HISSSSSSSS!!!
The Emperor opened his enormous jaws. A sea of purple fire erupted forward. Unlike ordinary flames, these fires possessed a strange quality. Wherever they passed, mana itself ignited. Even the void seemed to burn.
Meanwhile, opposite him, the Rank 4 Demonic Undead remained expressionless. Dark water flowed endlessly around its body.
KRAAAABOOOOOOM!!!
The black water rose like a tidal wall and crashed directly against the purple flames. The collision generated enough force to split the void repeatedly. For a moment, neither side gained an advantage.
The Emperor's Law focused on destruction and domination. His purple flames represented authority. The will to suppress. The will to conquer. The will to rule all beneath heaven.
Neither side naturally countered the other.
KRAAAAABOOOOM!!!
The gigantic serpent suddenly lunged forward. Its enormous body crossed space in an instant. At the same moment, the Demonic Undead raised one hand. The endless black water surrounding it suddenly condensed. The ocean disappeared. Then reappeared around its fist.
An entire sea compressed into a single strike.
The Emperor's pupils contracted.
"Law Skillβ¦"
"Demonic Abyss Crushing Tide."
The fist moved. The void collapsed.
For the first time since revealing his true form, the Emperor's expression changed. He could clearly feel it. This attack was strong enough to seriously injure him.
KRAAAAAAAABOOOOOOM!!!
The serpent's head and the abyssal fist collided head-on. The resulting shockwave spread across the entire second layer of the void. Far away, even Michael and the other Legendary beings felt the terrifying fluctuation and instinctively looked in that direction.
It was also at this point that Michael realized his High Drake was nowhere to be found. He immediately understood. The other party had probably dragged it into their domain.
Far away from the other battlefields, hidden within another layer of the void entirely, a completely different world existed.
The sky was dark crimson. Countless volcanoes stretched endlessly across the horizon while rivers of molten lava flowed like oceans beneath the heavens. Every few seconds, massive eruptions occurred somewhere in the distance, launching mountains of magma into the sky. The temperature alone was enough to instantly vaporize ordinary Rank 3 beings.
At the center of this world, KRAAAAABOOOOOOM!!!
A colossal dragon nearly three hundred meters tall smashed through a volcanic mountain. Molten rock exploded in every direction.
The High Drake spread its wings. Its enormous body was covered in crimson scales, each one glowing faintly like heated metal fresh from a forge. Red flames flowed continuously across its body.
ROOOOOOAAARRR!!!
The entire volcanic world shook beneath the dragon's roar.
Opposite it stood two gigantic serpents. One burned with deep blue flames. The other burned with pink flames. Both possessed bodies over four hundred meters long. Both radiated terrifying Rank 4 pressure.
These were two of the Legendary ancestors of the Black Serpent Empire. Together with the emperor, the royal family alone had three Legendary beings. The other four were not from the family. Eunuch Liang belonged to an orphan force under the empire, while among the remaining three, one belonged to the strongest noble family after the royal family, and one was the empire's strongest military officer.
The blue-flamed serpent opened its mouth. A beam of deep blue fire shot forward. The surrounding lava instantly froze into crystal before shattering apart.
Almost simultaneously, the pink serpent attacked. Its flames transformed into countless blooming flowers made entirely from fire. Beautiful and deadly. Every flower contained enough power to erase a mountain.
The High Drake responded with overwhelming simplicity.
It inhaled.
The entire world seemed to darken.
Then, ROOOOOOAAARRR!!!
A sea of red dragon fire erupted outward. The three flames collided head-on. Red. Blue. Pink. The resulting explosion illuminated the entire volcanic world.
Volcanoes collapsed. Lava seas split apart. Space itself cracked repeatedly.
Yet despite fighting two opponents at once, the High Drake showed no signs of weakness. Instead, it was suppressing them. The dragon's red flames steadily pushed backward against both opposing Laws.
The two serpents immediately felt the pressure. Their expressions changed.
Not only was the High Drake stronger than both of them combined, but the dragon's bloodline alone was suppressing theirs.
KRAAAAABOOOOM!!!
The High Drake suddenly disappeared. The next instant, one enormous claw descended from above. The blue serpent barely raised a defensive wall of flame in time.
CRAAASH!!!
Its body was smashed directly into a volcano. The entire mountain exploded. Before the blue serpent could recover, the dragon's tail whipped around.
KRAAAAABOOOOOOM!!!
The pink serpent was sent flying through dozens of kilometers of volcanic terrain. The entire world trembled.
For the first time, fear appeared in the eyes of both serpents. They had expected a difficult fight. They had not expected this.
High above the volcanic world, cracks slowly began spreading across the domain itself. The two serpents noticed immediately and their hearts sank. The cracks were being caused by the High Drake's mere presence. The domain was beginning to struggle to contain a creature infinitely approaching the Demigod realm.
"β¦Where did that fool go?" the pink serpent suddenly cursed. Its voice echoed throughout the volcanic world. "Damn it! It has been ten years!"
The blue serpent's expression darkened as well.
The figure they were referring to was the other Legendary ancestor of the Black Serpent Empire. One of the empire's oldest protectors, and the very same ancestor who had once crossed paths with Shojo and ultimately lost.
Unfortunately for them, they still did not know the truth. Unlike ordinary royal family members whose deaths could be tracked through life lamps and bloodline altars, Legendary beings were different. Their existence was too powerful. Once they reached that realm, many methods used to monitor lower-ranked supernaturals became unreliable, and their deaths were often difficult to confirm.
As a result, the empire still believed their missing ancestor might be alive somewhere. Neither serpent knew he had died long ago. Nor did they know that the enemy currently attacking the empire was connected to the chain of events surrounding that death.
In truth, just like the emperor, they understood almost nothing about this conflict. When the alarm had sounded, they had simply assumed some powerful force was attacking their homeland and entered battle accordingly.
Only now, while being driven backward by the High Drake, did a disturbing thought begin forming in their minds.
Who exactly was this enemy? Where had these terrifying people come from?
ROOOOOOAAARRR!!!
Their thoughts were interrupted as the High Drake spread its enormous wings. The volcanic world darkened. Red flames flooded the heavens. The cracks spreading across the domain multiplied instantly.
The expressions of both serpents changed.
The blue serpent hissed furiously. "Forget that idiot."
The pink serpent nodded grimly. "Let's survive first."
