The hero’s divine power, coupled with the queen’s relentless will, was employed to the fullest, without any mercy or reservation towards mortals. It was as if the very end of the world descended upon that poor ascending planet.
The entire planet trembled under the weight of the impending apocalypse; no cultivator could fly, their attempts stifled by the overwhelming force filling the skies. Colossal tsunamis rose from the seas, devouring entire cities in their path. The earth cracked everywhere, as if the crust itself was groaning in agony.
All forms of life felt a direct pressure on their souls, an overwhelming force that brought them to their knees. The weakest succumbed, unable to resist the overwhelming power that enveloped them, they simply fell to the ground like mere insects crushed under the weight of a giant foot. Meanwhile, the strongest fought to remain standing, their bodies trembling under the impact of the divine energy surrounding them.
This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.
Natural disasters engulfed the entire continent, in a chaotic dance of destruction and death. In a matter of seconds, thousands of lives were taken by the raging waters and the collapse of structures, while death spread like a sinister shadow, indiscriminately reaping.
And the hero... he just felt, indifferent to the chaos he unleashed. A faint smile played on his lips, his eyes fixed on the whale with an expression bordering on admiration. It was as if he wanted to savor the moment slowly, as if each instant of the imminent destruction was a delight to his corrupted soul.
Obviously, he knew what was hidden on this planet. All his power was concentrated on this continent, and the secret continent where the behemoth was sealed was only lightly affected.
He awaited the whale’s look of despair to appear, but, against his expectations, the whale merely stared at him coldly. Despite being completely sealed, just the whale’s gaze and will were enough to make the hero feel an indescribable discomfort. After a few seconds, the hero chuckled lightly in the skies, trying to disguise his discomfort.
"Who would have thought the Heaven-Defier was really here, hahahah." He spoke, his laughter echoing throughout the planet like thunder. With the appearance of the whale and the activation of the queen’s will, the whale’s identity was revealed; there was no doubt about its status.
"In my first century as a hero, I will gain a prestige that few of my generation have had. Now... let’s see how long it takes for despair to take hold; if I recall correctly, you have a city, oh! Also a woman!"
The hero spoke slowly, looking at the whale on the frozen ground. Then he waved gently... immediately, thousands of spatial channels appeared in the skies above the city formation.
From within, thousands of cultivators emerged rapidly. There were humans dressed in violet clothing, High Elves wielding bows and spears, High Dwarves wearing armor and impact weapons, and amidst the golden glow, countless gigantic serpents radiated pure Yang, as if they were divine eyes. All the elders and high elders with divine cultivations from the four families emerged together.
The skies above the place were filled with divine auras. Everyone stared coldly at the whale, as if it were the embodiment of evil and the most nefarious thing in the world.
The whale just smiled at the looks... they were used to it, and the fools weren’t exactly wrong. But their current incarnation had nothing to do with that.
They lived fully and tried to be as fair and kind as possible. The entire planet was indirectly cared for by them; anyone could see who the real evil was. The queen’s dominance runes weren’t fully active on them; these cultivators had free will to think. But if they still chose to blindly hate them, only because of stories created about the Heaven-Defiers?
No one was stupid; these stories fooled the young ones, but those cultivators already knew the reality of the world. That was just the will of the stronger hand; they just chose to be led to kill and destroy like soldiers merely following orders. They didn’t care about anything, so Alm and Bruno smiled sinisterly; they wouldn’t care either. In that second, their souls merged again.
At that very instant, the world’s karma stirred. All the golden hue covering the planet was overtaken by black lines that tainted the sacred splendor. The weight of the death of an entire universe condensed, focused on the whale.
All the cultivators from the families felt their lungs freeze. Their souls began to tremble; a suffocating and malevolent presence opened their eyes and stared at them. All they could see were the abyssal eyes of the whale, staring back at them, a villainous smile softly etched upon it.
All felt their hearts stop. They understood the terrible reality of whom they were truly dealing with; that figure was completely devoid of IQ, completely sealed and defenseless like a mortal... but its will was a terrible and suffocating force. It had no power for anything... but it was a true and nefarious Heaven-Defier!
"Behold, feel its wickedness. The karma of your deeds must be cleansed! Not only it, all related to it have been tainted and corrupted. All evil in the world must be erased!" The hero proclaimed gloriously, and his manifestation spun and pulsed, erasing the black presence amidst the golden.
"THE QUEEN IS WITH US! ADVANCE! DESTROY! PURGE!"
The hero roared and waved, and the world before him warped. An immaterial sword condensed at his command. He clenched his fist, activating the celestial laws and the imperial will, and a holy sword took shape. The holy sword was the ultimate symbol of a hero and his power; he pointed it towards the sky, and the entire world seemed to follow his movements.
"ATTACK!"
Countless cultivators from the four families roared, and the air resounded with the clangor of weapons and battle cries. The city was engulfed in a storm of bloody destruction; only a will to kill existed for them.
As the first cultivator reached within a meter of the formation, an abrupt change occurred, and space vibrated.
RUMBLE!
Suddenly, the formation split open, revealing a ten-meter tall black pillar rising to the skies. It pulsated with numerous blades on its body, each adorned with shining runic seals. As it emerged, a cutting and destructive explosion reverberated in all directions.
Panic-stricken cries and screams echoed as the blades cut in all directions, mercilessly striking those closest. In an instant, hundreds of elders were cleaved in half, with no chance of defense.
Those farther away widened their eyes, witnessing the formation below intensely vibrating. Now, hundreds of these pillars appeared in all directions.
"DEFEND YOURSELVES! THIS WEAPON IS LIMITED!"
A human High Elder commanded the less experienced in a fierce shout. Cultivators united in total despair, concentrating all their energies on defending against the attack from below... only from below... it was at this moment that the shadow of death loomed over their heads.
Confused and dazed, they barely had time to reflect.
**HISS!**
A wave of pure Yang flames erupted over the elders defending below. The attack didn’t come from the formation, but from above, from their own allies.
"NO!"
Desperate cries of disbelief echoed among the humans and dwarves. The leaders of only three families widened their eyes; everything happened too fast... then, they saw the runic-sealed blades spinning through the air from below. Alongside them, countless bows fired, and arrows sliced through the air towards them in a coordinated manner.
The hero, witnessing it all, forgot to breathe for a moment. Since he ordered the attack, only five seconds had passed. But... the sound of thousands of bodies falling upon the formation and being flung away echoed across the land. Quickly, a river of blood began to flow through the battlefield...
Whether burned or split in half, almost 90% of the elders from the Grimstone, Yangta, and Moonlight families were obliterated. Among the high elders, less than a third of them fell to the surprise attack from various points.
Almost all the most powerful ones were still alive; their overall power shouldn’t have diminished by more than 30%. However, their numbers halved in just a few seconds. In a chaotic war, numbers meant danger. Even if powerful, dozens of blades pointed at once could easily bring down a cultivator.
But among all the cultivators from the families, over 40% of them were aiming their weapons at each other.
The survivors roared to the skies in chaotic outcry. They watched, stunned, as enemies emerged among them. Among the High Elves of the Litharion family, practically 80% coldly aimed their bows at them. Among the High Dwarves and Humans, there were only a few hundred between high elders and common elders.
Meanwhile, among the Yangtas, almost half of the High Elders turned against the hero. And leading all the rebels was the leader of the Yangta family in her true form. She snaked through the skies, resembling a divine and immaculate dragon pulsating with Yang power. Her power covered all the allies, and an unbearable heat emerged across the horizon.
"TREACHEROUS! THEY’VE BEEN TAINTED BY THE HEAVEN-DEFIER, KILL THEM!"
The leader of the Moonlight family roared furiously, while the leader of the Grimstone family huffed in anger with red eyes. Beside them, the leader of the Litharion family was completely stunned; practically his whole family had betrayed the hero, and all the others would be labeled as traitors in the end. Meanwhile, the remaining Yangtas were desolate; the family leader had turned against the hero!
The hero didn’t have time to command anything; he just ordered the families to attack for pleasure; the enemy was captured, and he didn’t think there was any other danger. He couldn’t intervene directly; all his power was focused on the whale so that it wouldn’t escape.
In the same second, from within the city formation, a wave of power and bloody determination rose to the skies. Almost a million city cultivators emerged, aiming their weapons upward. They roared and activated their cultivations to the maximum.
At that moment, the members of the four families, allies or enemies, widened their eyes in total shock. All... all were one step away from divine cultivation.
And even though most of them were a realm or more above them, they all felt an overwhelming pressure coming from these mortal cultivators.