Chapter 133. Broken Pact
The salamander turned back. The expression in its eyes changed.
The elemental constructs of the human had disappeared. However, five beasts that were at the same level of power were fighting one another as they neared her location.
Each strike among them shook the place and caused sparks of crimson flames to fly everywhere.
All of them were salamanders. They had been fighting over this territory for a very long time. However, they all sustained injuries during a conflict in the past and decided to hide to recuperate. But they suddenly saw large crimson beasts in the sky.
Thinking that consuming those beasts would help their wounds to heal faster, each of them came out, only to find out that the others had also broken the pact they had in the past to never leave their areas to fight for the territory again until their injuries were completely healed.
The natural outcome was a conflict since the pact had been broken.
"Shit. That human manipulated me. The elemental construct he made was the actual trap. He used himself as bait to lure out these fuckers. To have the certainty to pull something like that off... what sort of human is this?" She looked at the human with a half-destroyed body laying at the edge of the Ashen Wasteland with shock in her eyes.
She made a vow that if she was able to defeat the other salamanders, she would hunt that human down.
She turned and shot towards the other salamanders.
A catastrophic battle ensued amongst the six overlords.
Claws and tails carrying streaks of crimson flames met incessantly. Flames shot out of their mouths and collided, causing rings of shockwaves to spread across the place.
Bodies clashed over and over again.
The intermediate rank 3 salamanders were not trying to kill each other out of desperation. It was the best move to make now that all of them had broken the pact. They were all still injured. They hadn’t completely healed from the injuries of their last clash. Each of them was very vulnerable at the moment. Each of them thought it the best time to kill the other and become the ultimate ruler of the Ashen Wasteland. This was why they were trying to kill each other.
*****
Aiden’s other half was regenerating. Currently, the only part of his destroyed body part which hadn’t regenerated yet was his hand.
He was observing the battle between the salamanders well.
The creatures had been fighting each other for the past week.
The effects of their battle had killed every creature in the Ashen Wasteland. Corpses of beginner rank 3 chaotic beasts and rank 2 chaotic beasts lay strewn across the place.
Aiden absorbed the blood essence of the corpses in a three-kilometer radius from where he was currently. However, he could not absorb the blood essence of the creatures outside that radius.
His range of vision, smell, and hearing had increased. His regeneration and healing had also improved, hastening his recovery.
Aiden had a clearer view of the salamanders now. They were all currently injured and were on their last legs. But none was willing to give up.
During the time he had been observing them fight, Aiden had realized that rank 3 and rank 4 chaotic beasts were very terrifying because they were naturally sentient. Yes it was a proven fact that they were sentient but a proven theory was different from a practical experience like what Aiden had just observed throughout the battle between the six intermediate rank 3 salamanders.
Rank 3 and rank 4 beasts could even be more crafty and terrifying than humans. They were not mindless brutes. The basic reasoning and intellect of the salamanders made them extremely dangerous.
It meant that they were capable of emotions. That meant that they were capable of ambition, revenge, loyalty, and betrayal. Aiden made mental notes that whenever he dealt with rank 3 and rank 4 chaotic beasts in pocket worlds or in the real world, he’d deal with them like he was dealing with humans. He was less likely to get killed by them if he had that orientation about them in the future.
****
Bang... Bang... Bang... Bang... Bang... Bang...
Soon, the salamanders started falling after sustaining serious injuries from their fights.
None of them was dead. But each of them was so seriously injured that they crashed on the grounds of the Ashen Wastelands at the same time.
The six overlords were on their last breaths.
But none of them was in the condition to kill the other.
"I can’t let this opportunity slip by. With the condition they are in, they can’t even attack me if I stand in front of them. Thankfully, I’m fully recovered now." Aiden’s body had fully recovered.
He swung his arms and his body and did some few stretches.
"Feels good to be as good as new."
He flapped his crimson wings and headed into the Ashen Wastelands.
He absorbed the blood essence of the corpses in one-kilometer radius wherever he passed. By the time he got to the salamanders, he had absorbed the blood essence of any corpse whose blood essence he had not absorbed.
Very soon, he arrived at where the colossal salamanders lay.
Blue blood pooled from across the bodies. Some even had dismembered body parts. The six of them were in really bad shape.
The one who had been chasing Aiden earlier stared at him with her large eyes.
This human bastard had caused their downfall. She knew there was nothing she could do to him.
She spoke weakly to the others in some sort of animalistic manner. It made strange squeaky sounds.
They all looked at the human with furious eyes. Clearly, the one that almost killed him told them he had manipulated them all into this situation.
Aiden realised they wanted to self-detonate and take him down with them. They knew they would die. But they didn’t want to go down alone.
"That’s not happening. No hard feelings," Aiden said.
Large blobs of blood appeared before him and transformed into long crimson sharp blades.
Puchi... Puchi... Puchi... Puchi... Puchi... The blades cleaved through their large eyes and sliced through their brains at the same time.
Green blood rained across as their eyes were completely destroyed. Currently, only holes remained where their eyes were.
The salamanders spasmed weakly.
This human was very terrifying. He did not even look that strong. So why was he so terrifying?
These were their last thoughts before they died, unable to commit suicide by self-destruction and take him down with them.
The crimson blades shot out of their heads, turned into blobs of blood and returned into Aiden.
Aiden absorbed their blood essence.
"Looks like I still have a long way to go before my power gets to the level of a beginner rank 3 warrior," Aiden thought.
He felt very strong. His range of vision, sight, and smell had increased considerably too. But, he still had a very long way to go before his power got to the level of a beginner rank 3 warrior.
His power was still at the level of a legendary rank 2 warrior. Aiden was not perturbed. His cultivation had been extremely fast in the first place because he absorbed the blood essence of the dead to grow stronger. However, he was well aware that the amount of blood essence needed to accumulate for further breakthroughs as he grew stronger would only increase. It just meant that he had to work harder. There was no need to gloat. Also, this was the path he had decided to walk. So, he had to be patient, trust it and build his strength step by step.
He made a mental note to update his rank to legendary rank 2 in the Warriors Association when he returned to the base.
After he absorbed the blood essence of the salamanders, he put the corpses in his storage bracelet. He had no use for them. But he planned on giving them to Desmonda and the others when they came to the military. They could have an artifact engineer use it to forge weapons and battlesuits for them.
His military watch buzzed with a notification. He tapped on it. A holographic panel appeared in front of him.
[Congratulations for completing your mission.
You have received 500,000 contribution points.
You have exceeded expectations. You have destroyed the Ashen Wasteland.
You have been awarded additional 100,000 contribution points.]