The sheer Aura the Demon King new form released is suffocating, even for Va Tua.
"GRAHHHHHH"
He screams, bathing the landscape in Violet and Black, replacing the Red that once floods, and between his screams is an overwhelming amount of Hate overflows to the point that it reveals tendrils of thorn and blackens the supposed bright days in Storm.
Va Tua shields her face with her hands, the neatly tied hair of her flutters as the fold came undone.
And when his scream subsides, his eyes… or where his eyes is supposed to be, glows bright red as he assumes a relaxed pose that makes him more threatening.
"…What have you become?"
Va Tua stated calmly, yet her voice filled with sorrow. She has no idea that her provocation and attack could force the Demon King, no, Raijoo to become a Supreme Shura.
Just one more push and he will become a full Asura, she must do something.
It's not just about her own survival, the entire Region and possibly the whole Hazhui will be torn to shreds by the multitude of Asura possibly residing within Raijoo.
And that's when she remembered, a whistle, a gift of courtship by the First Prince of Mugeon Dynasty.
"I am well aware of the tumultuous situation of the South, given that you are a Sect Leader of a renown Unorthodox and an Evil Sect nonetheless"
The First Prince, whom she had forgotten the name, his voice replays in her minds.
He is fair and kind, Mi Yun even took a liking to him, but does Va Tua even deserve such happiness? When she herself robs others of their own.
"In time, that whistle will be blown, I am sure of it"
He said in such a confident voice, as if he knew that the time would come.
"And when it does, the full might of an Army, will be mere fingers away from you, a Spirit army…"
Va Tua draws in air from her nose,
"…of Wild Hunt!"
and with full force she blows the whistle.
Raijoo, seemingly aware of what it is, tried to stop her by slashing her with the Blood Demon Cleaver.
TWIIITTTTT.
But it was too late, the whistle was blown.
The scene that follows is like that of painting that tells the tale of old times.
The Storm, so unrelenting, was split open before Ten Thousand Skeletal Horse Rider poured in.
Konig the Wild Hunt has arrived.
"Yes! A Shura!"
A voice booms through, shattering even the ground.
Trees that withstood the fight between Va Tua and Raijoo bows down alongside the many vegetations for a Divine Spirit is speaking.
"A shame that I am not here personally, but I shall relish in the sight of your severed form nonetheless!"
At her words, the Horse Rider rides the air and pass by Raijoo as they rain down Arrows upon Arrows.
The harrowing laughter and clanking of metal armor bumping each other follows the wail of each Arrows as they find their mark, all focused towards Raijoo who didn't manage to deflect.
All shaft piled up on his torso, with each successive Arrows piercing through the already embedded one before Raijoo looks like a porcupine of Arrows.
"HARHARHARHARHAR"
Cackling as they did, the Skeletal rider went down trampling the hoof of their Skeletal horse on the already shattered ground.
Spears, Sword, Saber and even Western Longsword in hand enveloped in Green Flame as they charge Raijoo.
He himself managed to deflect, but it's just a few of Ten Thousand.
Before the embedded shaft and his own body being hacked away, his armor shredded as if it was just paper.
And his body disemboweled before the spilled content falls into the ground, the Demon King mighty inhibition who Va Tua painstakingly managed to penetrate,
were slashed, hacked and cut away so easily by the Skeletal Rider.
Such is the power of Nether Energy.
Even then he resists, continuing to swing his own sword beheading a few.
As he gains momentum the cut becomes a lot lighter and more forceful.
One by one the Skeletal Rider has their head cut off.
Like a spinning sawblade, Raijoo moves more consistently with the Wheel behind his back spinning with the copied Sabre alongside his own.
The head of the Skeletal Rider detached and falls as Plasmatic Spirit Blood falls like Storm Rain.
"Great Wave: Many a Severing to Clean the Path!"
Raijoo mutters, the name of his technique that massacred thousands now did the same to the Skeletal Rider.
They decided to rise back up again, but Raijoo with his unending momentum, managed to slash some who tried to run before his Foundation started again.
'Unstill Tarnished Wave'
The Pool of Blood, now Black, moves in a wave, becoming an extension of Raijoo slash.
Va Tua retreats not too far, she utilizes the Wild Hunt charge to rest a bit while also thinking about a way to bring Raijoo back, for he is slowly consumed by Sins.
In Raijoo's mind of relapsing impulse, he is fighting the Sins themselves, Asura's.
To stop them from controlling him, all the while he is fighting the Wild Hunt.
Each voice a distinction on their own.
Of Hate
Hate more
Strike the Earth!
See how they all Hate and fear you…
Strike the Heaven!
Look at what they have, it should've been yours
Strike your own Kin!
STRIKE THEM ALL!
"…"
Of Contempt
You want what they have
Look at what they had…!
It should've been yours…
You want what he has
How dare they!
You want what you have
HOW DARE THEY!
"…"
Of Lust
Relish in their passion…
How sublime!
Drink their love!
How quaint!
More…
Pluck it from its roots…
MORE!
"Silent… Enough!"
A chirping for Raijoo is what they are, but it's maddening, nonetheless.
In beneath the slip of his Mind Palace, a certain memory buried under sands of his self-loathing resurface like tide.
There, he was but a young child, in the only warmth he ever receives from his father, he takes young Raijoo to a beach near Nusantara.
"Father…"
Raijoo voice trembles, his hands are shaking as tears flow down towards the wet sand.
His sandcastle, so grand, built in the image of the Crimson Palace were destroyed by the wave crashing down.
"Oh… That happens sometimes"
His father said as he then beckons Raijoo.
"Its fine little Ra"
His voice was so soothing, how he wished for that Hateful voice to come and calm him down once more.
"B-but the wave… why are they so cruel as to break my Sandcastle?"
Raijoo asks in bawling voice.
"…Because that is all they can do…"
"The wave, is the representation of the Sins of Sloth in Buddhist scripture, do you want to know why?"
His father asks.
Raijoo wipes his tears off and nodded.
"Because they are powerful, they are all mighty and forceful. But in the end, no matter how many times they crash into the land, they are forever bounded into the sea"
"…And they didn't try to escape the sea?"
Raijoo ask.
To which his father crouched down to meet him eye to eye.
"Because they have given up, for them, there is nothing they can do but to keep on doing what they already did, that is to crash…"
His mind went clear once more, yet a certain voice, the last Sins he hasn't managed to drive away lingers still.
Of Sloth, himself.
"…Endlessly, until we are no more"
"…"
He cannot even Hate himself, no matter how much he tried to, he had already surrendered to his own fate.
"…What is there for me to take…"
Slowly he wakes up, seeing the madness he created as countless Skeletal figure lies lifelessly alongside their loyal steed, drenched in their own Plasmatic Spirit Blood.
He had slain the Ten Thousand of Wild Hunt.
He had defied the will of a Divine Spirit.
Yet no glory was there for him to take, for he is exhausted.
To himself, and… to his own self.
He beckons at Va Tua who has her sword half drawn, ready to strike.
"…Just like the wave who crashed my Sandcastle, I too will be crushed"
So pathetic, so, utterly pathetic.
He cannot even bring himself to become an Asura, as his power dissipates alongside his will to fight.
He let go of his mind, becoming a Fallen to his own Sloth.
About time, he should've been the stick drifting in the sea all along.
...
Yet Va Tua didn't give up.
She recalled a saying
'A technique that comes from One own desire is inherently stronger than even a thousand codified techniques'
From deep within her hearts, a desire long buried rises through.
Right now, her hearts pound as if it threatens to burst from her chest.
But its not fear of losing her life, it was fear of losing him, Raijoo.
"To you whom I hold regrets…"
With the push of her fear, she unsheathed Lan-Tian.
As if acknowledging her, the mere shard screams as the whole landscape, drenched in blood froze over into a Mighty Glacier.
Airs froze as snowflakes fell.
"…And to whom I hold dear…"
As she rushed over, her entire energy and feeling coat her sword.
Every bit of strength that she had, every technique and skill that she knew of, guided by the Sword Intent, she finds her mark.
Such attempt is suicide at best, but for him, anything she would do.
Now, she doesn't want to be a selfish person anymore.
'Regretful Longing:"
And to Raijoo, she wished he would search inward upon himself, to accept what makes him human.
"To Still the Moving Wave!"
Ice.
Forests.
Cloud.
All split in twain, before her a fully manifested Lan-Tian appeared for a second before it dissipates.
The Black Storm was pushed and severed away not with a force meant to kill but to save.
She had severed the Karma of the Asura entangling on Raijoo.
As Raijoo opened his eyes, the mask that covered his face was nowhere to be found, instead what he met with was not the cold ceramic but the sight of his dear friends.
Her body cracks, her Aura becoming fainter before she turns into ash.
Yet she smiles, as if she finally meets her longed one after so long.
"…Nice to meet you again, Ra…"
"…"
The force of unleashing the whole Lan-Tian, with her already fragile body and empty Core, her body was swallowed by the Sins of Pride completely.
But because she is so weak, the power instead destroys her body, even for a Xiantian, this is fatal.
"No…"
Raijoo reaches out, only for her ash to be blown away by the wind, away from his embrace.
"No!"
No matter how much he screams, the dead cannot return.
"…Ahhh"
His mouth trembles, his fingers shaking in what can be inferred as a seizure with how violent the tremor is.
He did not mean to fight her to the death, yet now what?
Another life is taken away…
Raijoo falls under his knees, the weight of grief crashes into his heart and chest, pounding on his form.
He scoops what was left of Va Tua, her scattered Ash was held so tightly by his shaking fingers as if the action can bring her back.
Before a wail rings out, he has never cried this much.
.
.
.
"…" in a ridge, far away from Guzhou.
Mi Yun looks towards the Spirit King Sect, her heart sinks at that moment.
She didn't die.
There is no way.
Her master… is too smart and cunning to die.
No way.
No
It can't be.
It can't…
"Mi Yun?" the voice of one of the 300 calls her, yet the pounding of her heart stifle the sound and overwhelm her ears with grief.
As Mi Yun collapse into her knee, she held tightly a doll, a doll so rugged and dull, yet, yet….
"AHHHHHHHH…."
"Sniff, sniff…. Ughhhhhhh…."
"Mi Yun… No…" the one besides her covers her mouth, her eyes burst into tear much like Mi Yun but a lot quieter.
The rain did not fall that day, yet the ground is wet from tears.
To some, a Xiantian was slayed, a mark in history.
Yet to those who grief today, this day, is the last day the person whom they held close…
Took her last breath.