Chapter 1284: Moon |
The explosion shook the very fabric of space.
It lasted only a few seconds, but the immense pressure that built up during the detonation caused spatial rifts to form throughout the area.
Violent energy spread outward, causing massive destruction.
On the other side, Aldemaran and Sea Devourer looked at the devastation wrought by Urhan’s and Armante’s attacks.
"The spatial structure is in disarray,"
Aldemaran commented with a frown.
This battle involved Fifth Stage Monsters and Ninth Shackle Realm experts. The pressure generated by such powerful beings had nearly caused the surrounding space to collapse.
Sea Devourer glanced at Armante and Urhan.
He knew that if he were struck by those attacks, even he, an advanced Fifth Stage Monster, would not emerge unharmed.
Suddenly, he turned his gaze toward the center of the explosion.
A figure emerged from the storm of violent energy.
It tore through the turbulent waters and came to a halt above, looking down at everyone.
It was Souta.
"As expected, he’s still alive. But he’s injured now," Sea Devourer said.
"No, you don’t understand the terror of the Blood Lightning Monster," Aldemaran said as he shook his head while staring at Souta’s figure.
Sea Devourer glanced sideways and saw fear in Aldemaran’s eyes.
What?
Aldemaran, the fearsome Head of the Reinfir Clan.
There was fear in his eyes.
Sea Devourer couldn’t believe what he was seeing. As a monster, he understood the significance of an Emperor. But Aldemaran was merely a demi. He couldn’t sense the prestige of an Emperor at all.
What Aldemaran knew and what Sea Devourer knew nothing about was information. Information regarding the Blood Lightning Monster.
"You can’t apply logic to that monster. That’s the legendary Blood Lightning Monster who brought fear and awe to the God’s Continent."
Aldemaran paused for a moment before continuing.
"The number of people who wanted him dead exceeded millions. Even the demons dispatched entire army against him, yet everyone failed. It was said that the Blood Lightning Monster is immortal and cannot be killed by conventional means."
Whoosh!!
Souta looked down at his body.
He saw that he had suffered only minor injuries from Armante’s Forbidden Spell and Urhan’s Archetype.
The power of the Fourth Form had greatly enhanced his the other form of his Archetype. Had it been before, he would have been heavily injured by such attacks.
Then he shifted his gaze to the nearest Ninth Shackle Realm expert, Urhan, before turning to President Armante.
The armor covering his head opened, revealing his face.
"I’ll give you one last chance. Submit to me."
Souta’s cold voice reverberated across the battlefield.
Urhan, Aldemaran, and Sea Devourer glanced at Armante, the President of the Creasant Republic.
Armante stared directly at Souta and replied, "We will not surrender, monster. But I want to know your reason for doing this."
Souta met Armante’s gaze for several seconds before answering.
"It’s what I do. In the past, I wouldn’t have invaded your country, but now..."
He paused.
"I’m embracing what I am. I am a monster and an Emperor. And I will..."
He closed his eyes for a moment as Saya’s words and the impending calamity resurfaced in his mind.
When he opened them again, his gaze was unwavering.
"Hate me if you must, because I will do everything in my power to achieve my goal, even if it means plundering the lives of the innocent. Moreover, fighting your entire country is a test for me. A whetstone that will help me control my beast instincts before I proceed to the dangerous battle beyond."
His words caused everyone’s expressions to darken.
They realized that no matter what they said, this monster was determined to fight them until the very end.
Unless they submitted to him.
"It seems that you have no intention of submitting to me."
Souta’s calm voice echoed across the battlefield. Then, he took a step forward.
Thud!
The surrounding space trembled.
That had been the last opportunity he was willing to offer.
The last chance for the Creasant Republic to avoid destruction.
Now that they had rejected it, there was nothing left to discuss.
From this point onward, he would fight with the sole intention of killing everyone standing before him.
Time was not on his side.
He was only Level 81.
The form he was currently using possessed overwhelming power, but it came with a limitation.
He could maintain it for only half an hour.
Once that time expired, he would be forced to return to his normal state. And while his normal form was powerful, it was nowhere near enough to contend with multiple Ninth Shackle Realm experts simultaneously.
The battle had to end.
Crimson armor slowly expanded across his face. Sharp plates of jade-white and crimson solid blood sealed his features, leaving only his glowing scarlet eyes visible.
Behind him, the detached spider limbs unfolded completely.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The eight limbs spread outward like a pair of demonic wings. Their sharp edges gleamed with a chilling light.
At the same time, the floating halo behind his back began to rotate. Dark-red radiance flowed through its intricate patterns.
The battlefield grew heavier.
More oppressive.
Souta slowly raised his sword.
Then he placed his free hand upon the blade. His sharp nails scraped across the edge. .
Screeech!!
A chilling sound echoed through the battlefield.
Blood flowed from his fingertips and spread across the blade.
BOOM!!!
His energy erupted and the ocean shook violently once again.
One after another, various equipment abilities activated. Combat arts surged to life, and enhancement spells ignited.
Layers of power stacked upon one another until even the surrounding laws began to distort under the pressure.
The blood-red lightning surrounding him multiplied.
The halo behind him shone brighter.
The spider limbs trembled with anticipation.
Then, Souta moved his sword.
Whoooosh!!
A vertical line suddenly appeared on his forehead.
It split apart.
And a third eye opened.
BOOOOMMMM!!!!
An invisible ripple swept across the battlefield.
There was no explosion.
No visible attack.
Yet everyone felt it.
A strange sensation crawled into their hearts.
The feeling of ancient, mysterious, and terrifying.
Urhan’s expression changed.
Armante’s eyes narrowed.
Aldemaran froze.
Sea Devourer’s six eyes widened simultaneously.
Every expert instinctively looked upward. And what they saw caused their breathing to stop.
Above the battlefield and fractured space hung an enormous moon.
It was majestic, silent, and ancient.
Its vast form dominated the Depths of Banquet, casting a faint crimson glow across the entire region.
The moon appeared impossibly close, as though it were hanging directly above their heads.
Its light washed over everything.
The Ninth Shackle Realm experts.
All of them stood beneath its gaze.
A suffocating silence descended upon the world.
Even the raging energy fluctuations seemed to weaken.
Even the violent currents appeared to slow.
It was as if the battlefield had been dragged into another realm entirely.
A realm ruled by that moon.
And at the center of it all stood Souta.
His third eye gazed upon the world without emotion.
The halo behind him rotated slowly.
Blood-red lightning crackled around his body.
At that moment, he no longer resembled a monster.
He looked like a calamity that had descended from the heavens.
"ARGHHHHH!!!"
Screams erupted across the battlefield.
The Seventh Shackle Realm experts clutched their heads and writhed in agony.
Some collapsed to their knees.
Others rolled through the water while desperately trying to endure the unbearable pain.
It felt as though something had burrowed into their minds and was tearing them apart from the inside.
Their vision blurred and their thoughts became chaotic.
Their souls trembled.
It was as if their heads were about to explode.
The battlefield instantly descended into disorder.
Meanwhile, Urhan, Armante, Aldemaran, and Sea Devourer forcibly regained their senses.
Their minds shook violently.
Each of them stared ahead with shock written across their faces.
For a brief moment, they had seen it.
A colossal moon hanging above the world.
An impossible vision. An illusion so vivid that it felt more real than reality itself.
Yet before they could process what had happened...
A terrifying fluctuation erupted.
BOOOOMMMM!!!
Their expressions changed.
Ahead of them, an endless river of blood-red lightning surged across the battlefield.
The lightning flowed smoothly through the fractured space itself, slipping through spatial rifts as though the laws of reality no longer applied to it.
The crimson torrent devoured everything in its path.
[First Form: Lightning Tribulation of the Blood Lightning]!!
[Fourth Form: Lightning Critical Enhancement]!!
Crack!! Crack!! Crack!!
The blood-red lightning expanded beyond the speed of light.
Mountains of stone vanished, barriers shattered, and defensive formations exploded.
The battlefield was transformed into a sea of crimson destruction.
Seventh Shackle Realm experts were the first to fall.
Once the blood-red lightning touched them, they vanished into nothingness.
No corpses and no remains.
Only scattered particles of energy before even those were destroyed.
The Eight Shackle Realm experts fared little better.
Their protective spells collapsed instantly, their combat arts were overwhelmed, their bodies were torn apart and erased by the raging current of destruction.