Endless Crimson Flame was the name of the Higher Existences faction led by Eternal Phoenix, and usually a faction’s name was based on something important either solely to the leader or to everyone who was part of it in general.
Unlike the other factions, Endless Crimson Flame had the fewest members overall. In fact, all of them added together probably amounted to no more than a few million; probably just scraping ten million in total.
However, being fewer in number did not mean that other factions dared to underestimate them. After all, even the dragon faction that was one of the most terrifying of the eight considered them extremely frightening enemies to face despite the fact that they verbally disdained them and hated them to the bone for some reason.
“Empress.” A beautiful golden-haired female wrapped in a dress of red flames and with an extremely charming body approached the lady looking into the distance and whispered from a short distance with some concern in her voice, “Is something wrong? You have been in the same place for the past few days…”
No one knew Eternal Phoenix’s real name, no one knew her story. Even her closest confidants referred to her as Empress or Her Majesty since Eternal Phoenix was the name outsiders used to identify her.
All of the fenixes were extremely beautiful, so much so that Endless Crimson Flame had the largest number of tall beauties in general. But Eternal Phoenix was on a completely different scale.
Eternal Phoenix’s beauty was so high that for a long time it was doubted whether the most beautiful woman in the cosmos really was Uriel of the Army of Heaven, and the only reason Uriel was called the most beautiful was because she had a larger number of admirers in general or else it would be a close battle for the title. Of course, this was without taking into account the existence of Lilith who had been revealed to the universe not too long ago.
Skin as white and smooth as the finest jade, slightly narrowed eyes that added a touch of seductive charm to her demeanor, and a body that even Leaders of other factions of Higher Existences drooled over.
Eternal Phoenix was, undoubtedly, a femme fatale.
She was fatal because if anyone even tried to touch her they probably wouldn’t have time to regret their stupidity.
“Sunny, one of our own has died.”
Even her voice was extremely pleasant to listen to, just like the sound of raindrops hitting the window on a cloudy winter day and evoking a feeling of strange peace and warmth.
Sunny was a Seventh Order phoenix and also the first commander of Endless Crimson Flame. She blinked in puzzlement before saying, “Empress… Not that I doubt you but… Are you sure about it?”
Endless Phoenix nodded silently. She stood saying nothing for over ten minutes before softly opening her pink lips again, “This member was in the Fifth Order, just joining us maybe 2000 or 3000 years ago at the most. But even then, to kill one of our own takes a great deal of effort.”
Sunny frowned slightly as she realized where the conversation was headed and thus realizing the problem behind her Leader’s strange attitude.
“My flame has the name Eternal Rebirth Flame, one of the ten flames capable of killing gods and demons that is said to have existed since the beginning of the universe. Although it is not as strong as the Flame of Burning Wrath possessed by Archangel Michael of the Army of Heaven in terms of magical power, my Eternal Rebirth Flame has a special characteristic that allows me to revive from the ashes again and again.” Eternal Phoenix seemed to be talking to herself about the power of her flame.
“Since I always put a blaze of my flame in each member, everyone is able to be reborn up to 2 times at best and 1 at worst… Except when the Soul Record steps in or when the power difference is overwhelmingly high.”
Sunny remained silent for almost a minute after Eternal Phoenix paused before opening her mouth, “Empress… what are you suggesting…?”
“Our familiar could not have been killed by a Sixth Order soul evolver much less Fifth Order, it was too fast. It had to be a Higher Existence of Seventh Order, only someone at the level of a commander has enough power to crush a phoenix without giving it time to respawn.” Eternal Phoenix turned and looked at Sunny with slightly glowing eyes as she calmly said, “Either that or our familiar for some reason attacked a Lower Existence, evoking the punishment of the Soul Record… and since the time difference between the punishment blow and death is too low…”
Seeing that she did not continue, Sunny’s expression changed and she said in a resounding voice, “Empress, please don’t joke. A Lower Existence killing a Higher Existence? The difference between them and us is bigger than the size of the universe.”
Eternal Phoenix looked at her subordinate for a few seconds before calmly saying, “Sunny, I’m going away for a couple of days. I want to see with my own eyes that place to get a better understanding of the situation… I feel something is not right.”
“Empress, you don’t need to go that far.” Sunny’s eyes flashed with a hint of pain as she looked at Eternal Phoenix.
Very few people knew that while the power of their Empress’ flame was terrifying in reality there was also a terrifying price to pay in order to use the power to theoretically revive endlessly.
But Eternal Phoenix did not listen to Sunny. Just like the other leaders, she too was stubborn after all.
* * *
Planet Earth, United States.
Illinois was home to one of the largest bases of the United States of America faction.
At the base, more than 7.000.000 inhabitants joined day by day to add their little grain of sand and survive until the next one.
Thanks to the large cleansing perimeter carried out by the strongest groups of soul evolvers in the past, the survivors had not seen a zombie or mutant beast in a long time except for the occasional appearance of a flying beast that would be shot down as soon as it showed intentions of descending and causing trouble.
However, things had changed recently as during the last 3 days the most powerful fort in Illinois was mercilessly attacked by huge winged creatures with thick scales covering their bodies.
Milei was a general in the United States Army even before the Soul Record arrived on Earth, clear evidence of his bravery and leadership ability as well as his own personal strength.
Milei, now a Second Order soul evolver, had been fighting hard all this time to unify the country so when the dragons appeared he immediately showed his own claws to defend his homeland.
“Die!!!” The American soldier roared furiously as he slashed viciously with his sword downward.
The great dragon whose right wing had been shredded after being hit by two shells fired by battle tanks had already suffered several wounds as it was encircled not only by 3 Second Order soul evolvers but also besieged from a distance by snipers with the skill Piercing Ballistic.
When Milei activated Quake Cut and hit the broken scales around the beast’s neck, the dragon finally let out its last roar as its hot blood covered Milei’s body giving him the appearance of a demon.
[You have obtained the Soul Power of Second Order Winged Dragon level 76…..]
The same message but with a difference in the amount of records absorbed flashed in the eyes of everyone who used their abilities to suppress the beast.
Being the one who had contributed the most, Milei received the biggest boost in his main stats. Just as he was slightly rejoicing as he felt his wounds heal and his body grow stronger, the sharp sound of howling wind rang out from the distance which made him turn abruptly.
“General!”
“Sir Milei!”
“My God!”
…
The last thing Milei’s pupils reflected was the image of a purple scaled dragon over 15 meters long and at least 5 meters tall just a split second before the upper half of his body disappeared without a trace.
“T-Third Order Dragon!” One of the Second Order soul evolvers who had participated in the battle to suppress the Second Order dragon shouted with a terrified expression on his face.
The others were also extremely frightened.
There was no way they could take on a Third Order dragon!
In fact, killing a Third Order dragon in the past required two of the faction’s most powerful warriors and one of them ended up losing a leg before the beast finally succumbed.
Under the wide-eyed and panicked soul evolvers of the American faction, the giant purple-scaled dragon soared into the sky before swooping down causing the wind around him to explode under the immense pressure.
The beast was still over 500 meters high but his overwhelming aura caused those closest to him to spit blood and die. Only the strongest remained standing, but everyone knew that this would not be the case for long.
Just at that moment, the sound of howling wind sounded from the distance.
Swoosh!!!
The red pupils of the purple-scaled dragon suddenly contracted, and when the beast moved his head slightly to the side he barely caught a glimpse of white light before disaster descended upon him.
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!
The sky rumbled as a pain-filled roar involuntarily erupted from the shattered mouth of the purple-scaled dragon.
Watching as the large dragon was sent flying with blood splattering along the way, the soul evolvers who had given up on their lives looked off into the distance in shock.
Over 700 meters away, riding on a white mutated Second Order tiger, an extremely handsome Asian-looking young man dressed in silver leather armor and a bright red bow pulled the string of his weapon as a new white arrow slowly took shape.
The target was the badly wounded dragon with about 1/3 of his head shattered.
“That’s…” The Second Order soul evolver who shouted first looked wide-eyed at the young Asian as he muttered to himself, “Temporary Commander Chen He?”
“That’s the guy from China that our Leader dragged with him!”
“Isn’t he like really strong?”
“Of course he is! Damn, I thought this old man wouldn’t return home today!”
As everyone subconsciously relaxed showing how much confidence they had in the young Chinese guy’s strength even though he was not American like them, Chen He held his breath and narrowed his eyes.
Calculating the strength of the wind, the strength of the world’s gravity, as well as the trajectory of the beast, he finally released his grip on the white arrow as he coldly said, “Sonic Light Arrow.”
Boom!!!
A white line tore the sky in two followed behind by a loud explosion that shook the clouds in the distance.
“Damn human!!!”
The purple-scaled dragon that had been taken by surprise only had time to curse before his head was pierced from side to side as if his high defense didn’t exist at all.
[You have received the Soul Power of Third Order Iron Winged Dragon ‘Krack’. You have received Strength +213, Agility +96, Stamina +201, Mana +105, Magic +150, Health +197.]
Chen He did not lower his bow but continued to shoot arrows towards the dragons in the sky that were shooting flames and lightning from their mouths at the human army.
Although his attacks were not as strong as the ones he had used earlier to kill the Iron-Winged Dragon Krack, dragons of the First and Second Order posed no threat to Chen He and he only needed at most 5 arrows to kill the toughest ones.
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