The first arrivals of cultivators came before dawn, following the tremors across the land.
The cultivators stopped at the edges of battle field. Beyond them, whole forest had blackened, mountain slopes were split, and smoke drifted above the ruins of the city.
An elderly cultivator stepped down from his flying vessel and looked over the destruction for a long time. "What could have caused this?"
"It looks like the conflicts between guilds," his companion replied, noticing the guild banners in the distance.
They were not the only ones arriving. More figures descended from all the sides, some wearing emblems of clans, and some independent cultivators.
They asked each other, but no one knew what happened. Then someone noticed the three figures below. "Those are the guild masters, Darian, Serik, and Odran, aren’t they?"
Hearing him, more people recognized them. Their names were well known beyond the guilds, but seeing them looking like they barely survived raised questions among them.
The visitors made their way down the broken slope, and only when they were close enough to speak, one of them approached.
A middle aged man greeted them with a respectful nod before looking over the devastated crater. "We’ve felt the tremors for hours. What happened here? Where are the forces that fought this battle?"
Serik glanced toward the scattered armour and ruined formations. "We brought the armies of five guilds, and most are dead or scattered."
The man looked back at him, clearly surprised. "Five armies? Against whom?"
For the first time since the newcomers arrived, Darian lifted his head. His mouth opened slightly, but he hesitated. His attention drifted toward the enormous crater at the center of the battlefield as his fingers tightened around his sword.
Serik glanced at him before answering. "Leon."
The name immediately changed the atmosphere among the visitors.
"Leon?" one of them repeated. "The independent adventurer?"
"I’ve heard of him," another said. "He has travelled through territories alone that most people wouldn’t dare enter in a group. I was told he once fought several Convergence cultivators, and even got offers from empires and clans to join as an elder."
"He’s formidable," the middle aged man agreed. "But five guild armies? Why would you gather so many forces against a single adventurer?"
"That," Serik replied, "is a personal matter between the guilds."
His answer offered no explanation. The outsiders exchanged looks, and they knew Leon’s reputation, but reputation alone could not explain why a confrontation involving him had devastated an entire region.
The middle aged man looked again at the three men before glancing at the battlefield.
"Were Varek and Malrec involved as well? I would have expected all five guild masters to be here if five armies were committed to this battle. Surely the remaining two guild masters of this region must have come."
Odran’s expression darkened. "Malrec died before the fighting reached this point, and Varek fell here."
Hearing the names made them uneasy. Those familiar with the guilds understood what the deaths of them meant.
Varek and Malrec had not been minor figures who could easily be replaced, and losing both at a same time, alongside their armies of strongest meant the top guilds would decrease.
"And the fighting continued even after those losses?" the cultivator asked.
Odran gave a tired nod. "By the time the armies joined the battle, there was no easy way to end it. We used what we had and delivered one final attack."
"The blast consumed the battlefield, and when the light faded, Leon was gone. We could find neither his body nor sense his aura," Odran said, looking towards the crater.
"So you could not determine whether he survived or not?"
"No," Darian answered quietly. He was tired but forced himself to continue. "We believe the attack finished him, but there is nothing left for us to examine, and we have no proof."
For several moments, the visitors considered the answer. One independent cultivator folded his arms, studying the three masters with suspicion. "A whole army against one man, and you cannot even tell us why you fought him?"
The other guild cultivators joining from the far side of the battlefield heard the question. Their expressions hardened, but none offered an explanation.
"That is an internal matter," one of them said. "The immediate concern is whether Leon survived."
"An internal matter that has shaken the country," one of the clan envoys replied. "You can hardly expect every other faction to ignore the consequences."
"We’re not asking you to ignore it."
"Then what are you asking?"
The guild master glanced at the others before lowering his voice. "If Leon survived, the remaining guilds cannot face him separately. We must unite the strength we have left."
Another guild cultivator joined him. "And even if he died, this battle will change how adventurers see us. Five guilds gathered their forces against one man and lost armies and masters. People will question whether our authority means anything."
"Perhaps you should tell us why you need him gone in the first place," another clan envoy said.
Several guild cultivators turned toward him, their hostility plain. He remained where he was, though his expression grew more guarded.
Darian listened without intervening. When one of the outsiders looked at him for an explanation, he lowered his eyes.
"I knew Leon before any of this," he said at last. "I know what kind of man he was."
The others waited, expecting him to continue, but Darian said nothing more.
"And what did he do to make you fight him?" the man asked.
Darian’s grip tightened until his knuckles paled. The truth was not something he could comfortably share with strangers, and he had no intention of turning his guilt into an excuse.
"Whatever answer I give you won’t change what happened here," he said. "And I won’t ask anyone to accept my version of it."
Across the gathering, other factions began discussing what to do. Some wanted to examine the crater and determine whether any trace of Leon remained.
Others preferred to leave before the unstable ground collapsed further. A few considered helping the surviving guilds secure the region, but none wished to commit their forces to a conflict whose origins they did not understand.
A representative from a distant clan eventually made their position clear. "Our clan will remain neutral. We came because the tremors threatened our territory and because we needed to understand what happened. We have no intention of joining the guilds in a war."
Several independent cultivators agreed, thinking same. The Empire’s observers thought the same. Their commanders examined the battlefield before speaking with the guild representatives.
"The Empire will also remain neutral" he said. "We have no verified account of what happened here, so we will not take any sides."
The Empire’s declaration of neutrality settled much of the speculation among the gathered cultivators about whether it would intervene in the conflict.
A young cultivator standing aside with his group glanced towards the guild representatives gathering down the slope. "Something about this doesn’t sit right with me. Five guild armies against one man? Even if their reasons were justified, why has no one explained what led to this?"
An older man beside him folded his arms. "Look at them, they have no intention of explaining it to us. Their armies are ruined, and two of the guild leaders are dead."
"And Leon has no one?" the younger cultivator asked. "If he survived, the guilds will come after him again. Are we simply going to stand aside and let them do whatever they want?"
The older man studied him for a moment. "What exactly are you proposing then? We don’t know what happened between them. More importantly, look around. The guilds have territories, resources, and armies. And what does Leon have?"
"We could at least refuse to help them," the younger man replied. "And we don’t have to accept their version of story without question."
"That’s different from stopping them. We can question their actions, but a handful of us cannot force the guilds to change their mind."
The younger cultivator fell silent. He had heard enough about Leon, and respected his strength, but the destruction before them made it difficult to gamble on a man who was dead or alive.
Most of them didn’t have the backing to challenge the guilds openly, and none wanted to gamble on a man who was dead or alive.
Before long, more guild masters arrived from the nearby cities, followed by members of the Guild Council. After surveying the devastation, they gathered around Darian, Serik, and Odran.
"We cannot leave Leon’s whereabouts unresolved," one guild council member said. "We should divide the surviving forces into search parties, and should start the search from the crater."
"And deploy remaining forces beyond the battlefield. If you find anything, report it immediately."
The council agreed, and began deploying the newly arrived forces to search the surrounding regions.
This battle had cost the guilds too much to leave anything behind and they intend to search the surrounding until they were certain that Leon was dead.