Kahn had barely escaped the wrath of the Empress by a hair's breadth. His ignorance of the hierarchy, which barred him from asking even simple questions due to his identity as the Shadow Disciple, had almost cost him his life.
Meanwhile, 700 kilometers away from the Aurelius city, another terrifying battle was unfolding.
The once-lush grassland and vast mountain range that spanned 250 kilometers in total perimeter were now a ruined and charred battlefield. Millions of creatures that had inhabited these lands for their entire lives lay lifeless, their bodies strewn across the desolate landscape.
In the center of a 500-meter-wide crater stood a towering, two-kilometer-tall creature, its red and white body riddled with thousands of deep wounds. Glowing red tusks covered its massive physique, and three long, scaly tails extended from its bipedal form, giving it a distinct appearance.
Despite its size and power, this monstrous entity was the loser of the battle, barely gasping for breath as it lay defeated on the ground.
The victor of the battle stood on the opposite side, just three kilometers away from the defeated creature.
The area within a 50-kilometer radius was now filled with thousands of towering, kilometer-tall fire elemental weapons, each varying in shape and type. Amidst this array of deadly weapons and the intense killing intent they emitted, stood a towering True Descendant, three kilometers tall.
The creature's black fur was ablaze, and its four legs were wreathed in flames. Its massive jaws, filled with four fangs and countless razor-sharp teeth, were on full display. The heat emanating from its body had turned the surrounding area into nothing but magma.
The creature had nine tails, each stretching 1200 meters and carrying a massive yellow eye in it that moved independently. On the head of this terrifying being were four eyes on each side of its face, and a larger one on its forehead that gave off a domineering aura.
Golden stripes, each 100 meters wide, extended across its fur and outside of its body like a heavenly robe of an immortal. The devastation and smoke emanating from the battle had turned the sky black.
This was no ordinary monster, but a True Descendant of one of the five Godbeasts. Its bloodline purity was the highest among all descendant species, making it an exceptionally powerful and feared creature.
This was the true descendant of Godbeast Fenrir, also called as… Kurama.
But given the appearance of its domain and having experienced it once by himself, Kahn knew this walking world calamity as…
Romulus Lyakaios.
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The battle had already reached its end, and the enemy was now at its last breath. However, Romulus, the Heavenly King of Fire, had yet to deliver the final blow.
"Hmph! Is that all?" he snarled, his ghastly tone sending shivers down the enemy's spine.
"How dare one of the 12 Rakshasas invade my Beast Empire, right at the border of Elysium, the domain under my protection?" his words were filled with murderous intent, and his imposing presence alone was enough to petrify the enemy.
"Just kill me already! I will not spill any secrets.
Besides, my work in this empire is already done." spoke the demonic creature with a fearless smirk, unafraid of death.
"Idiots… Don't act like we're a pushover by attacking our borders and awakening the dormant mythical monsters across the empire.
It took us some time but we already figured out the motives of the Demon Empire." spoke Romulus in his true Kurama form.
"Is it because the Demon Emperor became an 8th-stage saint that pests like you are no longer worried about brazenly attacking and seeking war with the rest of the empires?" he taunted the enemy.
The enemy on the other side was perplexed.
[How did they figure it out so easily?] it thought.
"Looks like your attempt to cause a diversion and spread chaos across the entire empire has failed." Romulus remarked, his voice oozing with disdain.
"And you were overconfident to choose my territory among the 4 Heavenly Kings to infiltrate." he continued, his eyes narrowing as he glared down at the enemy.
"Just because you have the Royal True Demon bloodline doesn't mean you're on par with us True Descendants."
His words were laced with a sense of superiority, as he looked down on the enemy who was nothing more than an intermediate 7th stage saint in his eyes.
Despite the fact that the enemy possessed the bloodline of a Royal True Demon, which made him as strong as a beginner 8th stage saint, it meant nothing to Romulus.
Being a True Descendant of a Godbeast himself, he had a considerable bloodline advantage.
Moreover, as the Apostle of Slaughter, he possessed knowledge of thousands of battle strategies, combat techniques, and weapons of war. These three factors combined made him far more powerful than any Rakshasa who served directly under the Demon Emperor.
"I know what your other objective is. But this is your end." said Romulus and soon…
Without warning, a 1 kilometer wide blood-red and golden formation, shaped like the Moon itself, materialized behind Romulus's nine tails.
HUMM!
HUMM!
The ancient formation hummed with power and its mere presence seemed to stop time, restricting the movements of the demonic creature before him.
"Domain of Slaughter, 2nd form…" he spoke in a dreary tone.
"Kami No Tsukiyomi!" he bellowed and the demon entity before him was stabbed with massive chains that shot forward from the enormous golden archaic formation.
ROARR!!
The hundreds of massive golden coins stabbed the demonic creature and quickly started sucking in its blood and life force at extremely fast pace as the enemy couldn't even gather the strength to move.
Crack!
Crack!
But before the massive finishing move could complete its task, a deafening rumble filled the air as a massive crack tore through the fabric of space.
BOOM!!
A demonic claw of equal size to the 2-kilometer-tall monster reached out, grabbing hold of it and pulling it inside the void.
Despite Romulus's attempt to stop the creature, it seemed that something else had intervened.
Moments later, the formation behind Romulus's nine tails dissipated, and he released a heavy sigh.
The chains binding the Rakshasa broke and shattered into bits as Romulus revealed an ugly expression.
"Cowards! They need the Demon Emperor to act himself to save their lives." he spoke with eyes full of wrath.
Yes, this ginormous claw that was of the same size as the opponent belonged to none other than the Demon Emperor himself who decided to meddle in and save his underling at the last second.
"If it's just the Nadur Empire and given the kind of trouble they're causing everywhere…
I wonder what's happening in other empires across the world." he spoke in a tone filled with concern as if a great calamity was on its way.
"Demon Empire… They have started making their moves. If we don't act now, things will get troublesome before…" he spoke and continued in a despondent voice.
"The Conclave of Heroes."
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As the sun rose on the next day, Kahn, who was disguised as Atreus, made his way to the designated meeting place where he was to rendezvous with Romulus and the council members of the tribe. He had no idea that just the day before, Romulus had also been engaged in a brutal deathmatch, just like him.
"Now, it is time…" said Romulus.
"For the Elysium Tribal Tourney."
Afterwards, Romulus invited Kahn to his private villa where they discussed the intricacies of the Tribal Tourney and the twelve tribes of the Nadur Empire. Romulus explained how the tournament worked and what was at stake for each tribe.
This time around, the tournament was being held in Elysium, which was one of the five regions of the empire. The other regions were protected by the Heavenly Kings while the capital was protected by the Empress herself.
Fenrirborne Tribe was the leading force in charge as the strongest and wealthiest tribe among the 3 prominent tribes in the Elysium.
The Combat Tourney was an annual event that took place in different regions every year. It was a fierce competition where local powers would pit their strongest warriors against each other to prove their might. The victors of the tournament were granted various privileges, such as the rights to trade and lease particular lands for mining and harvesting.
In the Beast Empire, strength was the only currency that mattered. There was no concept of civil rights, democracy, or elitism. As long as one had the ability to overpower their opponents, their origin or background was irrelevant.
This is why every clan and force put great emphasis on cultivating powerful warriors who could represent them in the competition.
However, the true pinnacle of the tourney occurred once every 20 years… called the Tribal Tourney.
This was known as the Empire-level tournament, a massive competition that involved only the 12 biggest tribes of the Beast Empire. The scale of this tournament was unmatched, as it included not just the local powers, but also other regions of the empire.
The stakes were incredibly high in this tournament, as the main forces and tribes would compete for licenses and rights to control and harvest from various regions of the empire.
As a result, only the most elite warriors of the young generation, who were at the peak of their strength, were chosen to participate in the 20-year tournament.
The 12 tribes each sent their strongest warrior to the 20-year Tribal Tourney. Each warrior would compete in three matches, and based on their results, they would either progress to the next stage or be eliminated. The first three warriors with the lowest wins would be eliminated, having only nine left.
The remaining nine warriors would then each have three rounds, and three more warriors would be eliminated based on their performance. The six remaining warriors would then compete in two matches, with only those who won both matches progressing to the semifinals.
If only two warriors won both matches, they would proceed directly to the finals. However, if three warriors won both matches, they would compete in two more rounds, and the final two warriors with the most wins would battle for the championship.
Yet, like everything else... Things were not going to be so simple for Kahn.
Because unlike the Emperor's Chosen competition he had fought in the Rakos Empire, every single combatant in the Tribal Tourney was...
A 5th-stage Saint.
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