1 Waning Moon Part One

Dim lanterns flickered in the night, moving with the soft and quiet midnight breeze. The floral-scented oil used in the lamps spread with the soft gusts that came with calm nights.

The architecture of the walls where the lanterns were hanging was vaguely similar to the one used in eastern dynasties. Next to the round-shaped moon that glinted in the sky could be found a tall structure.

The tall multi-story building was shaped like the Pagodas used on Earth by the Buddhist and Taoist. However, if any specialist of these cultures from Earth was present, he would, with one hundred percent certitude, dare say to say he had never seen this type of construct on the face of the blue planet.

The walls of the eastern imperial palace lit up quietly, a vivid reddish color could be seen shining on the obsidian marble that was used to decorate the walls of the royal home, sounds of droplets repetitively hitting the paved floor resonated inside the palace. The sound echoed far and deep inside the royal domain but no other noise seemed to accompany the dripping blood.

If it wasn't for the horrid smell and heavy atmosphere coming from the scene. The oriental royal manor would form quite the charming scenery by itself, with tall trees that shone softly in the dark with a multitude of color coming from the plethora of blossoming flowers that spewed petals all around the scene. However, most of these petals ended up turning red by the time they hit the stone-shaped pattern of the ground, breaking the image and causing the blood of any bystander to run in reverse.

The nightmarish view would cause the most battle-hardened soldier to panic and run away from the massacre. All around the nightmarish painting were lying dismembered body parts and smashed flesh and bones that were forced to fuse together in chest-sized blocks. Some cadavers were turned into dry black rock akin to coal that villagers used to cook their food. Several mystical techniques used by experts seemed to have been released on the poor victims, with the aftermath of the battle giving the impression that it was a one-sided brawl.

Although the method used during the massacre were diverse and horrifyingly varied, the leftover faces of the victims all shared the same characteristic. A mask of anger, injustice and resentment mixed with fear and horror was painted on the faces of the cadavers. A few of them still had their mouth opened wildly, with large veins popping wildly on the many still warm corpses.

It was clear that the fight that had taken place inside the royal mansion of the Jianshen Empire was extremely one-sided and the slaughtering had just recently taken place as the few corpses and leftover body parts had yet to have turned rigid.

Here and there, could be seen too, a few bodies from the maiden and servants that helped the young royal prince and princess during their daily life in the royal mansion. The Jianshen Empire was led by the prestigious Sword God Emperor, one of the leading figures that lived on the Portalia Continent. Recently, the old hero that had governed the eastern empire with an iron grasp had perished a few days prior to the current butchery that had taken place inside of his palace.

If the other empires of the Portalia Continent knew what was happening, they would certainly sigh in pain and would definitely act differently when meeting the Shenjian Clans. None of them would dare say with confidence the same couldn't happen to their familial homes. If even one of the leading imperial clan could be uprooted in one night, they didn't dare to imagine what could happen to their lesser households. The predatory nature of politics made the upper echelon of the world a dangerous place to live in. One could live in glory for eons before suddenly disappearing overnight.

Their faces twisted in ugly masks the moment they learned that the current horror was being orchestrated by the dignified Jianshen themselves, a face they were quickly forced to hide with indignation.

Outside of the royal domain, a small army of soldiers could be seen hiding in the shades of a few bushes and trees, waiting quietly and ready to pounce at anybody that left the secret passage they were guarding.

"Open your eyes, Soldiers! Don't let anybody escape if you don't want to lose your lives!" One stout man ordered quietly with an irrefutable tone. The clothes he was wearing and the small insignias hooked on his long robe were a clear demarcation of his grading among the Jianshen Army.

Following his order, his hand moved as he drew the sword hanging around his hips. A singular motion followed by a sharp light quitting the tip of his blade showed the ample training and experience he had gone through during his years of military duty. His face was motionless, and his eyes never quit his subordinate during the seamless sword strike.

"Kill all the traitors! If a single life manages to escape through our blockade, remember that you will pay it with your own blood!" The facial expression placated on his face showed that none of the word that left his lips were lies. Most of them knew that if they failed, it wouldn't be just their poor bones that will receive the harsh punishment of the imperial family.

As the soldiers from his platoon were firmly nodding their heads, with a few of them silently gulping their dry saliva, they felt the intense pressure surrounding the imperial palace. Suddenly, a small figure dropped with a light thud on the ground, causing a few tense soldiers to nearly jump from their positions.

They looked at the ground, toward the poor bird that had died without knowing why, and looked back at their platoon leader. They couldn't help but feel the tension in their body rise, but at the same time they felt at ease as their leader was part of the esteem group of revered spiritualists. A mysterious group of individuals that were capable of superhuman feats due to the awakening and harsh training they had gone through in their youth.

The numerous soldiers who looked in the direction of the royal palace shared mixed sentiments related to the orders they had received tonight. They couldn't understand how exactly they were protecting their homes and families by pointing the sharp glint of their spears toward the Sheng Clan royal domain. Deep in their guts, they could feel that something wrong was going on here. However none of them dared to speak any of their doubt as they were afraid of the repercussion that may arise due to their questions.

In the best scenario, they might be forced to desert the ground they were guarding, but in the worst case they might lose their places in the army or even be deemed as a traitor and have their family lose their backing in the empire.

Life in the Portalia Continent wasn't easy, the same could be said to be true inside the Jianshen Empire. With most of the soldiers conscripted for tonight's event being picked out of individuals that wouldn't dare to say anything about the genocide that was taking place. They would all simply follow the order without ever voicing any doubt, with the perpetrator of the massacre had made sure to block out all the potential issues.

Time passed swiftly with the plethora of soldiers holding their grounds and focusing on stopping any survivor of the Sheng Clan. Their faces were marked with deep black line that showed their resolve as well as their internal struggles. The moment anyone appeared out of the secret passage and trap doors that they were ordered to guard, they would immediately attack and slay the last surviving member of the Sheng clan.

Suddenly, one of the guards moved as he raised his spear toward the opening trap. A silver flashed in the dark after the soldier's movement, his action surprising the other member of his unit. A few patches of slashed weed rose to the sky as the opening door trap was slashed in two.

A near-silent grunt escaped from the trap as a shadow easily made its way through the spear strike and disappeared behind the guard.

"They're coming out of the eastern-south secret passage!" screamed a soldier that had noticed the shadowy figure leaving the secret tunnel. The soldier had been named Qi Guai and tried reacting to the seamless figure but didn't manage to see its feature as it phased through him.

The shadowy figure blinked several times through the outer courtyard of the Sheng Clan's mansion. By the time the soldier in the back reacted to their peers' call for help, it was already too late as one individual after another starting falling on the wooden lattices that covered the earth below them.

"They're breaking through!"

"Soldiers! Stop them at any cost!"

In the span of a few seconds, a group of twenty abled soldiers found themselves resting on the cold ground. Piled up like stacked potato sacks that soon amounted to small pyramids. The platoon leader's gaze changed as he saw the scene unravel in front of him, his left arm tightened slightly as his palm moved to grab at his weapon.

The shadowy figure continued spreading havoc through the small army of soldiers, piercing straight toward the shortest path out of the royal residence. The soft moonlight, with the burning torches held by the soldiers didn't produce enough light to reveal the shadowy figure's facial or bodily feature.

"Looks like they decided to attempt an escape…" The spiritualist's gaze darted left and right as his senses were spread around him. A deep breath rushed through his nostrils as his lung took in large amount of air. Suddenly his lips parted and formed an o-shape as a deafening roar escaped from his throat. The yell he released turned into a small shock wave that boomed through the air.

"Reinforcement needed on the…" In the middle of the platoon leader's sentence, a deafening screech resounded. The sharp sound forced every single individual in the area to freeze in their movement, with the ever-dashing shadowy figure briskly coming to a stop, he raised his head toward the source of the sound and came to a stop.

"Master…" mumbled the shadowy figure in a soft trembling tone. Under the hooded figure was hidden a pale and rigid face, a single tear could be seen rolling softly on the man's hardened cheekbone.

The space above them suddenly lit up as if thousands of stars had suddenly illuminated the heavenly canvas. The screeching sound resounded once again with further intensity than the first sound. Only this time, the noise of shredded papers happened right above them, giving the impression that the fabric of space itself was compressed to the utmost before being released and turned into a torn piece of cloth. The sound was accompanied by a powerful blinding light that shone with a prideful silver-gold color that replaced the starry sky and lit up the cold moon for a split second.

The attack happened suddenly, it was executed in complete synchronization with the escape attempt of the shadowy figure. With all the attention suddenly drawn out to the spiritual manifestation, a smaller figure darted out of the secret passage and used the commotion to discreetly dash in the opposite direction where the Jianshen Soldiers were positioned.

The plan was executed smoothly, the frame of time the second man had used was nearly perfect and was only off a few milliseconds. The furtive dash turned into a maddened run with the man quickly disappearing in the distance, he was seamlessly crossing dozens of feet with every single one of his steps. Small droplets of darkened blood were left on the few patches of lush grass his feet stepped on.