Orenn had waited for several days until the Patriarch was exhausted, and his guard lowered, to stab him in the back. His patience had paid off, as his one attack had landed a critical blow.
Barden's eyes instantly lit up with uncontained rage as he dashed forward with his fastest speed.
"Orenn, you fucking traitor. Die!"
A crimson bird, made of pure fire appeared above Barden. It overlapped with his body, making him appear as if he was a phoenix himself. His speed and power increased even more, and he appeared before Orenn in an instant.
The wings of his fire phoenix slashed towards Orenn, with the intent of claiming his traitorous life.
"The Phoenix Fire Form? Let's see how strong our fathers favored son truly is then!" Orenn yelled out as he slashed his sword forward, and a massive fire blade shot forward towards Barden.
Bang!
The two attacks collided, sending a fiery inferno across the sky.
"Gah!"
Orenn cried out as he lost out in the exchange, and was knocked backwards considerably. His flesh was slightly charred from the attack, as he was unable to negate the full might of Barden's attack.
Barden shot forward towards Orenn once more, his phoenix form appearing before him and slashing at him with his wings once more.
Orenn's eyes widened in panic as Barden was attacking once more, as the previous exchange revealed to him that Barden's power was far greater than his own. Due to Elder Mable's help, both had been brought into the Meridian Forging Realm.
However, even in the same realm, Barden's combat prowess and talent was far above Orenn's, making the battle one sided. The Phoenix Fire Form was one sign of that, as Barden was able to use it, but Orenn was not talented enough to do so.
As he reached Orenn, Barden's phoenix fire wings slashed down at Orenn once more. At the last moment, the mysterious Elder appeared before Orenn. His red sword slashed out towards the phoenix wings, sending a large and powerful crimson sword image towards it.
Che!
The crimson sword image pierced right through Barden's phoenix fire wings, severing them from the rest of the fire body. Barden quickly reformed the phoenix wings, but this reprieve was all the time Orenn needed to flee.
"Agghhhh!"
Barden yelled out in anger and fury as he increased his power once more. His Phoenix Fire Form strengthened further, and slashed down towards the mysterious Elder that had interfered.
"Pathetic," the Elder sneered as the attack reached him.
His sword slashed out once more and sent out an even stronger crimson sword image towards Barden. Instead of targeting the wings, the sword image targeted Barden himself this time. The sword image was incredibly quick, and reached Barden before he could fully react.
Bang!
The attack smashed powerfully against Barden's phoenix form, launching his body backwards. A trail of blood followed behind Barden as the attack slashed across his chest, piercing his flesh and opening up a large wound.
"Barden!"
Cade Fenix yelled out in panic and anger as he saw his son injured by the attack. He attempted to dash forward to aid Barden, but the Crimson Valley Sect elders surrounding him gave him no reprieve, and attacked him with all their might.
"Fuck Off!
Cade Fenix yelled out with absolute frustration, as his power suddenly shot up into the sky. All the nearby eyes, both friend and enemy, locked onto him in surprise.
Che!
Che!
Che!
With his Fenix Fire Sword in hand, Cade Fenix slashed out towards his nearby enemies. His sudden increase in power caught them off guard, and three of them were cleaved in half before they could even react.
Using this opening, Cade shot forward at incredible speeds, augmented by his sudden explosive increase in power. He appeared before the falling Barden, and instantly caught him by his arm.
Without missing a beat, Cade shot off towards the ground below, arriving before the Patriarch before anyone could react. He grabbed the Patriarch with his free hand and pressed off the ground once more.
The ground beneath his feet shattered from Cade's explosive force as he shot backwards.
"Futile!"
The mysterious Elder yelled out as he saw Cade fly backwards. He sped towards himself and unleashed a battle art towards Cade.
Bang!
The battle art landed on Cade's location, drowning the area in a powerful explosion. The explosion quickly faded, revealing Cade standing there unharmed as he stared at the Elder who had just attacked.
The translucent formation flared slightly, revealing it had blocked the attack. The mysterious Elder sneered as he landed on the ground just outside the defensive formation. He was just mere feet away from Cade, but was unable to reach him.
Cade's power began to drastically drop, as a massive wave of fatigue swept through him. The Elder sneered once more as he saw this.
"You burned your blood essence, just to retreat to a formation that is soon to be destroyed? How pathetic!"
Cade narrowed his eyes as he stared at the man, but did not reply, and instead quickly turned around towards his father. A pill appeared in his hand as he shoved it into the Patriarch's mouth, and forced him to swallow it.
"Father, eat this. It's only a low level healing pill, but it will slow the bleeding!"
After doing this, Cade turned to Barden, who was struggling to get off the ground. After a brief struggle, he stood firmly on his own two feet. A large gaping wound was evident on his chest, deep enough to see the bones of his ribcage.
Blood flowed out freely from the wound, increasing the sense of fatigue Barden felt. He suddenly covered his sword in flames, heating it up until it was red hot. Barden grit his teeth as he slammed the flat of the sword against his chest, directly onto the long wound.
"Gah!"
Barden cried out in pain as the hot sword seared his flesh. A strong smell of burnt flesh assaulted Cade's nose, but he did not move to stop his son. Barden bared the pain as the wound was seared shut.
"Are you alright?" Cade asked his son with heavy concern.
"I'll live," Barden replied through pained breaths. His eyes pierced forward towards the mysterious Elder, who was smiling at them from just a few feet away.
Without saying a word, the Elder retreated a bit away before he turned around once more.
"Hear my command...the enemy has fully retreated. Focus all your attacks on the spot I attack, and this formation will soon fall," the Elder commanded.
With the Fenix Patriarch, Cade, Barden, and the others fighting outside the formation, the enemy had been unable to coordinate their attacks on the defensive formation. Now that the entire Fenix Clan had retreated into the formation, they were able to do so.
The mysterious Elder quickly unleashed a powerful battle art, and all the nearby Crimson Valley Sect elders did the same.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The defensive formation was instantly assaulted with a volley of attacks. The formation lit up with its full power to defend against the attacks, successfully blocking them. However, everyone could tell that with each volley, the formation weakened.
The siege continued for several minutes, before a shattering sound rang out as a crack appeared in the formation. The crack quickly spread as more and more attacks landed on it, before…
Bang!
The formation shattered completely, having finally been unable to withstand the onslaught of battle arts that had slammed against it.
Cade, Barden's and the rest of the Fenix Clan's faces turned grim, as the last thing protecting them finally faded away.
"Fuck it, if we die, we die taking out as many as we can!" an fervent cry suddenly boomed out from Barden as he watched the enemy fast approach. His Fenix flames lit up once more as his power began to rise above anything he had revealed before.
Clearly he was prepared to burn his blood essence and go out with one final bang. The Fenix Clan members behind Barden became impassioned by his actions, as they too prepared to charge forward in their last stand.
"Tch, useless," Warren Gildar, Sect Leader of the Crimson Valley Sect, mocked as he watched the Fenix Clan prepare for their last stand. He knew that even if the Fenix Clan did so, their only fate was to die here. The Bloodfiend Sect had given great resources to the Crimson Valley Sect to boost their power, which allowed them to overwhelm the Fenix Clan. Not only that, but they had the direct aid of several Bloodfiend Sect Elders, and the mysterious Elder was only the tip of the iceberg.
Barden's power continued to grow as he sped towards the mysterious Elder. The Elder scoffed as he slashed out his power with all his might, sending his strongest attack yet towards Barden.
Barden grit his teeth as he prepared to unleash his strongest counterattack. He knew he could not defend against this attack fully, but at this time it no longer mattered. He would rather die fighting than die cowering in fear.
Boom!
The sword image suddenly exploded in the air, sending a destructive blast of crimson Qi outwards in all directions. The shocked eyes of everyone in the battle, both friend and foe, looked up towards the explosion, as the Elder's sword image had exploded before it even reached Barden.
The fading explosion revealed a lone figure floating in the air, clearly the reason the battle art had exploded early. He was clad in black and red robes, and his long black hair billowed out behind him in the wind as his piercing eyes stared forward with furious anger. His aura radiated outwards with incredible power, and contained a deep and violent bloodlust.
Barden suddenly felt a chill within his entire body as he stared at the unrecognizable yet undeniably familiar figure before him, and he couldn't help but emotionally call out that familiar name.
"John!"