ERA OF DESTINY-Chapter 145: DAY 3: PURGE OF WAR–A FORCED DELUSION– II

Kiaria’s gaze remained fixed.

None of those below dared to lift their heads.

Yet Kiaria was not merely staring.

Within the Eyes of Insight the world before him drained of color, collapsing into monochrome shades. In that stripped vision, figures stood as outlines of light and shadow–and within them, evil revealed itself in diversity.

Some carried faint stains, diluted and hesitant.

Others were soaked in dense, oily blackness, coiled deep within their cores.

Kiaria observed calmly, measuring depth, density, intent.

Silence stretched for more.

Sweat slid down the backs of Shu Elders and took shape of fear. Imagination filled the gaps left by his stillness.

Finally, members of the Shu Fire branch returned, bowing hastily.

"The chamber is ready," they reported.

Kiaria noticed everything–the tremor in their voices, the fractured rhythm of their breathing, the way their gazes avoided his.

That was the purpose.

While their attention fractured, the land moved by the instructions of Spiritual Spring Embryo and World Tree Seed.

Invisible to them, Spore Balls were guided beneath the soil, weaving a silent net around the camp through the land’s cooperation.

Everything aligned.

Kiaria did not conceal further.

From the air above, Spiritual Spring Embryo manifested–clear, flowing, water stream. It moved like iron filings drawn to a magnet, streaming toward Kiaria and slipping into the spatial ring on his hand.

The Shu Tribe witnessed it.

The water passed through their formation barrier without resistance.

Confusion rippled through them.

They did not know what it was.

They did not know where it came from.

Kiaria’s gaze softened.

He descended.

Fairy Fu Cai followed, her expression unreadable.

Kiaria’s feet touched the ground.

"Ease."

The word fell like a decree.

Intended as calm.

Received as dread.

Their hearts spasmed before settling.

Then–

A monochrome wave pulsed outward from Kiaria’s crown.

Fear loosened. Muscles relaxed. Breaths steadied.

"Rise."

The land answered before they could.

Stone surged upward, shaping a raised platform. Vines erupted and braided themselves into a circular table with five seats.

Kiaria sat.

Fairy Fu Cai took the seat beside him.

Their positions were elevated–slightly distant.

Judgmental.

"Sit."

They did not move.

Kiaria expected that.

Before descending, he had already asked the Yaksha Queen for their names.

"Shu Yan. Shu Ming. Shu Shan," Kiaria said evenly.

"Elegant names."

The three elders froze.

How did he–

If we hesitate, he’ll expose more.

Internal suspicion will tear the tribe apart.

Without another word, all three sat.

"L-Lord," Shu Yan said, forcing composure, "may we know why you are here? What do you want from us?"

Kiaria’s posture straightened and didn’t rush to speak. He waited.

"Answer."

Shu Yan blinked. "Answer...? Lord, we–"

Kiaria said nothing.

Instead, his forefinger tapped the table.

Once.

The pressure across the camp increased–barely perceptible.

Twice.

Air thickened.

Three times.

Bones creaked.

Four.

Their breaths shortened.

Shu Yan bowed deeply. "Lord, please calm yourself. We will answer."

The tapping stopped.

"Whose idea," Kiaria asked, "was it to claim my paradise?"

His gaze settled on Shu Yan.

Relief flashed across Shu Yan’s face. "So that is the matter."

He stood, producing a jar of spiritual wine and two cups.

"Lord, you misunderstand us," Shu Yan said, pouring carefully.

"We are not claiming your paradise. We are cleansing it for you."

"Yes," Shu Shan added quickly. "We are helping you."

"Who ordered it?" Kiaria asked.

Silence.

Kiaria touched the cup.

Earth Core Green Fire ignited.

The wine vaporized instantly.

The jade cup melted–then reshaped, splitting into three long jade needles, refined in a breath.

They floated upward.

Hovering.

Just a finger’s width from each elder’s forehead.

"L-L-Lord," Shu Yan stammered, "please show mercy. We admit we interfered. But we never harmed your land. The ones occupying it are vicious. Greedy. They ravaged our territory. We had no choice."

"If peace is what you seek," Kiaria said calmly,

"I can grant peace."

"If destruction is your choice–

you will receive my wrath."

"We cannot let them live," Shu Yan said firmly. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"We have no feud with you. We hope you will not interfere."

"Feud?" Kiaria echoed softly.

"You are aware," he continued, "that I resolved much in these past two days. Your connection to the fortress is already severed. You act not for justice–but greed."

"With the association present, you cannot dominate this land. So you seek to erase the safe ground first."

Silence fell.

Then–

Laughter.

Harsh. Unhinged.

"Hahaha!" Shu Yan roared.

"I told you, Shu Ming! Gods meddle when it suits them! You said they wouldn’t interfere in lowly matters–look now!"

"Since peace failed," Shu Shan said coldly,

"do not blame us for choosing the hard way."

Kiaria smiled faintly.

"Very well," he said.

"Then peace talks end here."

"I hope none of you die by my hand. I dislike killing over trivial matters."

"Hahaha!" Shu Yan laughed.

"We respect strength, Lord–but do you think we fear death? Fighting the strong is an honor."

He clapped.

Association core members were dragged forward–mangled, bleeding, barely alive.

Shu Fire claws pressed against their throats.

"Take their heads as our gift," Shu Yan said.

Kiaria vanished.

"I accept."

Heads fell.

The Shu Fire executioners collapsed–headless.

Spore Balls erupted from the ground, eroding corpses without residue.

The surviving association members vanished–rifts delivering them to Diala and Princess.

Kiaria and Fairy Fu Cai disappeared.

The camp stood frozen.

A mile away from the enemy camp–

The land had already transformed.

Princess Lainsa stood at the center of a vast field where Anatomy Chrysanthemums bloomed in disciplined patterns. Their red-green hue petals swayed without wind, each flower connected beneath the soil by translucent stem networks pulsing with vitality.

Space tore open.

A rift formed.

Eight half-dead Association core members fell through it.

Before their bodies could strike the ground, thread-thin chrysanthemum vines surged upward, catching them gently. The stems intertwined, weaving themselves into living beds that cradled broken bodies with meticulous care.

Princess rose into the air.

She closed her eyes.

When she opened them, her pupils had changed–their inner linings blooming into chrysanthemum shape. The dormant birthmark on her forehead emerged clearly, glowing faintly as her bloodline awakened.

At that moment, Kiaria and Fairy Fu Cai stepped out of the rift.

Princess lifted her Chrysanthemum Hand-Fan and waved it once.

Vines pierced skin without pain, entering meridians, organs, shattered cores. They moved with surgical precision–repairing, weaving, stabilizing. Fatal injuries were corrected one by one.

Nothing irreversible remained.

Princess lowered her hand.

She nodded to Kiaria.

From Kiaria’s forehead scar, milky-white monochrome mist flowed outward, sealing remaining fractures and restoring vitality.

Minutes passed.

Breathing steadied.

Eyes opened.

"Thank you, Lords, for saving and healing us," the Association members said together.

"Rise," Kiaria commanded.

"Return to the Association," he continued calmly. "Everyone is waiting."

"Yes, Lord."

They bowed deeply and ran.

–

Back at the Shu camp–

The pressure had eased, but fear had not.

Whispers spread like infection. Warriors avoided eye contact. Hands trembled near weapons that suddenly felt useless.

Shu Yan clenched his fist.

"These arrogant Gods," he said coldly. "We must give them a surprise."

A hand rose beside him.

Shu Ming.

The cup of wine Yan had poured earlier still sat untouched. It floated up into her grasp through spiritual force.

"Gods...," she said softly, staring at the cup. "I admired them when I was a child. They were my role models."

Her fingers tightened.

"But now," she said, crushing the cup, "they are my enemies."

Fragments scattered.

Shu Yan exhaled. "Shu Di... I respect you as the leader of our tribe. Your prediction was correct. If not for your suggestion, the heads that rolled today would have been ours."

"Luckily," he continued, "you replaced the executioners with prisoners from other tribes."

"Tch," Shu Ming clicked her tongue.

"Regret is useless now, Yan. If you had regretted before plotting his death, maybe those words would matter."

A voice echoed from above.

"You’re late."

Shu Yan looked up.

"You missed quite a show, Rong."

A woman descended slowly from the sky, heat distorting the air around her.

"Late?" she scoffed. "You should be grateful I wasn’t here. They killed my little brother, Rossan. If I had been present, there would’ve been no negotiations at all."

"Which is exactly why we’re grateful," Shu Yan replied. "At least now we understand the enemy."

He laughed bitterly.

"If we win, myths shatter. If we lose... Shu and Roga will vanish from this land."

"You’re afraid?" Roga Rong tilted her head.

"Yes," Shu Yan admitted. "Very."

Then his smile twisted.

"The more afraid I am, the more violently my mind demands battle."

"I know," Rong replied lightly. "Otherwise your father, Shu Yao, would still be alive."

Shu Yan’s aura spiked.

"How many times," he growled, "did I tell you not to say his name?"

Rong giggled.

She extended a finger and touched the shielding formation.

The heat shattered it instantly.

She descended like molten fire, landing gracefully. Red hair spilled down her shoulders. A fiery birthmark burned on her forehead. Her eyes glowed red-orange beneath flame-hued armor.

She sat on the vine table left behind by Kiaria’s command and grabbed the wine jar, drinking directly.

Wine spilled from her lips–vaporizing before touching the ground.

Yan snatched it away with a flick of his Qiankun bag.

"Huh," Rong leaned closer, smirking. "Still angry?"

"Shu Li," Shu Yan ordered coldly. "Take her to her quarters."

Rong laughed as she was led away.

Shu Yan turned and walked toward the temporary assembly hall.

He climbed the stage.

The war drum thundered.

Troops from different branches aligned into four battalians–Fire, Earth, Water and Roga.

Shu Ming, Shu Shan, and Roga Rong soon joined him, standing behind Shu Yan.

The camp had chosen its path.

The war drum thundered once more.

Its echo rolled through the camp, heavy and uneven, striking not courage–but resolve sharpened by fear.

Shu Yan stood at the center of the assembly platform.

He did not shout. He did not rush. He waited until every battalion had settled, until silence returned under pressure alone.

Only then did he speak.

"Look at me."

Voices died instantly.

"You feel it," Shu Yan said calmly. "The pressure they left behind. The fear that still hasn’t faded from your bones."

He swept his gaze across the ranks.

"Do not deny it."

A pause.

"Fear is not weakness," he continued. "Fear means you understand what stands before us."

He turned slightly, gesturing toward the empty space where Kiaria had stood.

"Gods," Shu Yan said, tasting the word. "They arrived uninvited. They judged without trial. They killed without stain."

Murmurs stirred.

Shu Yan raised a hand.

"They call it mercy."

Silence snapped back into place.

"They spared lives today," he said. "Not because they care. But because they want you to hesitate tomorrow."

His voice hardened.

"They want you to kneel before the war begins."

A ripple passed through the troops.

"Ask yourselves," Shu Yan continued, "if they truly wished peace–why humiliate us? Why strip our camp bare? Why decide who lives and who dies without speaking to us as equals?"

He leaned forward.

"Because they do not see equals."

The words struck.

"They see land to be claimed. Authority to be enforced. A future where Shu kneels... or disappears."

Shu Yan straightened.

"I will not lie to you," he said. "They are strong. Stronger than anything we have faced."

He let that truth settle.

"But strength alone does not decide war."

His gaze sharpened.

"They fight to preserve order. We fight to survive."

A beat.

"They fight with restraint. We fight with resolve."

Another beat.

"They hesitate to stain their hands."

His lips curled faintly.

"We do not."

The fire battalion stirred.

Shu Yan raised his voice–not louder, but heavier.

"Tomorrow, the world will learn something."

He pointed toward the horizon.

"That gods can bleed."

A tremor ran through the ranks.

"That myths can burn."

The war drum sounded again.

"And that Shu does not bow."

He turned, sweeping his arm across the assembled battalions.

"Fire. Earth. Water. Roga."

His voice rang clear.

"Each of you knows your role. Each of you knows the cost."

He lowered his hand.

"If we win," Shu Yan said quietly, "we take back our future."

A pause.

"If we lose..."

His eyes burned.

"There will be nothing left to regret."

Silence followed.

Then Shu Yan lifted his fist.

"Prepare."

The war drum thundered.