All But Slaughtering

Her Infinite blue eyes wandered over the stilled men. Her presence had truly been too much for their mortal bodies to handle. Possessing such beauty is just another means of passive killing.

She slowly walked up to the leader who now was frozen in thought.

"From what faction do you come about?"

The lifeless eyes of the leader remained still and blank, as if only a hollow shell remained of the once powerful being.

"The… Sun Order.."

The man drowsily responded, becoming quiet again at the end of his sentence.

The Angelic figures eyes only blinked in response, showing no surprise at the revelation.

"hmmmmm…"

She thought for a moment before asking another question.

"Who else do you know may come after me?"

The man thought for a moment, or that was as much as could be inferred as no display of any actions appeared on his face or body.

"The Muran Palace has noticed our actions and also sent some of their warriors to investigate our sudden movements, but we were able to lose them. It is only with time that the Ocean Sanctuary acts as well. Our intel suggests that they may have colluded."

The Angelic figure frowned.

"I had wanted to keep this place as peaceful as possible and restrain any action, but it seems that they are only forcing my hand…"

She turned to face the many men who had now collapsed, only the leader remaining standing.

Her eyes suddenly shone a great blue, engulfing the world around it with its hue.

She spoke in an ethereal, almost robotic voice, as if it had been spoken many times before.

"Nothing of this present has existed, you will return to anything but what you so long persisted."

The bodies of the men shifted and disfigured. Their black hair turned grey and white, many folds of wrinkles appearing on their face and body. Strange translucent energy seeped out of their seven orifrices, dispersing in the environment.

She had reverted their body's to what they most feared, taking away from them the dreams that they had fought and trained so long to achieve. Their cultivation, talent, body construction, all gone.

Now, they are nothing but old men who only possess knowledge of their prime, not a wisp of it to be remembered by.

All memories of their encounter are erased, as should they remember her, they would die.

Her face is truly the end of all life.

***

Jilun and Jia wanted closer to the grandiose gates of the Aster Grounds.

As they approached, a voice boomed overhead as a strong pressure descended down upon them.

"Show your stones of Identification"

The voice was old and calm, but his words relayed anything but that intent.

Both Jilun and Jia pulled out their stones handed to them by the 'cloaked' figure.

The voice paused for a moment, ceasing speaking as he seemed to be observing the stones through just his thoughts.

"The boy on the right can go, the girl stays"

'What?'

Jilun was stumped. Had he not gotten the exact same stone as Jia?

"Esteemed Elder, may there have been an error? She had received the exact same stone as I have, could there not have been a mistake?"

Jilun spoked in a somewhat pleading tone.

"That is not possible, it is but a fake stone! Should she want to enter the grounds in the future, she would have to wait for the application process as all others had done themselves! Trying to deceive the eyes of the Aster Grounds only ensures us of your stupidity!"

Jilun was surprised at the extremely offended old man. Just as he was about to speak again, Jia rested her hand on Jilun shoulder.

"It's okay, go in without me. I'll wait for the girl to finish her business and I'll consult with her to clear any misunderstandings."

Jilun still had a face of hesitation. He didn't want to leave her behind in a city unknown to her. Seeing this, Jia continued.

"It's fine, I'm sure it is only some time before she finishes up, I promise I'll be in there with you in no time."

Jia had always been a strong willed girl. She was even physically strong than him! So if anything were to happen to her, there was not much else he could do that she couldn't. But at the same time, it seemed that Jia was emotionally fragile without his presence. It made him uneasy leaving her behind. But as the cloaked girl was bound to return soon, she could get everything cleared up and enter along with him.

"Okay, I will see you in a bit then."

Jilun hugged Jia tightly as he turned around to center the grounds.

"Be safe" Jilun whispered before fully turning his head around.

The massive gates opened, greeting him with a golden translucent film that separated the two worlds.

Walking through it, he felt like he had become numb for a second, then returning to normal as he stepped in.

Before, from outside of the walls, he wasn't able to really see anything inside. But after walking through the film, he was able to finally see what the film had been hiding.

It was a completely different atmosphere from the city. It was more structured and organized, no random street vendors or families wandered these streets. Instead, the people acted as if they were always being observed, never acting reckless or causing trouble.

It was worth the name of the Aster Grounds.

An elder figure suddenly manifested in front of him.

"As you used a temporary Identification Stone, you must be a new disciple, am I correct?"

The voice was the same one from the gates, though less powerful and mighty.

"Correct, Elder."

The elder nodded.

"You would want to first register at the station at the end of this street." He said, pointing at a tall building in the distance.

Jilun followed his hand, assuring himself of the location before he bowed.

"Many thanks, Elder"

Jilun thanked the elder as he headed toward the registration desk.

As the Elder saw that Jilun was on his merry way, he disappeared from the scene, returning to his guard post.

***

Jilun didn't know why, but all the people that he pasted and walked by, he felt a dangerous feeling, almost like a premonition. He already knew he would be surrounded by people, even his own age, that would much stronger than he could imagine. It was the reason it didn't catch him much by surprise, as he was also expecting it thanks to his Old Gi. Expectation, though, couldn't lessen the feeing of unease he felt.

As he neared the end of the street, the registering station came into view.

There was no line, as this late in the day, not many would come to register. Most, besides the people who wandered the streets, would be already asleep by now, preparing for tomorrows class and training.

He walked up to the desk.

A girl dressed in a formal uniform with a gray skirt was resting her head on her hand until she saw him coming up.

It was really strange, normally around night hours nobody, if any, would ask anything of the information desk. It was one of the main reasons she had chosen this job. Free contribution points for almost no work. As this was the case, she wasn't really prepared, and in all honesty, was falling asleep.

"Hey! What do you need?"

She feigned a completely awoken voice as she shot up, quickly wiping the forming drool on the edges of her mouth.

Jilun smiled as he walked up to her.

"I'm new here, and am supposed to be under Xi Fengge. Would you mind pointing me in his direction?"

Upon hearing this, the girl nodded.

"Yes, Instructor Fengge, he is…"

She opened up a book, running her fingers down many pages, she stumbled onto his name.

"He is in the Housing of Fire, the west side of the Aster Grounds. As you are new here, you would want to consult with him first before taking in any housing."

"Uhhh"

Jilun scratched his head in embarrassment.

"I don't have any idea where that is located… may you please provided written directions?"

The girl looked at him as she smiled, understanding his situation.

"Oh, if it's just directions, I could take you there. My shift ends in some time, and really, I could leave early as not many people register this late."

Jilun realized she was referring to him as he awkwardly chuckled. Although he wanted to do things himself without relying on anybody, there are things that just can't be done alone, like exploring a new place hundreds of times larger than his village.

"It would be great if you could."

"Sure!"

She reached out her hand.

"I'm Wuyao, and you?"

Jilun understood the greeting of shaking hands as he had learned from Old Gi. The people in their village had no need for such a greeting as everyone knew each other, and has grown around one another since birth.

"My name is Jilun, I come from the village of Quadel."

He reached out his hand to complete the handshake.

"Oh Quadel? I actually have never heard of-"

As soon as Jiluns hand came into content with hers, her body froze. Every muscle within her body spasmed as her blood gushed in reverse. Her body trembled as she suddenly collapsed backwards.

Time itself seem to slow down with her fall.

Her eyes frantically looked all around at the world slowly moving around her.

Then suddenly, a black figure manifested out of thin air.

It's figure was completely masked by a thick ominous black fog.

Within the horrid fog, a pair of blood red eyes opened, staring at her through her face and into her soul itself.

She couldn't even speak in front of this demon. Her thought processes slowed as her eyes, slowly losing its life as their color started to fade away…