Born in Blood



The Ravaging Flame Sect.

Their entire base was basically an impregnable red fortress built to resist the tides of Rank 4 fire beasts.

Its surroundings were a fiery forest with large leaves that naturally burned on their own. 

Paired with soaring temperatures that no sane person would dare enter normally.

Because of that, the Temple had to resort to something different.

In preparation, every acolyte wore special heat-resistant clothes. 

Liam himself didn't feel too bothered. 

The Infernal tempering method's heat resistance abilities were strengthened to a Rank 4 level.

He merely felt a gentle warmth.

To begin the assault, the Elders began provoking the Rank 4 beasts around the Sect.

A lot of them.

Way more than what was classified as a tide.

Since Zeniths could fly, attacking and fleeing from a Rank 4 beast wasn't difficult at all. 

All five of the Elders circled around different habitats, poking a beast, then flying away as they were angrily chased.

Rinse and repeat.

Slowly, an avalanche of Rank 4 Spirit Beasts were forming.

A rumbling noise spread through the air and trembled the ground.

A Rank 3 Ravaging Flame disciple – wearing an orange robe and styled with short red hair – furrowed his brows as he stood over the Sect's borders. 

"What is…"

The disciple stuttered with a curse.

His senses screamed danger from all sides, roars, explosions and howling sounds mixed among the cacophony of noises steadily growing nearer.

However, the man wasn't extremely worried.

Stuff like this happened more than once during their lives.

They didn't build their base in the middle of such a dangerous area without having the necessary preparations.

The disciple – and several others stationed around the border – was in charge of the Defensive Formation.

As the tides of Rank 4 beasts came closer, the disciple oozed confidence and snarky arrogance.

Dramatically, he imbued the token with 'Ora', at the same time as all the other Border Guards.

…

Nothing happened.

No wall of force or flame grew around the border. 

And the tide of Rank 4 wolves were dangerously closing the distance.

The man's snarky and dumbfounded expression was slowly replaced with despair. 

Someone had disabled the Defensive Formation!

Why?!

Dark tufts of a massive Razing Wolf's fur started to burn, starting from its tail, then spreading across its body and reaching its maw.

By the end of it—

BOOOOOM!

A beam of wild flames burst from its mouth, shooting towards the Rank 3 disciple and several others at once.

They died instantly.

Dozens of Rank 4 beasts barged into the Sect.

It was havoc.

Often, the weakest disciples lived within the outer layers of a Sector.

They were free meals.

After them, were the stronger, talented disciples.

They were also free meals.

However, before the Zenith beasts could fully devour them, the Ravaging Flame Elders shot out of their quarters to deal with the threat.

With how far apart the Sect grounds were, and the unexpectedness of the attack, the Elders couldn't save the outer disciples.

After all, the Defensive Formation was there for a reason!

A clash ensued between man and beast. 

Usually, Zenith cultivators didn't have any issue with fighting Zenith beasts. 

It was three centers of power versus two, after all. 

Intellect versus bestial instinct.

But there were only 6 Elders against more than 34 beasts.

As the clash continued, the Elders were actually losing! 

They were forced to use all their strongest and most devastating spells, leaving them exhausted. 

Slowly, the Elders were losing their ground.

They were readily being pushed back from all sides. 

Fear grew on their faces.

Suddenly, a thundering boom rang out from the center of the Sect.

The Patriarch had come out to support his Elders against the tide!

He was a tall, broad-shouldered man with long red hair and flaming orange eyes.

He had an aged appearance, but that didn't take away from his strength.

He wore a red robe with embroidered flames.

A disdainful look was on his face. 

With a wave of his hand, raging crimson flames burst forth and roared back at the Zenith beasts.

Pained howls and roars rang out from all sides.

Another titanic battle ensued!

With the help from a solid-stage cultivator, the beasts were all swiftly dealt with. 

All of them heaved exhausted but relieved sighs. 

Their robes were shredded and their skin burnt.

They had won in the end, but lost at the same time.

There were massive beast bodies littering the Sect grounds.

…But also the remains of their disciples.

More than a quarter of their people were lost. 

Old Flame, the Sect's Patriarch, shook his head in pity and sorrow.

He looked a bit tired, using his strongest spells to deal with the threat as fast as possible.

"Who turned the Defensive Matrix off?!" his angered, aged voice spread across the region.

A response came in the form of a black spear tearing through the air.

WHISH!

The spear was so fast, it pierced Old Flame's solar plexus in an instant. 

As Old Flame coughed blood, a human Shadow separated from the spear.

Before the Zeniths of the Ravaging Flame Sect could come to their leader's defense, four shadows shot at them from different directions.

Verium held a sharp-looking dagger of condensed liquid in one hand, and the black spear in the other.

Twisting the spear deeper, Verium stabbed the Patriarch's neck with the dagger.

BOOM!

As soon as it entered Old Flame's neck, it hissed and exploded.

Obviously, the liquid weapon was a Rank 4 spell. 

The Patriarch's neck folded due to the force, but he wasn't dead.

Wild flames burst from his body and enshrouded him, blowing Verium away and charring a patch of the Elder's skin.

WHOOOSH! BOOOOM! KRSH! 

Liam watched the battle from afar.

Due to how exhausted the Ravaging Flame disciples, they couldn't take advantage of their higher numbers.

In contrast, all of the Temples' Elders were in peak condition, and they had prepared extensive countermeasures against the Ravaging Flame Sect.

With so many injuries on his body, Old Flame's fire slowly died down as the battle continued, and with a spear tip to the neck, he died after.

After an hour-long, razing battle, the Temple emerged victorious.