The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

Raising his arms, Demon stepped slowly onward, and the fires burst from his feet, driven by his command to spread along the borders of the Reed district. The rising walls of flame and smoke converged overtop and dyed the sky red, hiding the two suns behind the roaring fire. His powers as a Lower Marshal Exalt had grown, and under the guidance of Ignyres, his collection of mastered spells swelled. Inside the flaming prison, many exclaimed and wailed, pointing at him and Marcus, fear and apprehension overwhelming them as they scurried away like rats in a flood.

"Shall I silence them?" Marcus whispered.

"Stay back and don't interfere. Your movements may betray your identity." Demon jumped high and raised his white sword above his head, a heated blue glinting from the sharp edge. Instantly, he reached the center of the rabble and plunged his sword into the ground. A spiral of blue flames started from where the metal met the earth. At first, it sliced everything in its path, and all became wreathed in a blue fire a second later, reduced to white ashes, nothing left to suggest they existed. Buildings, people, and even the streets became a white desert of ash, an occasional ember of blue sparks spewing from a few mounds.

What an utter disappointment. None survived the baptism of fire, even though Demon weakened his blow slightly. They could have been useful if any showed the potential to block or withstand his flame with an intact body. With Marcus following behind while collecting the space pockets and intact armaments, Demon continued across the desert of his making, dragging his sword along the ashes. How great would Oscar feel to see all of New Dawn buried in a similar desert? A graveyard of all of his enemies and those who dared to harm him might be the best appeasement to the rage burning within.

As he walked closer to the intact center region of the district, the flame prison closed in, following him step by step, always a few feet behind him. Upon reaching the buildings bordering the desert, the hot fires vaporized the blockish structures, burning them to their foundations. Seeing more rats scampering nearby, Demon sliced sideways, bisecting them into a fiery farewell. He had nothing against them, no anger or hatred. But they were in his way.

Two loud drums echoed in his mind. His heart thumped twice in quick succession, two soft beats, yet they sounded clearly in his ears. Demon slowed his steps before stopping completely, staring at his trembling hands. It wasn't him who was trembling. It wasn't him whose heart sank and quickened from the burning massacre of innocents. He could not believe it and withdrew into the inner world, scrutinizing the lifeless Oscar with a critical eye. The trembling and the heartbeats could not have been an illusion.

"Are these your lingering attachments to your beliefs? You've never actively sought to kill for your gains, only doing so when they became a threat to you. Is a part of you still in there, rejecting what I'm doing to these people?" Demon brushed past Ignyres and crouched before Oscar. "If you want me to stop, then wake up. Wake up and scold me like you usually do. Wake up and argue back against my methods."

"My Lord? Is there something wrong?" Marcus asked.

"No. Let's continue." Demon slashed again, killing a few more and feeling the clear rejection from deep within. At last, there was a glimmer of hope that Oscar might awaken. Then, let their innocent blood be the stimulus that spurred his awakening. He rushed in and slaughtered more, uncaring of their pleas for mercy because their lives were what he desired. Covered in their blood, which hissed and smoked on his clothes, Demon stepped into the inner wall, a white landscape of smoldering ashes surrounding it.

"Who dares attack my Reed Cartel?!" A familiar, aged voice roared in great anger, lightning churning and crackling against the flame prison. Edward Reed, one of his ambushers yesterday, appeared in a flash of light, his face reddening as he hovered and turned his gaze over the burning hell. Beside him, the current leader of the Reed Cartel, Dalin Reed, swung his axe, and a savage burst of wind howled and rammed into the flame prison where one of the lightning arches coiled. Their eyes widened at the unharmed flame prison.

"Where is my space pocket?" While he had used it as bait, it was still his items inside. Floating eye-to-eye and a distance away, Demon clenched his other hand on the handle, wielding his sword with two hands.

"You?!" Dalin seemed shaken. "How are you alive?"

Lightning hammered down without warning, a silent use of Ein that escaped even Demon's Prinstyct. So many fakes and the fields of electricity swamped the distorted world, making it harder to see through the intentions. The old Exalt showed his experience in battle. It struck the desert, turning half into a glass, long trails of the crystallized ash patterned like a spiderweb. Demon lowered his sword, the blue fires swallowing the electrifying sparks.

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"You fool! Now is not the time for questions! Kill him! Maintain your distance!" Edward zipped in erratic movements, a thundering trail under his feet. The wrinkled old man was fast but not on par with Demon's speed. Demon gave chase, enduring the thrown lightning bolts that bent at unnatural angles by deflecting them all with a single stroke of his sword. Dalin seemed to have regained his calm and attacked from afar, heaving his axe high. A single cleave downward split the other half of the desert in twine, a great chasm where the ashes flowed down like a waterfall.

Demon shattered the powerful wind in a single burning slash and sighed while fighting the two, who performed good coordination, countering his attacks. Holding back the use of Meld, the Line, and the metal element was quite restricting. Ignyres had told him that the primordial flames refused to work with a lesser metal, and he wanted to reign in using metal unless necessary. It made this short battle last a little longer, giving these weaklings hope. For several minutes, he cut apart several tornadoes and kicked away lightning spears, his flames unable to catch them.

Having enough, he caught up to the old man and slashed toward his head, concentrating the flames into his blade. Edward flashed a fearless smile, raising his blade to strike back at Demon, a scorpion's tail curving from the blade's tip, a blow of mutual destruction. The elder showed potential, but it was too late to reach another deal. Demon raised his right hand and gripped the scorpion's tail, and Edward's face fell. Perhaps he expected a different result, but an artificial arm endured the poisonous lightning from the stinger well.

Demon's sword cut into the elder's neck, charring the skin and flesh along its path and burning the blood into black smoke. Edward's body caught aflame and joined the ashes of his dead Cartel. At the same time, a powerful axe neared his back, but Marcus stepped in and blocked the blow, faint scales covering his hands. The sword crossed over and parted Dalin's wind barrier, burning the air around him as his screams joined the roaring flames. The winds fanned the fires well as they engulfed Dalin.

"I accept any punishment for my intrusion." Marcus lowered his head, clearly not apologetic for interfering.

"Collect their space pockets and search for their vaults. According to the deal, everything is ours." Demon swiped his sword, casting out the flakes of ashes, and sheathed it. "The other forces will be curious, so make it fast."

Marcus swept through the main headquarters of the Reed Cartel, looting every nook and cranny of the wealth. He found the contract Charlotte had signed, and Demon tore it apart, letting none of its existence remain. It was a good haul of vast resources for Apprentice, Elite, and Knight Exalts. Demon picked up the sword Edward used, and his own blade emanated a fierce rejection, wanting to pry that out of his hands. Grade-four armaments were incredibly selfish, not wanting to share an owner with another except in the rare cases of twin weapons.

Marcus presented the rest of the haul, a gathering of goods for common folk and non-Exalts, which could be sold to Charlotte for a sizeable profit. Demon lowered the flame prison and hid in the desert, avoiding the mass of Exalts flying over to investigate. Following the city map, he reached the sewers and traveled along a route to one of the gang headquarters in the slums.

"Do you recognize the identity of the three who attacked you?" Demon asked.

"Yes, they were the leaders of the Firebear Gang, the Druv Clan, and the Tavayn Pavilion. Shall I punish them?" Marcus listed off the names.

"Make an example of them. Kill their next in command and let the third take the leadership roles." Demon felt another stirring and gripped his hands. "Gift them the heads as a reminder of their failure. Go now." Marcus departed at the end of his sentence, delaying not a moment longer to carry out his orders, a good, loyal tool.

He had one more task to fulfill here. Reaching the Cassidy Auction in disguise, he stepped inside and was immediately greeted by Charlotte personally. She led him into her office, where the elder watched him carefully in a corner, a cautious gleam in those aged pupils. Charlotte knelt and apologized for the elder's rude stare, but Demon didn't care and said, "The Reed Cartel is now gone. Their routes and customers are yours."

"Thank you, Lord Draven. May I invite you to a celebratory feast in your honor?" Charlotte never lifted her head, her hand still trembling while clenching her handless wrist.

"No. Just remember our deal, and if you ever cross me, your family and precious business will be naught but ashes under my feet." Demon leaned forward, garnering a few quick shivers from Charlotte. "I need the information network you operate. Give me detailed reports on all the families and factions of the Lunate Continent. From the head to the lowliest descendants."

"I will have them before you without fail." Charlotte's sweat dripped onto the carpet, clearly seen in the velvet fabric.

A few minutes later, Demon received a comprehensive stack of documents and books. Indeed, the Cassidy Auction was a prudent power. Stepping out of the building, he reflected on the gains from this visit: the destruction of a potential trouble, the fortunes of a trading cartel, the contract between him and the Cassidys, and the subjugation of the city's underworld.

The continent was his now.

'Before you leave, can you climb Aeon Peak? I believe there is something quite interesting there.' Ignyres rushed him. 'Yes. I can feel it.'

Demon stared at the mountain, its slopes slowly hiding underneath the storms. It towered over the city, moving its shadow to the rotation of the two suns. Erden growled from underneath, wishing to climb as well. The two were so insistent, acting like children wanting a toy. He turned around and went toward the other side of the city, the side that faced Aeon Peak.

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