Chaos ruled as the battleground shuddered with the raw force of shing cultivators. Steel met steel in shes of deadly brilliance as the Battle Maiden Sect disciples stood firm against the savage onught of the Crimson yer Sect.


    "Skye! Enemies on our nk!" It was Selene, a seasoned Battle Maiden, her shout barely discernible over the cacophony of war. Yet, Skye, the eye amidst the hurricane, caught the urgent cry.


    "Regroup! Form the Iron Veil Battle Formation!" Skye barked, her voice cleaving through the noise. Her de, a wisp of deadly silver, whirled through the throng of enemies. Each step she took became a fortress, bolstering the faltering right nk.


    In the heat of battle, Eris, positioned at the crux of the confrontation, picked up on Skye''smand. She marshaled her troops, channeling her cyclone-like cultivation. The destructive gale she summoned sliced through enemy lines, changing the direction of the whirlwind that was the battle.


    With the shift in formation, theirrades who had been under duress breathed a collective sigh of relief. The Iron Veil formation was a battle strategy Skye had painstakingly drilled into them over the past months. Now, the training was paying off.


    "Ambush from the rear!" yelled a Battle Maiden named Eos, panic evident in her voice.


    Without missing a beat, Skye swung her head around, catching sight of a fresh wave of Crimson yer Sect cultivators closing in. "Astra, Leonis, hold them off!" she ordered, her gaze unyielding.


    The two women nodded, immediately stepping back to meet the new threat. They ignited their cultivation techniques, fire and earth energies intertwining and mming into the oing enemies.


    As the disciples defended their rear, Skye turned her attention back to the primary confrontation. Her sword danced in her hands, tracing lethal strokes of silver in the air. Every sh sent a Crimson yer Sect disciple sprawling, and the space around her started to clear.


    "L, Liana, provide cover!" Skye''smand cut through the cacophony. L and Liana, two disciples close to her, sprung into action. Their cultivation techniques exploded forth, a protective barrage of water and wind energies that shielded theirrades and sent enemies reeling backward.


    With a brisk motion, Skye deployed her own cultivation technique, a pulsing wave of silvery energy that radiated from her, pushing back opponents. It was a sight to behold, her power now considerably greater than what it had been just three months ago.


    "Press forward! They''re faltering!" she called out. Her voice was like a battle cry, clear and inspiring amidst the chaos. The Battle Maidens rallied alongside her, raining down a flurry of attacks, killing any enemy that appeared before them.


    "AHHHHH!! DIE, YOU BITCH!"


    Just then, an enemy cultivator screamed and lunged toward Skye. But she was faster, her de meeting his mid-strike. There was a brief moment of struggle, a contest of raw power. Then, with a swift movement and a re of her Qi, Skye swung her sword, creating a silvery arc through the man''s neck, decapitating him.


    The battle raged on, intensity cresting with each passing minute. Skye stood firm in the midst of it all, an anchor in the storm of conflict. Her de shimmered in the twilight, etching deadly arcs of silver as it cut through Crimson yer disciples.


    Sweat and blood mixed as the sh of titans echoed across the sprawling hills. The once serene ins were now a canvas of strife and violence.


    Attack, Sisters! Form groups of three to five! Always have each other''s backs! And kill everyst one of these sons of bitches!"


    Hermands cut through the din of battle like a sharpened de. "ra, provide cover from above! Talia, Ariadne, support the center!" A web of strategy unfolded as Skye''s crisp orders echoed across the battlefield.


    Without hesitation, ra, another disciple, took to the sky. From her vantage point, she let loose a rain of Wind Bolts, thinning out the oing wave of Crimson yer Sect cultivators.


    Meanwhile, Talia and Ariadne moved to the heart of the confrontation, their earth and water techniques merging to form a protective barrier around theirrades. They worked in perfect synchrony, not allowing for any faults in their defenses.


    "Keep pushing, we''re breaking their ranks!" Skye roared, her voice filled with determination. Her de moved like an extension of herself, every stroke pushing back the relentless tide of foes.


    Suddenly, a particrly brutish cultivator lunged at her, the air around him crackling with violent crimson energy. "You''ll die here, wench!" he snarled.


    A cold smile yed on Skye''s lips. She parried his clumsy strike, spun around, and with a swift, brutal motion, plunged her sword into his chest. The man''s eyes widened, and then he fell silent, copsing to the ground. Just another dead fool to add to her expansive collection.


    Meanwhile, Eris was holding her ground, her Wind Cyclone Technique wreaking havoc among the enemies. She was everywhere and nowhere, a tempest of lethal force that decimated the Crimson yer Sect disciples.


    "Luna, Iris, fortify our left nk!" shemanded, her voice barely audible over the howling wind of her cultivation technique.


    Yet, the Battle Maidens heard her. Luna and Iris quickly moved into position, their cultivation energies of frost and lightning merging to form a shimmering barrier that repelled the attacking cultivators.


    Back to Skye, a new challenger approached her, an enemy cultivator with eyes that burned with hatred. She met his gaze head-on, her eyes filled with unyielding resolve.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Brace yourself!" The man charged, his spear crackling with deadly energy.


    Skye didn''t respond. She simply waited for her de at the ready. As the man neared, she sidestepped his attack, spun around, and swung her sword. The man let out a gasp as his head tumbled from his shoulders.


    The battlefield was a maelstrom of shing energies, a testament to the brutal reality of war. Yet, through it all, the Battle Maidens held their ground, united under Skye''s leadership.


    But the tension was far from over. Somewhere in the distance, a burst of chillingughter echoed, piercing the cacophony of battle. Zehir... his entrance was imminent.


    As if on cue, Zehir descended upon the battleground, a chilling smile on his face. "Are you scared, little maidens?" His voice dripped with scorn, a mocking tune amidst the symphony of war.


    Across the blood-soaked battlefield, Skye raised her silver de, her face hardened. "Take him down! Don''t let him kill any more of us!" she shouted back, her voice full of defiance.


    Zehir moved like a phantom, his de a shadow that crept up on his enemies, removing their heads with ease. The Battle Maidens fell one after the other, their horrified gasps cut short by his chilling efficiency.


    Skye lunged forward, her sword meeting Zehir''s in a shower of sparks. "Don''t falter! Show this man that we won''t break so easily!!" she growled, straining against his overwhelming force.


    A smirk yed on Zehir''s lips. "Oh, I''m counting on that," he retorted, his de striking out faster than a blink.


    Eris, Luna, and Iris, seeing their leader engaged with the enemy, rushed in. Theirbined techniques of wind, frost, and lightning blended into a tempestuous attack aimed at Zehir. Yet, he danced around their strikes with ease.


    "Is this all?" Zehir mocked, his chillingughter spreading over the battlefield.


    Every disciple that fell, every cry of defeat was a blow to the Battle Maidens'' morale. Zehir''sughter echoed across the battlefield, a cruel, derisive sound that only amplified the growing despair.


    Although he preferred to fight someone strong, he found a sadistic joy in knowing that every single person here was rted to Mira in some way and that he was reaping their lives like cattle.


    ''Not only did that woman run away during our fight, but she''s caused all kinds of trouble for me! I could be cultivating right now, but no! I''m forced toe out and trim the weeds! All because some old fogey is losing a bit of money to a little girl.'' Zehir grumbled.


    Still, he couldn''t help but smile at the thought of fighting Mira again.


    ''Only someone of her caliber can make mying-of-age ceremony bearable. However, since you won''te down the mountain yourself, then it seems I have no other choice but to force you out!'' His grin widened as he mowed down whoever was in front of him.


    At this point, he didn''t even care whose side they were on. Anyone who got in his way died. It was as simple as that.


    Suddenly he paused, with his hand around some guy''s throat. In the distance, he sensed numerous powerful presences approaching, one of which was very familiar.


    Crushing the neck, Zehir tossed his corpse to the ground and ascended into the sky with a growing smile.


    "Hahahaha! Speak of the devil, and he shall appear!"


    ***


    [A/N: I know this recent arc has been fairly slow-paced. Originally, I didn''t mean for it to be like that. I nned for this war to be over a bit faster, but it was my first time writing a battle of this scale, and I wasn''t exactly sure what I should focus on.


    I knew that I wanted Mira, Nova, Seraphina, Everly, Rayna, and Eden to be left out of the main war since then, I could expand the world and make it seem a bit more lively while also preparing for what I n to do with the Battle Maiden Sect in the future.


    However, as time passed, more ideas came, and the more I wanted to try new things. Wars are veryplex, especially in a cultivation world where people can move mountains by themselves.


    Honestly, there''s a whole bunch of stuff that I left out that I wanted to explore as well, but I felt that, by now, the arc had be more tedious than anything, and it was time to move on. Still, I had fun writing it, and I learned a lot. If I ever do another war arc (which I don''t have any ns on doing, at least not in this fashion), it''ll definitely be better than this one.


    We''ll get back to Mira and the main plot next chapter, but I really wanted to take this time to explore something different.]