ERA OF DESTINY-Chapter 148: DAY 3: PURGE OF WAR–A FORCED DELUSION– V

Shu Ming’s fingers trembled as they clenched into a fist.

"Haha..."

Rong’s laughter cut through the battlefield like cracking stone.

"Ming, why are you hesitating?"

She turned her molten gaze toward her, lips curled in undisguised delight.

"Make a quick decision. This is a battlefield," Rong continued, voice sharp with mania rather than counsel. "If you can’t decide quickly, then as an Elder of the Shu, you are failing the trust placed in you." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

There was no intention to help.

No concern.

Only Rong’s addiction to chaos – her hunger to see someone break.

Kiaria’s earlier question still lingered like a blade suspended mid-fall.

That single sentence had carved a fracture straight through the battlefield’s momentum.

Even Rong had been forced to halt.

Kiaria hovered in midair, gaze calm, unmoved by the pressure below.

"Roga Rong," he said evenly, voice carrying without amplification,

"You’re here to avenge your brother."

Rong’s pupils tightened.

"But unfortunately," Kiaria continued, tone unchanged,

"the one who killed him was your own kind."

A pause.

"And after that," he added,

"he committed suicide."

The battlefield inhaled.

Rong’s breath stuttered.

Images flooded her mind – memories she had buried under flame and fury. A smaller figure clinging to her robes. A boy she had raised with her own hands. Roga Rossan, laughing, training, following behind her like a shadow.

Her vision bled red.

Rage devoured reason.

She screamed and lunged forward.

Molten rock tore free from the earth in her wake as her body flashed ahead, heat distorting space itself. The Roga battalions roared and surged with her, abandoning formation in blind fury.

Kiaria watched.

His expression did not change.

A few Roga warriors leapt toward him, bodies hardened with magma. Others hurled molten boulders skyward.

None reached him.

Kiaria raised his hand.

He snapped his fingers.

The battlefield froze.

Roga warriors halted mid-charge. Those airborne remained suspended in the air, neither falling nor advancing. Molten stones stopped in flight, heat still radiating, motion utterly severed.

"What... just happened?" Princess Lainsa murmured.

Diala smiled faintly.

"Blood Moon Wolf bloodline," she said calmly. "He obtained it before we left the Mountain of the Enlightenment Sect. You already know its nature."

She looked toward Kiaria.

"Blood Devouring. This land has been soaked in slaughter. Hylisi said it himself – this battlefield was once a battlefield of Gods. Blood feeds it."

Her gaze shifted to the immobilized Roga.

"And the Roga lost half their lifespan earlier through magma blood expenditure. Their bloodline abilities cannot function before him anymore."

Princess’ chrysanthemum pupils glimmered.

She finally saw it – crimson moisture suspended in the air around Kiaria. Not mist.

Humidity born of blood.

"So this battlefield..." she thought, eyes narrowing slightly,

"...has become his territory."

A faint smile touched her lips.

You’re advancing faster than your elder brothers ever did, little brother.

The crown prince seat really is trembling.

Her thoughts settled calmly.

How could the son of the Great Grand Preceptor be anything but this?

On the battlefield, Shu Ming’s breath came ragged.

The sight before her shattered something irreversibly.

Roga frozen.

Blood suppressed.

Authority absolute.

Her fingers clenched tighter.

"I’m sorry... Yan," she whispered.

She raised her voice.

"I, Shu Ming," she said clearly, "Elder of the Shu Water Branch, hereby order a retreat. The Water Branch withdraws from this war. We will no longer participate."

She turned to Shu Yan and Rong.

"I’m sorry."

Before either could react, she drove her hand into her own chest.

Blood sprayed.

Her body convulsed.

"Yan," she said weakly, lips trembling,

"you don’t need to stain your hands for me."

Her gaze softened.

"I led my branch into meaningless suffering. I broke our promise. As their Elder... I deserve this."

Her fingers closed.

Her heart shattered.

Shu Ming collapsed.

Silence engulfed the battlefield.

The Water Branch could not even cry out. Their souls were still entrapped, bodies unmoving.

Shu Yan froze – then his face twisted violently.

He rushed forward and caught her falling body, lowering her head into his lap.

"Idiot!" he roared, voice cracking.

"I was bluffing! I was just bluffing! Why did you take it seriously?!"

His hands trembled as blood soaked through his robes.

Kiaria watched.

Disappointment flickered across his eyes.

He moved.

In a single step, he crossed the distance.

His hand lifted.

The suspended blood in the air reversed flow.

From the trapped water droplets, blood was released. The soul entrapment shattered. One by one, the Water Branch Shu battalion gasped and collapsed back into consciousness.

They rushed forward in panic, surrounding Shu Ming, pouring spiritual energy into her broken body.

Kiaria arrived before them.

Monochrome mist flowed from his body, enveloping Shu Ming completely.

Her flesh began to knit.

Her shattered meridians stabilized.

At the same time, Princess Lainsa raised her hand.

An Anatomy Chrysanthemum close to Shu Ming extended a needle-thin stem-vine. It pierced through her vein and entered Shu Ming’s heart with surgical precision.

Inside, the vine rewove her heart.

Perfectly without hesitation and request.

The mist dispersed.

Shu Ming’s body jolted.

Her eyes opened.

She sucked in a sharp breath, returned back to life.

She stared blankly ahead, trembling, surrounded by her kneeling Water Branch.

Kiaria stood before her.

He said nothing.

The forced delusion had reached its peak.

"Idiot..."Shu Yan’s voice trembled as he looked down."Why did you do that?"

Shu Ming lay in his arms, her head resting on his lap. Her breathing was shallow, uneven. She lifted a trembling hand and cupped his cheeks.

"I broke our promise," she whispered.

Shu Yan froze.

"That day..." Shu Ming continued softly, "you killed your father to protect my dignity."

His pupils contracted.

"Today," she said, gaze unwavering, "I chose death to pull you back onto the right path."

Her fingers tightened weakly.

"I don’t want you to become any more vicious. The Yan I knew was kind. Benevolent. Everything began with me."A faint smile touched her lips, sorrowful and resolute."So I chose to end it with me."

Her breath hitched.

"If you hadn’t killed your father that day... you would have been a benevolent Elder today."

Shu Yan’s jaw clenched violently.

"We have committed enough crimes," Shu Ming whispered. "Let’s stop here."

She looked into his eyes.

"Don’t forget our oath... the day we became commanders of our battalions."

Her voice weakened.

"I don’t want you–"

She couldn’t finish.

Laughter tore through the battlefield.

Frenzied. Cracked. Inhuman.

"Gods... gods... gods..."

Roga Rong’s voice rang out, soaked in madness.

"You really are a sly manipulator," she said, staring at Kiaria. "I’m impressed."

Her body remained immobilized, but her mouth was free.

"Look how beautifully you made them retreat," Rong continued, voice dripping with contempt. "How elegant. How humiliating."

She laughed again.

Shu Yan did not look at her.

That silence enraged her.

"All of you are trash," Rong spat. "I shouldn’t have agreed to cooperate with you."

Her gaze burned.

"If Gods are truly benevolent, then why did their kind destroy our lands?" she shouted."Did you forget the hatred our ancestors carried? We half-bloods have nowhere to go!"

She sneered.

"And now you kneel."

Her voice sharpened.

"How shameful. You should kill yourselves rather than live in such disgrace."

Kiaria did not silence her.

He let her speak.

The Shu tribe lowered their heads.

"Shu Yan," Rong continued coldly, "I had hopes for you. Now I see you’re no better than Shu Ming."

Her lips twisted.

"If I weren’t immobilized, I’d turn this place into a grave for both of you."

She spat onto the ground.

The spit landed far from Shu Ming’s body.

Yet Shu Yan felt it as though it had struck her face.

"Have you finished?" he asked quietly.

He lowered Shu Ming’s head to the ground with care.

Then he rose.

Heat gathered beneath his feet as he stepped into midair, walking upon distortion itself. His eyes burned.

He stopped directly before Rong.

"Now what?" she sneered.

Shu Yan answered with a slap.

The sound cracked across the battlefield.

Rong’s head snapped aside. Blood filled her mouth.

It wasn’t the force alone.

Her body was locked. Helpless.

She spat blood onto Shu Yan’s face.

"How dare you?" she hissed."A lowly rat dares to touch me?"

Rage devoured her sanity.

She ignored the bloodline suppression.

Ignored the chains locking her body.

Invisible restraints strained as she forced herself forward. Bones cracked. Joints dislocated. Blood magma spilled freely.

She welcomed the pain.

Fed it.

Used it as fuel.

Her rage ignited something forbidden.

"Rage of Heart."

A suicidal technique.

A heart offered as kindling.

Power multiplied fourfold.

Life expectancy: thirty minutes.

Bloodline suppression shattered.

Her broken body reformed violently. Heat exploded outward, forcing Shu Yan back several meters. Blood vaporized. Even water that had resisted magma before boiled away.

The battlefield trembled.

Kiaria spoke calmly.

"It seems I should end this soon."

He looked toward Princess Lainsa.

"To destroy her," he said, "a chrysanthemum is enough."

Princess vanished.

The chrysanthemum field responded.

Petals fell.

Not chaotically.

Disciplined.

Carried by sudden, precise hurricanes, Anatomy Chrysanthemum petals descended like rain across kilometers of battlefield.

They did not burn.

Rong’s heat did not affect them.

A petal brushed her hair.

Her hair fell.

She did not notice.

Another petal drifted downward.

Midair, it transformed.

Princess appeared.

Pseudo Immortal Realm.

God-tier armor.

Abilities surpassing Immortal limits.

Rong reacted instinctively.

Molten spikes erupted from her back.

They struck Princess’ armor–and rebounded violently.

Princess vanished.

Rong turned.

Nothing.

She turned forward–

Princess hovered before her.

Too close.

A single touch.

Right where the bull heart resided.

Rong staggered back.

Her eyes lost focus.

She fell.

Midair.

Her heart had already stopped.

Where Princess touched, a chrysanthemum bloomed.

Kiaria’s Eyes of Insight traced the death.

Rootless Anatomy Chrysanthemum vines pierced the heart, drained every trace of fire. Rage of Heart was extinguished not by force–but by nourishment.

The flower detached.

It drifted into Princess’ palm.

She exhaled gently.

The chrysanthemum eroded, briefly forming the silhouette of Rong’s soul–

Then vanished.

The battlefield fell silent.

The restraints vanished.

Pressure lifted from the battlefield like a withdrawn tide.

The Shu Earth Branch battalion released from beneath the ground. The soil parted, returning them to the surface one by one. None resisted. None spoke. They knelt immediately, surrender already decided.

But Roga tribe–

As Kiaria released the suppression upon them, their bodies stiffened. Heat left by Rong fled on them. Blood crystallized. One by one, they hardened into stone – expressions frozen in fury, terror, and disbelief.

Kiaria looked at them briefly.

Disappointment passed through his eyes.

He turned.

"Shu Yan."

Shu Yan stiffened.

"When I first observed you," Kiaria said calmly, "you were tainted by malicious intent. Evil clung to you."

Shu Yan lowered his head.

"But now," Kiaria continued, "it has been severed."

His gaze sharpened.

"Be grateful to Shu Ming. If not for her, you would have ended as Rong did."

Shu Yan’s fists tightened.

"I understand," he said hoarsely.

He bowed deeply.

"Lord God... thank you for sparing our lives. And hers."

Kiaria regarded him in silence.

Then he spoke again.

"Do not confuse the past with truth," he said. "You speak of Gods as monsters because you inherited stories, not understanding."

His voice was neither loud nor cruel.

"You never saw why they killed. You only learned whom to blame."

Shu Yan trembled.

"To blame others for your own weakness," Kiaria continued, "is the refuge of cowards who fear growth."

The words fell like judgment.

"You knew you were weaker. You knew you could not claim my land. Instead of retreating, learning, or enduring – you chose war."

Kiaria’s eyes were cold.

"Bullying the weak does not make you strong. It only teaches you fear. And when you face someone stronger... the faces that haunt you will be those you once crushed."

Shu Yan’s breathing faltered.

"At the end," Kiaria said quietly, "you become nothing more than a puppet – living inside fantasies you forged to protect your pride."

Silence followed.

Then Kiaria spoke once more.

"If you retreat, retreat."

"If you return to war," his gaze hardened, "there will be no mercy."

A pause.

"If you wish to grow strong – protect yourselves."

"And protect the weak who cannot."

With that, Kiaria turned.

Space folded.

He vanished.

Princess Lainsa and the others disappeared with him, leaving only silence behind.