NOVPUBWithin moments, the entrance was cleared. However, Lan Xia couldn't help but glance at the weirdly shaped artifact in Mark's hand. Her curiosity piqued.
Meanwhile, inside the tent, the air was thick with the scent of blood and raw energy. At the center sat a monstrous figure—a towering lion-headed beast clad in dark armor, his golden eyes burning with intelligence. A Saint Realm Commander.
He growled, sensing the intrusion. "Who dares…"
Mark didn't let him finish.
With a flicker of movement, Mark appeared behind him, his gun aimed at the commander's back. As he poured all of his ether energy reserves into the gun, the anti-matter energy bullet was once again fired. It plunged into the commander's back, severing his spine in an instant. The beastkin let out a strangled roar before collapsing to the ground.
Lan Xia stared at the lifeless corpse, her lips pressing into a thin line. "That was… a saint realm expert. How many powerful artifacts did you own, Shang Zhen?"
Mark ignored her. He grabbed a nearby parchment, dipped his finger in the commander's blood, and wrote a single message in bold strokes:
"Golden Demon Cat, you lose."
With that, he turned and walked out, his steps calm as if he hadn't just slain the leading commander of the ongoing war.
The teleportation back was swift, but the weight of their actions lingered on Lan Xia's mind.
As they stepped back into the clan grounds, Lan Xia spoke again. This time, she grabbed his arm, not letting him ignore her again. "Shang Zhen, wait. Today, your actions made me wonder one thing. Why do you go to such lengthy trouble and assassinate a beast, and even leave a letter to provoke the Golden Demon Cat? Why?"
Mark replied calmly under his mask. "Because I need to settle some issues with that cat. It's personal enmity, you can say. And I need the Sky Pavilion Sect's help to keep that stupid beast busy. So, I have to provoke its ego."
Lan Xia's expression didn't change, but something in her gaze shifted. The more she thought about it, the more questions arose. And somehow, she knew, Mark wasn't done with it.
A heavenly week had passed since Mark left Weligar in turmoil, and already, the tides of war had shifted once more.
While Sky Pavilion Sect didn't intervene much as he expected, at the very least, the once blood-soaked fields had been claimed by a new power—the Esyr Race.
From a distance, they resembled humans, but up close, their differences were striking: elongated ears tapering to fine points, two sharp horns protruding from their foreheads, and an unnatural golden sheen to their eyes. They look like a mix of demons and dark elves
Ruthless and efficient, they had swept across the land with terrifying precision, crushing the remnants of the Feline Empire's forces, taking away Weligar from the Golden Demon Cat.
Every night, Mark would travel to Weligar in secret but wouldn't do anything. He simply visited a city each time and calmly returned. Lan Xia continued to follow him, but neither could she understand his purpose, nor did she get any answers from him except for a simple reply that he was waiting for the change.
Nevertheless, she didn't rat him out and kept his visits a secret from the sect. Of course, her curiosity about his actions only increased as time passed.
And sure enough, within three more heavenly weeks, the change that Mark wanted was finally here.
Thousands of feline warriors were seen storming the capital city, headed by one of the Feline Empire's Generals, a towering figure clad in obsidian armor.
They struck fast and without mercy. The Esyr forces that had once dominated the land now found themselves driven back, outmatched against the sheer might of the Feline Empire.
Mark returned to Weligar in the dead of night, his figure wrapped in shadows after the Feline Empire retook the capital and focusing on one of the four key strongholds of the Esyr forces in the mountains.
Lan Xia followed him without question.
"They're already losing," she noted as they watched the battlefield from the cliffs. "What's your plan?"
"No, they won't," Mark murmured. "Let's go…
Mark took a leap from the tower and jumped to the ground. His foot slightly touched the ground before he charged toward the battlefield, where the beasts were conducting a night raid.
They moved through the carnage like wraiths, unseen, untouched once again.
The Beast Commander, a massive warlord with skin like onyx and eyes like molten fire, stood at the heart of the Esyr defenses, fighting the stronghold leader, a fellow Saint realm expert.
"Hahaha… Esyr, you think you are a match for me, just because we are in the same realm…" The Beast Commander swung down the broadsword, The Esyr commander put up a golden shield to block it.
But the sword only pushed him to his knees, and he started swinging down over and over, cracking the shield a little bit more with every swing. "Die… Die… Die… hahaha…"
It was at this moment that the Beast Commander's sixth sense activated, sensing something powerful coming toward him. he paused, glancing toward the source.
"Eh?"
Mark stopped right before his eyes, standing a few feet away. "Are you the leader of the invading forces?" He asked.
"Heh, a mere ascendant wants to assassinate me?" The Beast Commander smirked, no longer paying attention to Mark and returning his gaze to the person on the ground.
Mark quietly took out the antimatter gun from his inventory and pointed at him.
The Beast Commander didn't even get the chance to turn around to counter.
The Antimatter beam was already shot from the gun, and before he even realized it, it hit him and his entire body was blown into bits from inside.
His lieutenants, around, barely had time to react before Lan Xia swiftly killed them with rapid sword strikes.
Once their core force was destroyed, Esyr forces fought back and turned around the situation, successfully winning this battle.
Meanwhile, Mark took the body of the Beast Commander with him and hung him at the gates of the capital city with a war banner draped around him. The same provoking words were written: "Golden Demon Cat, you lose again."
