Spirit Immortal

Lady Seph, Bingbing and Zishen rapidly made their way out of the only exit of the cell. The elements congregated around their humanoid forms as the Spirit Venerate, Tier 9 Spirit Beast and the Primordial Beast, took their combative stances. Lady Seph merged with the Iofiel Angel, creating a sacred aura that wasn't inferior to that of any regular holy maiden. Wings made with a hallowed white gold, blinded any that dared to stare straight at it, while an angelic halo rested above the blonde beauty's head.

Bingbing, being the Spirit Beast that was raised by the Divine Healer, replicated her caretaker's abilities with her own icy field. Two crystal wings burst forth from her back, and millions of snowflakes dripped down from the heavens. Beautiful halos filled the backdrop as well while Bingbing's snow-white hair seemed to float gorgeously as if she were underwater.

Zishen took a different approach though. He hadn't released all of his power, leaving the frontlines to the Master-Spirit Beast pair. And it wasn't because he was lazy… The best use of Zishen's power was to sit back and wait for the perfect opportunity to strike. Based on their intelligence, the ones approaching weren't of the Saint-level… At least those at the vanguard. God knows how many Saint-levelled Black Masks were hiding in the shadows, waiting to attack when their guard was down?

Thus, Zishen floated half a kilometre higher than Bingbing and Lady Seph, all while they watched the numerous dots fill in from the horizon.

While they were waiting, three dazzling lights burst forth from the western front, immediately stopping right before they passed Lady Seph.

"Seraphim!" A red-haired man broke free from the first beam and took his place on the left of Lady Seph.

"Raphael," the blonde beauty acknowledged the man's presence and said nothing more. Her attention were on the other two presences that came alongside this junior of hers.

One was a short man with a relatively unkempt beard. Though the man seemed sloppy, his eyes were revealing a frightening glint, one that was unlike any mere vagrant or beggar on the street. The other one was a towering man, over two metres in height. His chest was filled with brick-like muscles, and his face was as chiselled as one could hope for.

"President Ingar... Guild Master Xerxes… Both of you are here..." Lady Seph replied in awe. With their arrival, all of the lead representatives from all the major organisations were here. The Healer Associaton's Head, Raphael. The Blacksmith's League's President, Ingar and the Mercenary Guild's Master, Xerxes. All of them had impressive backgrounds, each littered with decades if not centuries of experience. Even if it was to defend a base, wasn't this much firepower a little excessive?

"We can't slack off if the Spirit Saints are working overtime," President Ingar joked.

"Hmph! The Black Masks actually dare to be so brazen!" Guild Master Xerxes was incensed. After months of tolerating the Black Masks' rampage, the Alliance had finally scored their first win by capturing the two Noble Beasts. There was no way that they would squander it away without a fight. "Let's see what they dared to conjure up! I'll blow them all away!"

"..." The enthusiasm of the Guild Leader largely went over the heads of the spectating elites. They all knew that the Black Masks and the Allfather was powerful, particularly after a decade-long silence. Therefore, they had to be exceedingly careful with their defence. No one wanted to be the next victim to the Allfather's nefarious schemes, and the army that was charging right at them was without a doubt, the most dangerous thing that the Black Masks had sent out.

It didn't take long for the Alliance members to witness the full view of their enemies. Thousands of Umbras, each one stronger than the next, stood in an ordered fashion, much like how a real army would behave. It made one wonder, how could the Black Masks move such an organised army in a matter of minutes? Alas, the elites defending the cell lacked the luxury to have such thoughts. Their eyes were peeled hoping to catch sight of the army's commander or at the very least… The most powerful being in their enemy lines.

And that's when they saw it…

A young, pink-haired girl standing on top of a colossal, decomposing giant. Bits of flesh hung from the giant's four limbs as all of its organs were exposed for all to see. Maggots crawled all over its sinews and bits of dirty insects fell off with every movement the giant took. Although it had lifeless eyes, the spiritual power within its half-eaten body was anything but soulless.

On the girl's left, there was a humanoid insect creature which stood at 1.5 metres. Its steel-like exoskeleton creaked each time it moved each one of its four hands or two legs. Its two feelers twitched gently whenever a soft breeze blew by. Three pairs of transparent wings buzzed about, giving the dead insect the ability to zoom in the skies.

On her right, a three-metre long white tiger heeled like a faithful dog, earnestly waiting for the orders from its master. Like the two beings before it, the white tiger bore unmoving eyes and had holes drilled through its flesh. Much to the disgust of its spectators, the undead tiger had a yellow flower planted into its forehead, much like a parasite would to any living tree.

Each one of the three undead beasts shared different characteristics; however, there was one constant… All of their manas were no less weaker than any Tier 9 Spirit Beasts'. Heck, even some of the Spirit Venerates present couldn't compare with the trio, particularly the mana-filled insect humanoid.

And to top it all off...

"That's Momo… The Moon Rabbit..." Raphael muttered under his breath, but for some reason… Everyone on the side of the Alliance could hear his soft words.

"Yip yip… So she's the one..." Bingbing chirped.

"The third strongest executive from the Black Masks is here… Looks like we're in for a fight!" Guild Master Xerxes summoned out his trusty halberd, swinging droves of Wind-Elements with each movement. "So if we capture her, we'll take down three Noble Beasts in one day? What a pleasant surprise!"

"Stay your hand!" Zishen barked. "We can't be careless when facing the Moon Rabbit."

"Why? What're its powers?" Raphael asked.

"Mmmm… The Moon Rabbit… She doesn't possess any element. Not Earth, Fire, Lightning, Water, Wind, Light, Darkness, Mind, Space or Time. The Moon Rabbit, she's a different beast altogether. A unique mythical creature."

"Enough with the suspense! Just tell us what element it uses!" Guild Master Xerxes snapped.

"Mmmm… The Moon Rabbit she… uses dead corpses to fight."

"Corpses? Don't tell me she has the Death-Element?!" Raphael screamed. Everyone knew that there were only ten elements in the world. However, many theorised that the world wasn't just limited to a mere ten. After all, there were mutated elements, variant elements… Some cultivators were even able to mould two elements into one.

There were researchers who believed that there could be as many as ten thousand elements, with the most enigmatic of them all being the Life and Death Elements. In theory, those that controlled the Life and Death Elements would effectively be immortal without ascending into the Immortal Realm.

However, how could there be such a convenient truth in this world?

"Mmmm… No, the Moon Rabbit doesn't have the Death-Element…" Zishen shook his head in denial. "Mmmm… What she does is just mere puppetry. She can't truly bring the dead back to life and neither did she have eternal life. The Moon Rabbit collects corpses and reanimates them as her servants."

"Dead puppets?"

"Mmmm… That's right. Those Spirit Beasts that are by her side… Were most likely Primordial Beasts when they were alive."

"Primordial Beasts?!"

"Mmmm… But there's no need to worry now. They're much weaker than they were at their peak. The Moon Rabbit should only be capable of extracting thirty percent of their overall powers."

"Still! Thirty percent of a Primordial Beast's power is quite terrifying!" Raphael spat. "Three quasi Primordial Beasts and a peak Tier 9 Moon Rabbit controlling them… Not to mention a thousand plus Umbras… The Allfather had sent out quite the force alright!"

"Mmmm… It may be a little bit troublesome to defeat them all..." Zishen nodded his head before growing his body back to its original size. The Azure Dragon Lord brought forth its maximum potential before muttering out: "Mmmm… I'll help you take them down quickly. I will handle the giant. The insect and the tiger… You'll figure it out by yourselves."

And with that, Zishen charged right at the rotting giant, hoping to quickly end its wretched second life. Momo and her two servants dodged speedily and immediately went on the counterattack.

"Raphael! Boost Xerxes! I'll support Ingram!" Lady Seph barked orders at her fellow Divine Healer before flying behind the Blacksmith's League's President. As Divine Healers, their expertise was in the auxiliary department. It was better for the pair to support a Spirit Venerate, rather than to face a former Primordial Beast all on their own.

However, that would leave Momo with the only free Alliance member in that star-studded lineup…

"Nenene, where's Kin and Gin?"

"Yip yip, I don't know!"

"Nenene, are you sure?"

"Yip yip, yes I'm sure!"

The pink-haired Momo landed just five metres away from the white-haired Bingbing. They were both young Spirit Beasts, and their mental age wasn't as developed as most of their compatriots. Thus, their conversation sounded like two five-year-olds starting a bickering contest.

"Nenene! Tell me where Kin and Gin are, and I promise I won't kill you!"

"Yip yip! I won't let you harm brother Shin!"

"Nenene, who's Brother Shin?"

Bingbing puffed out her chest and declared with all her might: "The most handsome man in the world!"

"Nene! Most handsome man? That can't be! The Allfather is the most handsome man!"

"Yip yip! Bullshit! The Allfather is a smelly old man!"

"SMELLY?!" The Moon Rabbit pushed her head back, completely infuriated. "You're the smelly one!"

"No, you!"

"No, you!"

And thus… The prelude of the Great Loli Battle… Had just begun.