I Was Called A Demon

The forests bordering the Heart Lake were dangerous to common folk, filled with planar beasts and all kinds of other threats, especially now that the war between the Exarch and Long Shiyi had broken out. Although the war mainly occurred on the eastern side of the lake, the west made for perfect ground for the Exarch’s forces to hunt for resources, recruits and… entertainment.

And now, six women were fleeing from them, desperately attempting to fight off the stray soldiers and planar beasts that surrounded them.

“Run, everyone! Run! We’ve been running for so long that we’ve got to be close to a sect or town!” one of the women, Liang Jun, shouted to the others, “We will survive, if we just get a little further!”

In truth, she had no clue where they were going, and while her cultivation helped keep her going even after over a day of sprinting, the others weren’t all as lucky. Beside her, two others had a cultivation in the Planar Pool realm, but the other three were not cultivators, and only had the stamina of regular mortal women – women that had spent most of their lives in peace, either assisting in fishing or managing households.

They weren’t fighters, nor athletes, nor even trained for a situation like this, and they were starting to lag behind.

“Chen Yiren, you have to keep going! Push through the fatigue, the pain, and just run!” she called out to the one at the back, one of the three that had no cultivation whatsoever.

She tried, she really did – but the fall was inevitable.

A branch on the path, a lack of focus caused by a lack of sleep and exhaustion wearing her down, and suddenly the young woman fell face first, crashing into the dirt. The group stalled for a moment, all of them hesitating between charging on without her, and returning to help, but that moment was long enough.

Out of the forest around them, men with the Exarch’s sigil rushed out, weapons at the ready, not a hint of worry in their eyes. Seeing the fallen woman, a pair rushed for her while the others moved to surround the group.

“Hah, finally! That’s the bitch I scarred, I get to use her first!” one from the pair exclaimed, practically salivating before all of them.

The other looked calmer, yet his footsteps were even faster, nearly reaching Chen Yiren in the time it took for his partner to cross half the distance. Neither of them seemed to pay the slightest attention to the rest of the women, as though they were naught but ants before them, incapable of resistance.

“Don’t touch her!” one of the other women, also with no cultivation attainment, made up her mind in that moment, running forth, with another joining her in the blink of an eye.

“The fuck are you going to do? Disobedient bitches need to be punished!” the slower soldier of the pair stopped and raised his empty hand, sparks of lightning quickly forming.

Before either woman could respond, the lightning suddenly arced outwards and grew into a massive hand of raw energy that grabbed at them. With no cultivation, no movement skills, they barely even had the time to react before it reached them, grabbing them both and lifting them into the air. Whatever efforts they made to escape were practically invisible, and the sound of cracking bones and tearing flesh soon shook the survivors.

“Hey, what’re you doing that for? They were perfectly usable, and now you’ve ruined them!”

“Tch, I prefer them a little colder anyway.”

“Sick fuck…” one of the soldiers surrounding the remaining three scoffed, “You’ve seen what happens to those that disobey, haven’t you? You’ve given us a nice workout, but it’s time to give up!”

Liang Jun bit her lip to the point of drawing blood, desperately trying to think of a way out. They were surrounded on all sides, all exits in her view blocked, and those by her side… they were in no shape to fight against soldiers even on the best of days, and today was far from that. They were tuckered out, exhausted, sweat dripping from their brows and their legs trembling as they somehow remained standing.

All but one.

Somehow, Su Gong mustered the strength to stand tall, raise her head and shout out, “Fuck you, monsters! We’re not going to go down without a fight!”

The soldiers only laughed.

“Miss Jun, are… are you able to save us?” the third and last woman with a cultivation base, Yang Moshi, timidly tugged at the sleeve of Liang Jun’s dress, speaking as softly as she could, “P-Please…”

Of course, she used no special means, and so the forces of the Exarch heard her without issue – for what kind of soldier wouldn’t be trained to listen out for subtle clues? Her terrified tone and feeble words sent a wave of laughter down the group of soldiers, grins growing on their faces.

“Save you? Hah, no Planar Pool brat can save you, especially not cultivating that shitty technique. I can barely feel any energy from her.”

“Ah, you think it’s that technique we found stashed under one of their beds? What was it, Common Wisdom?” another chuckled, “Heh, what garbage! You should’ve known your place and just done as we asked if that was all you had!”

Liang Jun forced herself to keep her mouth shut, to not further anger them, because she knew it was the truth. Her technique was of the rare Wisdom archetype, but she had no skill to go along with it – it was only ever meant to serve village elders in building up their knowledge and passing it along to their descendants, to help them manage a household, not for combat…

The others weren’t much better. Su Gong cultivated a stronger technique, Worship of the Moon, and yet it too lacked skills to go with it, whereas Yang Moshi had only just reached the second realm with Sacral Offering, a technique of the Blood archetype that they also had skills for.

In short, they were almost useless – even if they had all reached the third realm, all they could’ve done was channel their energy throughout their bodies, nothing compared to the many combat skills the soldiers would know.

They were surrounded, trapped, and doomed.

“Alright, I’m claiming the one that’s shivering. She looks like she’d be fun to use,” one soldier took a step forward – and instantly turned, eyes widening as something drew near.

From the forest, a vast wave of crimson shot out, the energy seeming to be trapped in crystal, countless facets refracting the evening sunlight as it cleaved through trees with ease. In the blink of an eye, it reached the soldiers, who hurried to raise their defences – only for the crystalline wave to shatter as it hit them, the crimson lightning within spilling out and splashing onto their defensive energies.

It tore through them as though they were just wet paper, and the crimson obscured their sight long enough for the origin of the strike to get closer. A woman dressed in black, black eyes and hair making her appear akin to a shadow amidst the trees.

Despite that, the faint light of numerous crystalline facets shone around her, each edge tinged with crimson, and in the distance, an anchor stood out amidst the trees – with no specific direction, it was like a piece of amber, a crystalline surface containing a vast mixture of crimson and darkness on the inside.

“Shit, third realm! Attack!” one of the soldiers called out, quickly calling out an anchor of his own – the Exarch’s sigil blazing at the front – and drawing everyone’s attention to the unknown attacker.

In the chaos, Liang Jun didn’t hesitate to run towards Chen Yiren and the other two, quickly checking their pulse before running past. Both of the women that had been grabbed were already dead, unable to withstand the crushing force applied to them, nor the lightning running through their bodies.

“Yiren, are you-”

“Please don’t hurt me, I-”

“Chen Yiren! You’re okay, just breathe, we… we might be fine,” Liang Jun looked behind her, and found herself stunned.

She’d been hearing explosions behind her for a while, but in just a brief while, a number of soldiers had already been split apart, decapitated, and otherwise killed. The only ones still alive were in the third realm, three warriors in total that all seemed to be in higher realms… and yet couldn’t dent the strange crystalline barrier their opponent raised the moment any danger came her way.

“Fuck! Taste my Sword Will Arts!” one of them called out, lifting both hands into the air.

A massive amount of energy concentrated in the space between his hands, and in one moment suddenly expanded out into a glowing greatsword so large it barely fit within his grip. Despite that, he moved it effortlessly, bringing the blade to his side and swinging it with all of his might, releasing all of the energy within the weapon-shaped light into a wave.

The blinding light made it impossible to see the outcome, but the sounds of trees falling and the earth shaking made the raw power behind his strike all too obvious – and yet, before the energy fully faded, their attacker emerged to the side, crystalline blooms beneath her feet, a hand raised towards the Exarch’s men.

Dozens of crystals, multifaceted and each filled with crimson, formed around her, and with a quick gesture they shot forth, barraging the soldiers, forcing them to raise their defences once more.

From the side, Liang Jun saw how this woman followed right behind one of the projectiles, each step causing crystals to grow beneath her and seeming to accelerate her further, until suddenly she was standing right in front of the one that had conjured the mighty sword light moments prior. Lifting her blade, a black crystal jian, she swung it with no particular technique, and yet the way it sliced through the air seemed as though it was severing space itself. At the edges of the blade, a secondary layer of crystal, dark yet filled with crackling crimson, shone as its facets reflected sunlight.

The soldier responded quickly, but the barrier of sword light was no different to air compared to her strike – and one mistake was all that a sword needed to end a life.

Her jian cut right through him, splitting his heart and torso in half, both halves falling to the ground a moment later. However, the remaining two didn’t wait, and retaliated instantly, conjuring flame while the other manifested strange metallic edges that seemed to overlap and layer atop one another in impossible ways, both engulfing the strange woman’s position in a heartbeat.

From the outside, it was impossible to tell how she made it out, and yet she did, suddenly standing by the side of the one that had conjured metal. Again, her jian came swinging down, yet now it was alight with crimson, arcs of it nearly bursting out of the crystalline energy as it clashed against a sudden eruption of metallic shrapnel.

The soldier fell, but even from afar, the droplets of blood falling from her face were obvious, not to mention the large cut splitting the front of her black robes, revealing another wound.

Despite the injuries – or perhaps due to them – the woman only sped up, not hesitating for even a moment before swinging twice, releasing a pair of crystalline waves of crimson towards the last man standing.

Although he had less than a breath to react, the soldier adjusted his pose swiftly, raising up his spear. With practised motions, he met both waves head-on, a spark erupting from the tip of his weapon each time, seeming to carry the potency of the crystalline energy. After the second wave, he instantly thrust forward, releasing the power of the spark as it erupted into a vast inferno, crimson still crackling within, charging at the woman.

To his surprise, the wave got nowhere close before a crystalline barrier appeared in front of it, seemingly filled to the brim with smoke and shadow, as the woman made a sharp turn and leapt away, evading the rest of the flame effortlessly.

The instant she landed on the ground, she thrust her jian forward, a thin beam of crystalline power surging forth and impaling the soldier in an instant.

“Hah… hah… I was careless…” the strange woman muttered to herself, her voice barely reaching Liang Jun’s ears before she turned and addressed them properly, “You four, answer my questions. First, why were you fleeing from the Exarch’s troops?”

Her tone when whispering to herself was light and relaxed, but she put on a much harsher voice to address them… as Liang Jun was contemplating this, Chen Yiren replied as though by reflex.

“W-We were f-fleeing from Rong Village… after they had massacred all the men a-and… and children.”

“… You were all from one village?”

“Y-Yes…”

The woman looked over them again, eyes narrowing as she examined each one, before she relaxed, her shoulders lowering slightly.

“Are you in search of a safe haven?”

This time, Liang Jun spoke up first, “Yes, we are. Are… are you from a sect, or some other force in the area? Do you know of one, if not?”

“I am a disciple of the Demoness Sect. If you wish, I can lead you there – and you can learn to fight back, and to eventually avenge the injustice you have faced.”

“Demoness Sect? I… I’ve not heard of it.”

“Our Sect Mistress has founded it only recently. However, I can assure you, it is the best place for those like you – our leader is very keen to protect women exactly like you, and to help them rise above the vile aspects of our world.”

“… May we discuss amongst ourselves? And, those two-”

“Are dead, and I can do nothing to save them. I am sorry. If you wish to bury them, though…”

“We… please, let us handle this on our own. But… thank you… for your intervention. You saved us.”

The woman just nodded, putting away her blade and stepping away, leaving them on their own amidst a sea of corpses and blood.

“… Who… who was that?” Yang Moshi muttered, still looking in the direction of their rescuer, “I… Liang Jun, did our village have a guardian?”

“You’ve heard her, she said she was from a sect… Demoness Sect, they sound suspicious,” Su Gong shook her head.

“Ah Gong, that group is the only reason we’re alive. I hadn’t heard of them before, but if they’re in the area… could they have been founded on the grounds of the ancient Reaper’s Grave?”

“Who cares, before that, poor Yiren here needs some help,” Su Gong said dismissively, though her concern for a fellow survivor was most certainly real, “She looks to have hit her head, look.”

“It’s only a minor wound, it shouldn’t be an issue, but…” Liang Jun decisively tore off a strip of fabric from her clothes, using it to quickly bandage the wound on the woman’s head, “There, this should help until we’re able to get help from… this Demoness Sect.”

“We’re actually going to follow her?” Yang Moshi blinked in surprise.

“She… she is strong. If she is just a disciple, this Sect ought to be strong as well. If her words are true, then we should be in good hands, and if not… do any of you really think we can evade her as well?”

“…” Su Gong frowned, her shoulders dropping in surrender not long after, “Fine, guess we can… do that. Just don’t forget that I was against it if this goes badly.”

Liang Jun just shook her head. Su Gong had been far calmer and more reasonable prior to the raid on their village, but after the loss of her husband…

“So, have you made up your minds?” the strange woman from before appeared suddenly, as though simply stepping out of thin air, looking down at them even as the wound on her face still dripped with blood.

“Yes, senior. We’ll be coming with you.”

She nodded, “In that case, come quickly. If there are more of the Exarch’s men in the area, they may spot us and report our presence, if we linger too long. Follow me as best you can. Oh, and let me introduce myself – my name is Jia Bo Xun, first disciple of the Sect Mistress.”