard what we called it, don’t you? The Sword of Fate and the Grandmaster who holds it, Godslayer," Ruen smirked.

Ma narrowed his eyes slightly when he heard his title and the sword in his hand.

"You’re truly from the Demonic Cult," Ma spoke calmly. He was suspicious about Ruen’s identity because he didn’t think a demonic cult had the power to have a Grandmaster like her. However, after he heard her words, calling the Demonic Cult leader as the Heavenly God, and knowing about his title and the sword’s title that only Demonic Cult gave him, he was convinced that she was indeed from the Demonic Cult. "To think they have someone like you in this era, I wonder how powerful the current Heavenly God is for someone like you to serve him," he spoke as he readied his stance.

"The Heavenly God sees you as nothing but a speck of dust in the air," Ruen chuckled softly as she readied her stance. "It’s unfortunate that I hadn’t yet exist when you were still in your prime because I’m confident that I could kill you even then," she grinned before she disappeared and reappeared in front of Ma once again.

What Ma didn’t know, Ruen read his memories during their clashes, making sure that her existence was tied to the Demonic Cult and not Rasmus. She learned how to act, to weave a truth with a lie and produce a new reality. Although she couldn’t look at Rasmus’ face, she knew that he was proud of her acting.

As the fight prolonged, Ma noticed how fast she learned and adapted to his techniques. He wasn’t surprised anymore that she was this strong with her ability to learn and grasp his techniques in real time. The more he clashed, the more refined and sophisticated her movements were. The more he observed her, the more he realized the gap that he thought didn’t exist in his techniques and movements suddenly existed and they were huge.

The remaining Zeniths came to assist Ma, but they didn’t even have a chance to even swing their weapon at Ruen when they got pushed away with her Aura alone. Ma ordered them to stay away from the fight because they would only waste their lives if they had to face her.

For the first time, Ma was brought to one knee when he received a powerful blow right on his chest with the back of her sword. He felt his lungs were being squeezed and air was being sucked out of them. He tried to breathe but no air was entering his body, realizing his internal energy was serious.

"One attack, that was all it took..." Ruen pointed her sword right at Ma’s throat. "The age of righteousness is gone, Shin Ma. Heaven will bow to no other than the Heavenly God," she smirked as she pulled her sword and was ready to swing her sword when suddenly the sky felt like it was crushing down.

Three figures landed from the sky and sent Ruen flying, pushing her away from Ma with the powerful shockwave. Ma slowly lifted his head and saw them, he remembered them, the Ancient Spirits that accepted him as the figure who was worthy to lead humankind and blessed him with their power when he took his position as the Heavenly Alliance Leader. Three Ancient Great Spirit, Hywan the Phoenix, Ashu the Turtoise, and Rhys the Ice Wolf.

All the Zeniths approached Ma and knelt behind the Ancient Great Spirits. They thought that hope had arrived, and they would be safe from Ruen. At the same time, Ogun came back, covered in sweat and was out of breath as he joined them.

"I did it..." Ogun chuckled weakly.

"You did..." Ma smiled and nodded, showing how grateful he was.

"Kneel!" Rullein spoke, her voice echoed throughout the courtyard.

There was only silence that followed when they heard Rullein spoke for the first time. Then, their faces turned pale when they saw the three Ancient Great Spirits in front of them kneeling. They saw Rullein walking toward Ruen and walked past her like she wasn’t a threat to begin with. Ruen on the other hand glanced at her with a cold gaze, making it like the two of them were different people.

Ma and the others were speechless, they were so stunned that their minds couldn’t process what they had just witnessed.

"They are our enemies now," Rullein stared down at Ma and the others. "Your role as their protectors is no more," she said coldly before she turned around and walked back to where Rasmus was.

Hywan, Ashu, and Rhys bowed to Rullein and slowly they stood up, following Rullein from behind.

"You’re interesting," Rullein glanced at Ruen. "So the Demonic Cult is more interesting than this place. I can’t wait to pay it a visit," she smirked and walked past Ruen.

Ruen looked over her shoulder with a cold expression before she looked at Ma and the others once again.

"If only you didn’t make them your enemy, they might be able to save you," Ruen chuckled eerily as she swung her sword around, releasing evil energy that slowly wrapped around her.