Chapter 546: The Emperor's Sorrow
Chapter 546: The Emperor’s Sorrow
Chapter 546: The Emperor’s Sorrow
Let’s rewind the clock by half a minute.
Amid the chaos above the imperial palace.
Even with the addition of the Red Dragon King Strathraz.
Even with the addition of the peak epic Dawn Wizard Vakmar.
The empire’s numerous powerful figures were still being pushed back under the relentless pressure of the seven divine incarnations. At this moment, the battle lines had been pushed to the surface of the palace grounds, and the deities had once again gained the upper hand.
However, suddenly, everyone present looked up at the dazzling white light and the mushroom cloud in the sky!
"That’s—"
"Rune, that guy, really can’t be relied upon." The Sea Goddess Hela narrowed her beautiful eyes and said.
She could no longer sense Rune’s aura.
Clearly, he must have perished in that recent attack.
However, that heretic was becoming increasingly difficult to deal with, actually possessing the ability to launch an attack of this magnitude?
"This level of power, this is already the energy fluctuation of a demigod!" The eldritch deity God Grek, clad in golden armor with multiple arms, exclaimed in surprise.
He, too, had sensed the disappearance of the Hunting God Rune’s aura.
Even the Devouring Serpent and the Red Dragon King, who were engaged in a fierce melee, halted their battle and looked up at the distant horizon.
The Red Dragon King Strathraz’s large vertical pupils flashed with intense confusion and astonishment.
As the Red Dragon King, Strathraz was naturally most familiar with that characteristic magical energy fluctuation.
But this level of power?
It was simply too astonishing!
The three pale faces on the Devouring Serpent’s neck also displayed a solemn expression, as the massive explosion had deeply threatened even it.
Sword Saint Lambert, who had just retreated, felt the astonishing explosion in the sky and asked Menia, who was beside him:
"Princess Menia, did His Majesty Rayne win with that explosion?"
"Probably." Menia’s delicate face showed a hint of worry.
The explosion had been too intense, so intense that even she was unsure if Rayne could survive it.
But she was currently directing the ground battle and couldn’t go to check on Rayne’s condition.
Inside Rayne’s manor.
Lagray and Kraya, both no ordinary women, were naturally unafraid of the deities’ corrupting power, so they had been closely monitoring Rayne’s movements.
When they saw Rayne and the Hunting God Rune engaging in a fierce battle in the sky, their hearts tightened, fluctuating with the intensity of the battle.
The barbarian girl Lagray, gripping her massive shield and battle axe, tightened and loosened her grip repeatedly.
"Claire, our strength is far too inferior to Rayne’s."
"How wonderful it would be if we could help him."
Lagray wanted to rush out and assist, but she knew that the level of battle Rayne was facing was far beyond her reach, let alone providing any help.
If she were to charge in, it would only distract Rayne, offering no benefit to the battle.
"Lagray, you shouldn’t think like that. Rayne’s progress has been too rapid." Claire consoled her.
As a witness to Rayne’s rapid growth, she was well aware of how astonishing his improvement had been.
It was only natural that they couldn’t keep up.
In fact, not just them, but with Claire’s extensive knowledge from the Imperial Academy, she had never seen anyone progress as quickly as Rayne.
"Helping him in other ways is also a form of support, just like what Jennifer is doing right now."
In the sky.
Without the slightest hesitation, Rayne grasped the divine fragment.
Instantly, the System Prompt sounded:
["Ding! A divine fragment capable of enhancing psi energy has been detected. Would you like to accelerate absorption? (Note: System absorption can eliminate impurities and complete the process in one go.)"]
Rayne immediately chose "Yes!"
In an instant, he felt a massive and malevolent energy surge from the divine fragment. The Hunting God Rune’s whispers and vicious curses echoed in his ears, seemingly trying to distort his mind and assimilate his will.
Logically, the residual divine fragments of a deity were not something a mortal could covet.
At least, one needed to reach the Full Moon Wizard level, or demigod level, to handle such a fragment.
However, this was not a problem for Rayne.
With the system’s intervention, all obstacles vanished.
The Hunting God Rune’s divine fragment, after being purified by the system, had all residual divine will erased. The remaining pure energy surged up Rayne’s arm and straight into his mind.
The mental nodes in Rayne’s mind began to rapidly expand!
A few seconds later, Rayne, having completed the absorption, checked his attribute panel:
Spirit: 314 (100% Quality)
"Wow, it’s full!" Rayne’s eyes lit up with excitement.
At this moment, the hardships and injuries he had just endured did not affect the smile that spread across his face.
"Doesn’t that mean that once I master the fifth level of the Advanced Iron Heart Meditation, I can directly advance to the Full Moon Wizard level!"
The fifth level of Advanced Iron Heart Meditation results in the formation of a 'Steel Heart' in the spirit sea. In a sense, this transcends the human realm and can be considered a partial manifestation of a lower-level divine essence.
However, if the 'Steel Heart' fails to form, as is the case with Rayne at the moment, even if the psi energy reaches its peak, he cannot advance.
Suddenly, a powerful energy surge from the distant palace interrupted Rayne's thoughts.
"Huh? What's that?" Rayne couldn't help but turn his head to look.
Rayne could feel a mighty aura rising from the palace. This aura was filled with dignity and grandeur, but it differed from the divine authority of deities.
"Is the emperor reaching the critical moment of his ascension?"
Above the palace.
The deities felt this even more intensely and clearly.
"We need to speed things up."
"Hela, let's leave that human for now. Our goal this time is to prevent any more demigods from appearing among humans."
"Right, no matter how strong that human is, it will take him some time to ascend to the demigod level. By then, we will have already manifested our demigod avatars, and he won't pose a threat."
Sea Goddess Hela wanted to object, but recalling her three failed attempts to defeat the blasphemer, she decided to maintain her dignity and nodded in agreement with the other deities.
"Then let's act together!"
"Blade of Judgment!"
The multi-armed eldritch deity Grek roared and plunged the greatsword in his main hand into the palace ground. Instantly, his numerous arms repeated the action, driving the swords down!
With each strike, a brilliant crimson ripple flashed, and the complex Defense Witchcraft inscriptions on the palace's floor and pillars began to shatter.
For a moment, it seemed as if the palace was hit by a magnitude ten earthquake, with cracks spreading and structures collapsing.
"Black Water Souls!"
Sea Goddess Hela raised her pale hand, and in the air above, dense black water vortices appeared, each containing the agonized faces of ancient souls.
"Go!"
With a wave of her hand, the hundreds of black water vortices rushed down toward the shattered ground, followed by a series of violent explosions!
The other deity avatars also joined the assault!
In an instant, the central area of the palace was completely destroyed!
"Quick, stop them!" Elder Ivan shouted, his eyes wide.
"Their target is the emperor."
"Protect the emperor!"
Despite the immediate counterattack by the imperial guardians, who tried to restrain the deities, it was too late.
At that moment, a powerful aura erupted from beneath the ground, matching the strength of the deity avatars present.
A tall figure, radiating golden light, slowly rose from the earth.
It was the human emperor, Carlos II!
In the air, Rayne, whose body was rapidly healing, saw the supreme ruler of the Dragonia Empire for the first time.
Carlos II wore a flowing golden robe, a crown on his head, and a dignified expression. In his hand was a golden scepter, and around him, a multi-headed Chromatic Dragon of the Molten Core Flame level hovered.
"This aura, the emperor has succeeded!" an imperial guardian exclaimed.
"Indeed! The emperor has finally reached the demigod level!"
"That's great!"
"Did he succeed?" Rayne wondered.
Suddenly, Carlos II looked around at the surrounding deities and spoke:
"It seems the legend is true. You fear the emergence of a demigod among humans, who might possess that artifact."
"So, even at the cost of a great deal of divine power, you've manifested avatars to prevent my ascension."
Hearing this, Rayne's face tensed.
"An artifact?"
Although Carlos II was vague, he had revealed something important.
For instance, this unnamed artifact must have the power to counter these deities. Otherwise, they wouldn't waste their divine power on such a futile task.
"The offspring of Dragun, even as the emperor of humans, you should not covet that artifact. It is not something you can aspire to", Grek said with a sinister tone.
"Any coveting or aspiring will bring ruin to you and your empire, just as you see now", Sea Goddess Hela said, casually surveying the palace ruins and the corpses of the seven or eight Chromatic Dragons.
The battle, which lasted less than ten minutes, had exacted a heavy toll on the empire.
Nearly a dozen dragons fell in the battle, not to mention several imperial guardians, hundreds of elite griffin knights, and the thousands of empire soldiers aboard the dirigibles.
"Do you still dream of enslaving humans as you did in the age of ignorance?" Carlos II said solemnly.
"Since our ancestors managed to seal away all of you, these eldritch deities, it can certainly happen again in this era!"
"I imagine that if all of your incarnations were lost here, it would significantly delay your awakening!"
"Chromatic Dragon Flame!"
With that, Carlos II raised the imperial scepter in his hand. The five ancient dragons—Red, Green, Yellow, Blue, and Black—roared in unison and unleashed their breaths toward the scepter.
"Flame Breath!"
"Acid Breath!"
The five breaths were fused together by a strange energy from the scepter, forming a colossal multicolored energy sphere. The energy fluctuations from this sphere were far more intense than the 'Molten Core Flame' Rayne had used earlier.
"Go!"
The faces of the deities immediately turned grim at this attack.
"Everyone, cast the Wall of Sighs!"
The deity of the Limb Cult, God Grek, was the first to raise his arm, transforming his condensed divine power into a translucent wall in front of him. The other deities also poured their divine power into the wall, thickening it visibly.
In an instant, the wall's thickness increased dramatically.
At that moment, the multicolored energy sphere struck the nearly meter-thick 'Wall of Sighs.'
"Boom!!!"
A deafening explosion echoed throughout the Imperial Capital of Temeril. The intricate ward array patterns on the palace walls, which had lit up in an instant, were completely destroyed in the blink of an eye!
As the powerful shockwave dissipated, the deities remained unharmed, but the translucent wall had nearly vanished.
"The deities' incarnations have lost their power!" one of the imperial guardians shouted.
Although the Wall of Sighs had not been completely shattered, the imperial guardians could all sense that the deities had nearly exhausted their energy in defending against the emperor's attack.
"Hmm? You..." Sea Goddess Hela, who had been observing Carlos II, looked surprised and then laughed.
"I see."
"Human emperor, it seems that you have lost this time, and we have won!"
With that, the incarnation of Sea Goddess Hela dispersed into thin air.
She had voluntarily dissipated her divine power. This had a benefit: the small portion of her divine will that escaped would gradually return to her true form, unlike the divine will of the hunting deity Rune, which had been directly erased by the system.
The other deities seemed to understand something after hearing Hela's words. They looked at Carlos II for a moment, then smiled and dissipated into the air.
This scene left the empire's people around them bewildered.
"Ah~"
A heavy sigh escaped the lips of the majestic human emperor.
At the same time, all the imperial guardians, including Rayne, who was far away in the sky, could feel Carlos II's aura rapidly fading.
He had fallen from nearly the demigod level to late peak epic.
"Your Majesty!"
Elder Ivan, seeming to understand, was moved to tears and rushed forward, but he froze in place, his outstretched hands hanging in mid-air.
The imperial scepter in Carlos II's hand began to crumble, or rather, to decay. The scepter, which appeared to be made of pure gold, disintegrated into dust.
Seeing this, Rayne was momentarily stunned!
He had a deep impression of the imperial scepter. When he was serving in the Minter Province Swordsmen Division, he had used replicas of the scepter to defeat many enemies in multiple missions.
But now, the real imperial scepter was crumbling before his eyes.
However, it wasn't just the scepter.
Carlos II was also.
As the scepter disintegrated, his arm, torso, and then his entire body began to fade, leaving behind only a translucent silhouette that stood there, not fully dissipated.
"So, the ascension just now failed?"
This thought instantly flashed through Rayne's mind.
He had thought Carlos II had successfully ascended to the demigod level, which was why he had defeated the deities' incarnations.
But it turned out that Carlos II had overextended himself to achieve this.
The same thought echoed in the minds of everyone present.
"No!!! Father has failed!"
Prince Everdon's eyes widened, and his face drained of color.
"It's over, the Dragonia Empire is finished!" he murmured.
(End of Chapter)
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