Chapter 356 Chimera
Although the Blood Mountain Range had been completely drained of all its chthonian presence, as its morbid bloody bones held it high above all peaks, the Bone Mountain still rippled with massive chthonian energies.
Seeing this, Konrad's lips curled into a smile, death essence, and nether force made up chthonian energies. And although in the process of creating undead, death essence was the primary component, nether force also played a critical role.
As of now, although Konrad didn't dare boast the ability to create a new race, he could certainly produce a formidable legion of perfect, invincible undead. With a step, he vanished and reappeared in the sky, towering above the ten million barbarian soldiers that filled the mountain range.
But due to Else's illusions, although the Bone Mountain now towered above them, they couldn't see it. Some quivered in fear, others challenged the fallacies with brave, dauntless hearts. A few chose another road and sat crossed-legged to shoulder whatever came against them and ignore what didn't.
Still, regardless of the choice, none could escape.
Konrad stretched his hands, causing the temperature to drop as a vast wave of nether force chilled the atmosphere. The illusions trapping the ten-million-man army vanished, allowing them to behold the sight of the gargantuan mountain towering above them with erupting waves of eldritch forces they could make no sense of.
The terrified majority dropped on their knees with clattering teeth and pleading eyes. The brave stood tall, unwilling to falter, while the stoic swept the Bone Mountain with a glance before returning to silence. Better than the rest they realized, that what they faced surpassed what they could oppose. Fluctuations of emotions served no purpose, for their lives no longer stood in their hands.
And indeed, they were right. But as the terrified cowered, the brave raised their swords at the slender figure hovering above the ghastly mountain. And as that figure dropped from the sky, to descend in their midst, they needed no explanation to recognize it as the source of their woes.
Woes, they wouldn't accept. In tandem, they bared their arms, aiming them at the white-haired youth dressed in a black robe and matching overcoat.
"You…it's you! It must be you that trapped us all in this range. What do you want from us?"
Who said the words mattered not. What mattered was that they echoed the outrage of all. But as the white-haired youth raised his head and locked his icy-blue eyes on them all, even the braves staggered, unable to shoulder the cold malevolence in his gaze.
"I want your lives. Today, you perish to lay down the foundation of my invincible regiment."
Konrad replied, in a frank but ever cold manner. And hearing him so easily sentence them all to death, the braves flew into a rage while the terrified recoiled in fright.
"A ten-million-man strong army's might is not that simple to overcome. Even if you are a Star Taming Stage expert, we won't go down without a fight! Brothers fear not, the khan will not abandon us. Reinforcements are on their way. We only need to hold out for…"
A middle-aged general began with his spear aimed at Konrad, but before he could finish his words…
"Guhh…guhh…guhh…"
…it appeared he choked on his tongue, for he could speak no further. And while his throat atrophied at a rapid pace, Konrad's chortle echoed.
"Delusional fool. It is your khan that sends you to me. Otherwise, having not received news for four days, how could he not investigate your case? Clearly, he knows why he shouldn't."
Konrad ridiculed, crushing all sliver of hope within the soldiers' hearts. Stupor, fright, and indignation burned in them all! Yet, the ineluctable fate dawning on them stood as mighty as ever.
None of them could change it.
"As for you, you're merely the riffraff assembled after a decade to make up for your predecessors, the real army's loss. When even they could only feed my belly, what could you possibly accomplish?"
Konrad rhetorically asked, awakening them all to who they face.
Brave, terrified, or stoic no longer mattered, and as the choking soldier's throat was mangled beyond recognition by an invisible grip, all rose in horror…
"You…are the Profane Prince!"
Millions of voices exclaimed like a choir, and the melody of their despair hissed against the Bone Mountain, which seemed to tremble in excitation.
"The one, and only."
Konrad replied and snapped his fingers.
*Crack* *Crack* *Crack*
Instantaneously, crackling filled the massive Bone Mountain, and this naturally formed edifice of horrid art that effortlessly endured a decade collapsed to rain onto the ten-million-man army!
"Aaaaaa….aaaaaah…aaaaaaaaaaah!"
Millions of lives roared in terror, as the greatest avalanche in the Ancient Crystal World's history dropped on them all! All turned heels, tossed weapons away and ran, ran, ran for dear life, desperately chasing the inexistent doors of salvation.
All, to no avail!
Even the higher-ranked cultivators were forced to realize that they no longer possessed the ability to fly!
The stampede of millions of feet carried on, with some dropping, unable to make their way through the flow, only to get crushed by their fellow, runaway soldiers! What a sordid fate!
Alas, it still was nothing when compared to those runaway soldiers who endured the brunt of the Bone Mountain's collapse!
"Aaaaaa….heeeeelp…heeeelp….aaaaaaaaaaargsh!"
*CRACK* *CRACK* *CRACK*
Millions of barbarian men, well-trained soldiers, howled in anguish, crushed by the avalanche of bloody bones and squashed into meat paste! And with each death, Konrad grew stronger! Better, although it didn't affect death essence quantity, the more gruesome the deaths, the more nether force was released.
None of the ten million men escaped, and all died crushed by either the Bone Mountain's collapse or their own fellow soldiers.
A brutal end that magnified Konrad's powers while feeding his chthonian energies.
With his arms crossed beneath his back, he took a moment to digest the gains from their deaths, then raised his hands!
Above the massacre, the genderless prototype body appeared, while beneath it, the blood, bones, flesh, and gore rose to form a massive vortex that swallowed the prototype body within!
Konrad joined his hands and condensed an icy-blue energy ball around which black mist swirled. Aiming it the transforming body within the vortex, he fired a beam of chthonian energies that turned the gore maelstrom into a multicolor tornado in the midst of which the prototype body underwent drastic changes.
While outwardly, not many changes occurred, inwardly, the imperfections within bones, flesh, and blood were removed, leaving only the best to merge with and sublimate the body. Meanwhile, the chthonian energies barreling into it fed it with life unbound by principles of souls.
True, perfect unlife.
The 1.8 meters tall body shifted from a horizontal to a vertical position, and as it did, its outward appearance changed, going from genderless to female-looking. Its waist narrowed while its lips widened, and its flat chest expanded into a large bust.
Long, black hairs grew from its head to stop at the middle of its back. And as its eyes opened, they shone with cold blue irises. While Konrad's chthonian energies still empowered and perfected it, the frame grew slenderer, and its visage morphed into that of a stunning, icy beauty around the age of seventeen.
Konrad pulled back his hands, leading the beauty to land on the ground. And both Astarte and Else, who observed the scene where startled to see that while this woman possessed no cultivation, the strength rippling from her flesh was enough to tear most Sages to shreds.
The cold beauty dropped on her knees, and her full lips parted to exclaim two simple words:
"Greetings, master!"
Seeing this, Konrad let his lips curve into a victorious smile and replied:
"I name thee Chimera."