Chapter 725: Kidnapped
There was no reason to waste any time in the city. Hui Yue and his friends were already hailed as heroes, but everyone was aware that the battle they had won would not be the last against the Blood Demons.
Fortunately, there was still time for the city. They had killed every single demon, and this meant that even if the demons wished to attack again, then they would have to gather a whole new army. This was something that would take time.
This city was the capital of all the cities in the western region for mercenaries. This was the homeworld of the Gate of Retribution, and thus every mercenary in the entire western region rushed back to this city to defend it.
Although the demons had to gather a whole new army, the Gate of Retribution would also be able to gather an even stronger army than before.
The downside was that although numerous mercenaries would appear, there would not be more people who would classify as supreme experts. The supreme experts would long since have given up their identity as mercenaries and settled down to create a faction of some kind, or join a major family or sect.
If more supreme experts were sent out by the Blood Demons, then the city belonging to the Gate of Retribution would be buried.
Fortunately, it was not likely that the demons would attack them very soon. They had to gather a large number of demons but to do this they would have to finish conquering the other worlds to free up people. So far they had at most completely taken over one or two worlds while the others were still struggling for survival and the result was unknown.
The western region was the first one to get slammed by the Blood Demons. From this Hui Yue assumed that their main headquarters was close to or in the western region, but after realizing that it took them a long time to get reinforcements, he started doubting his previous assumption.
Perhaps the western region had something they wanted? Hui Yue did not know. It could also be because the western region was the region that was the weakest of all four. It was the one furthest away from the Archaic World, and thus the Ancestral Worldpower in the area was also lower than the rest of the galaxy. Not many of the Heavenly Worlds were located in the western region, and for this reason, not many of the influential families and sects were located here either.
The western region was however strong on other things. They had many mercenaries, many medicinal herbs, and many lesser intelligent magical beasts.
These magical beasts were the kind which were incapable of taking on human form. They had an intellect similar to normal beasts, and they were often used for food and materials by others. The western region was filled with beasts like these, and the majority of all meat in the entire galaxy was provided from this region.
Because of this, there was always a need for hunters. Some places had specific beasts they were searching for while others just took any beasts they could get.
Hui Yue and his friends quickly found that the entire region was filled with worlds where these beasts resided. They went from world to world, trying to locate Blood Demons in their search for the Western Tiger, but all they saw were beasts that attacked them on sight.
They went to the cities, but all the smaller ones had long since been burnt down, and death was the only sight that greeted them.
Filled with anger, they continued forward towards the major cities, and in one of the worlds they visited, the major cities were also devoid of human life. Even the demons had left the world behind, or at least the cities where the humans had lived.
Hui Yue had been furious when he saw the dead children lying in the streets. He wished for nothing more than to murder the Blood Demons, but even after three days of searching all over the entire world, they found no trace of them.
All they found was devastated cities and signs that the demons had long since executed every single expert. Not a single survivor was found.
It was with a heavy heart that Hui Yue and his friends left this world, even the beast Gods had been filled with hate and disgust at the sight.
The next world was better. Here the humans were still prevailing in the face of despair, and when Hui Yue located a small branch of Blood Demons, his eyes contained burning flames of anger. He rushed towards them, killing everything in sight.
The others followed suit and were ready to wield their own weapons, even Pei Ziqi brandished her battle axe as they rushed behind Hui Yue, but when they saw the massacre he was singlehandedly creating, the others gulped a few times and took a step back. They could feel the flames of hatred deep within Hui Yue, yet the only one who knew exactly how Hui Yue was feeling was Lan Feng. He grimaced as he felt the helplessness in Hui Yue’s heart.
If they had been faster, they might have been able to save the other world. If they had been faster, they might have been able to make a difference.
Unfortunately ‘if’ was not possible. They had been too late to make a difference, and the dead were already dead. They had long since joined the Yellow River and entered into a new cycle of reincarnation.
Hui Yue was not so weak that he would be breaking under the thoughts of what if, but he was still slightly bothered by it. Hui Yue was no hero who would fight for the freedom of humankind out of the goodwill of his heart, but he wished to fight his enemy to the end.
If he were capable of saving some innocent people while fighting his enemies, then that would make him feel good. If he were incapable of helping them, he would not feel guilty, but he would just feel increased anger towards the demons who were behind the damage and murder.
The groups traveled from world to world. Demon strongholds were uprooted, Blood Demons killed, and cities liberated.
But on the third stronghold that Hui Yue and his friends arrived at proved to hold something quite worrisome. In the middle of the stronghold was a prison, and within this prison were four young men and two young women. These six youths were without a doubt of superior talent; they had already managed to reach the threshold of the Immortal of Creation rank.
“What are you doing here?” Hui Yue asked frowning as he was hesitant to open the gates. This was the first time that he had ever seen the Blood Demons take prisoners, and he worried that it might be some sort of tricks. It was better to be safe than sorry.
“The Blood Demons took us, prisoners. They said that they would make us into Blood Demons,” one of the girls said with trembling voice and moist eyes.
“We saw them kill our families, kill our loved ones, and destroy the world we had lived in our entire lives.” One of the young men who was more composed said, but even his voice was shaking slightly.
Hui Yue was shocked. He had thought that it was possible to become a Blood Demon as a human, but only if the human was willing, unfortunately, it seemed that one could also be forced into becoming a Blood Demon.
Hui Yue’s throat felt dry, and he was startled. If one could be forced into being a Blood Demon, then they would suddenly become everything they hated.
They would have to ask themselves, did they want to fight for their survival and side with the Blood Demons, or did they want to end it all and kill themselves rather than fight with those that had destroyed their lives, their families, and their loved ones.
In the end, it was a question about what was most important to them. Themselves or the ones they had lost.
Forcing experts to make this decision was terrible, and Hui Yue could not help but frown greatly. If his enemies had been forced into becoming Blood Demons, he would feel sorry for them. However, this was war.
If they went against him, then it was ultimately their decision, and Hui Yue would see them as being any other Blood Demon. There was no way he would endanger himself or his friends’ lives just because he felt sorry for some experts.
“Well, in that case, I will let you out,” Hui Yue said and opened the gates, allowing for the six experts to leave the confinements of the prison. However he did not offer to take them with him, nor did he tell them about the city they came from. Although he had no reason to suspect them, he did not trust them either.
They could decide on their own where they wanted to go now that their lives were free from restraint but also severed from almost all emotions. All six of them were filled with a hate that was stronger than Hui Yue’s, and he could feel how the darkness within their souls was growing stronger by the minute. He could sense that soon the darkness would eat their souls and ensure that they would be seeking revenge for the rest of their lives.
Sensing their hate, Hui Yue could guess that they truly were subjects of a kidnapping, but he was also sure that they would never be able to let go of this hatred and move on with the darkness within their souls. Since this was the case, Hui Yue pitied them slightly.
“Our ways will part here,” Hui Yue said with a smile to the six youngsters, and they all nodded their heads in gratitude towards him. But he could tell that all that was on their mind was to get revenge for their loved ones. Shortly after, they shot up into the air to find the Blood Demons and slaughter them.
“I hope they will be safe,” Wang Ju Long said with a sigh, her eyes complicated. “We won’t see them again,” Huli said with a shake of her head, and Hui Yue agreed with her.
“I know,” Wang Ju Long said with a sigh. “I could see death looming above them, but they are just so young.”
“One can hope that they manage to kill a lot of Blood Demons before the Blood Demons kill them,” Hui Yue said, but he did not care too much about them. They had lost their path to the darkness within themselves; they would never be able to let go of their inner demon and advance their cultivation. Perhaps it really was the best for them to slaughter as many Blood Demons as they could to feel some form of relief, accomplishment, and happiness before they themselves were killed.
Shaking his head, Hui Yue decided not to think about it anymore and instead continued forward towards the next world. More and more worlds were traversed by them on their way towards the world where the Western Tiger had been located. They killed Blood Demon after Blood Demon, eradicating more and more demons as they traveled.
At the same time, they were in contact with the Ling family through the communication orb to hear about the Western Tiger’s location.
She had been contacted by the Ling family and was currently a guest in one of their branch families, waiting for Hui Yue and the others to arrive.
They also heard about the situation of the city. More and more mercenaries were rushing into the city, and by now, their million-strong army from before had grown into a two million-strong army. The only issue was that there were no supreme experts arriving in the city, and this kept worrying the higher ups. If the Blood Demons attacked once more, would they be able to sustain themselves now that they were fewer supreme experts?
The city kept praying that Hui Yue would return before the Blood Demons attacked again.