Molting the Mortal Coil

Chapter 786: Flight

The Dragoons were being swatted away like a cloud of flies, but at the same time the majority of them only took superficial damage and after a short flight they could recover and make their way back to the formations that still remained. Only a small number of them were stunned too greatly by the elementals strikes or had their wings damaged too much to keep them from regaining control in time. They flew to the energy cage and even though it looked like some might pass between the glowing grid of energy, an invisible barrier flashed to life and made a loud crunching noise when the Dragoons thudded against it.

The Blacksilver Pawns that Sage had sent out had met a similar fate, striking the unseen barrier and releasing a sizzling sound. Their bodies were rapidly burned away, but before they were completely destroyed their core parts were rescued by Dragoons. Sage made sure to save the Soul Fragments that were the only valuable part of the Blacksilver Pawns.

The Wind Elemental was like a cat among a flock of mice, knocking them away effortlessly, but the swarm was just too large and even when it swung one way, the tide swept towards it from another. It had been forced to move its back up against a wall, limiting the amount of Dragoons that could flood towards it. It didnt seem to show any signs of fatigue, but the Dragoons it fought with were actually rapidly expending their energy to power their Formation Armor. Yet, this didnt really help the elemental out as the number of Dragoons continued to climb.

The creature seemed to become enraged, making faster and more violent attacks. As it did, it also started to grow larger and a heavy wind started to blow within the energy cage. It forcibly took over the wind of the entire space and swept the Dragoon formations away. There was an almost triumphant screech to the wind, like it was celebrating its success. Thats when it suddenly spun upwards to where something was not blown away by its attack. Swooping down from directly above, Sage rode the Red Comet and skimmed nearly along the surface of the energy cage. He pushed the flying tool to the max and he flew right under the swinging arm of the elemental.

Then he lifted his hands and the Seal shot upwards from where it was concealed in the prow of his canoe shaped leaf. It shot towards the Wind Elemental and struck against its chest, flying right through the big arm that it tried to block with and sinking into its body.

Got ya!

As the Seal sunk into the Wind Elementals body it seemed unaffected. At least for a moment. Without having any way to resist it could only release pained wails. Almost instantly, the creature started to shrink. Sage had spent hours deciphering the elementals crux and he was confident it reached 70%. Such a deep crux was the bare minimum for complete knowledge, which was the same level of familiarity and intimacy he had for his own children. The Timeless Eyes had helped him become just as knowledgeable about this elemental as his own offspring and now this Seal bottled up the majority of the elementals power. With less than a third of its original strength, it could no longer support such a large body. Since the elementals body was a representation of the pure Qi it was formed out of, it could only shrink.

Sage let it thrash about with rage as he scooped up the Dragoons nearest it and then flew back out through the arched doorway. The other Dragoons fled, but not all of them made it. The Wind Elemental was thoroughly enraged and unleashed all that it had left to kill off just a few more of the Dragoons that were still inside the cage with it. Sage fired off blasts of Divine Breath to save as many of their lives as possible, but he wasnt foolish enough to take it head on at this point. Even weak as it was, it was going all out, like a cornered beast. It was when a hunter thought his prey was helpless and on the verge of death that he faced the most danger. So many had been heavily injured or killed by a beast lashing out with the last bit of its life to take revenge upon its killer.

Sage knew the elemental was smarter than it seemed and it was likely very eager for him to face off against it. It was killing his subordinates to try and draw him back, but he wouldnt fall for it. Losing more Dragoons was a shame, but this was their purpose and those that survived would earn accolades. Given the thousands of years the Dragoons had existed on the Inner World and their comparatively short lifespans, generations of them would only ever battle with the mindless insects of the Inner World in training. Being called out to fight by him was an honor in their culture. Of course, hed set up this strange culture, and he thankfully retained enough of a conscience to at least feel guilty for sending them to their deaths.

After the last of the Dragoons had either fled or been crushed to death, the Wind Elemental no longer had any targets to vent its rage upon. Sage merely waited patiently for the creature's sails to run out of wind. Soon enough the fury of its desperate rage ran out and it was left as only a pathetic shadow of its former self. A few hours later it had worn itself out quite thoroughly and Sage brought out some of the Purple Mist Sect members. Theyd already been preparing in the Inner World for this and as soon as they appeared they set to assaulting the elemental. They hurled blobs of poisonous miasma towards the creature, using one of the many Qi techniques theyd developed to manipulate poison over the years.

Contrary to what it hoped, the Wind Elemental felt great danger from the miasma, as it was no normal poison. Most elementals never had to worry about poison as they had no flesh and blood for it to take root in, but the poisonous miasma they used was actually an ephemeral thing. For cultivators it caused the internal organs to erode, but that was because they were very deeply tied to their core. While it wasnt nearly as effective against the elemental, Sage was sure it would still have an effect upon it. Especially since their poison law power was flooding the area, intensifying the power.

With the Purple Mist Sect throwing poison attacks from afar, Sage used The Red Comet once again to fly in. He opened his mouth and an orange flame flew out, dousing the area around the elemental. Divine Breath helped him distribute it, while his Spirit Power techniques helped him control it, using the Samsara Flame as a burning net to try and confine the creature. Hed already sealed the Wind Elemental so he couldnt apply a Human Seal, so in this case he had to put in a lot more effort to subdue it. Only when he could completely wrap it up with his Spirit Power and defeat all its resistance could he pull it into the Inner World.

His mouth closed and then opened again, this time for just an instant. A sharp sound was emitted as he shot something from his lips at high speed. A dark color spread over the elemental, passing through a gap he opened in the wall of orange fire. It splashed against the swirling body of wind and slowly distributed throughout. Then it wailed in agony and just a few moments later the poison succeeded in weakening it enough for him to wrap in a ball of telekinetic force and then shove into the Inner World.