Chapter 1453: Chapter 1451: Your Majesty, Why Rebel?
After speaking, the Red Moon took a deep breath, lightly tapped the ground with the sole of her foot, and soared into the air.
She flew to a position close to the top of the palace, stopped, squinting her eyes, and clasped her hands together tightly.
The characters on the surface of her body frantically gathered towards her hands and began to shine. The energy that formed her body followed suit, fluctuating violently and emitting a glow, turning her entire being into something akin to a meteor.
The Red Moon cast one last glance at Richard and said, "Cry."
With those words, she plummeted with terrifying momentum, like a real meteor, attacking Richard.
Richard watched the Red Moon, his eyes contracted sharply, and he retreated slightly, but he wasn’t fleeing—he was charging.
Cry? I think I should be laughing right now... Finally facing an attack I can deal with seriously... Richard smirked and raised his hands.
One hand was numb and unresponsive, the other was a bloody mess, yet he unaffectedly pierced into the air before him, immediately vanishing like it was severed.
The entire space started to ripple, and energy from the void began to seep out of the channels opened by his hands.
Richard’s body trembled as if he were charging, veins bulging beneath his skin, his temples protruding, and a rare ferocious expression appeared on his face.
The "meteor" that the Red Moon had become continued to fall, on the verge of striking Richard, when he forcefully withdrew his hand from the void.
Then, both of Richard’s hands turned pitch-black, enveloped in the highly condensed void energy. The energy was so intense that it began spontaneously attracting nearby free energy and particles, displaying characteristics of a micro black hole.
The surrounding light twisted, and the dust on the stone tiles below rippled like water, the entire hall echoed with a "squeaking" sound—the pressure from the void.
Richard cast a glance at Red Moon, who was less than a step away, and suddenly clenched his right hand into a fist, swinging it with a whooshing sound.
In a flash, the surrounding space was guided to crash along with it.
"Boom!"
Richard and the Red Moon collided solidly, and an immense impact exploded forth.
This was the Red Moon’s strongest strike, and also the strongest strike Richard had ever unleashed. Neither side held back, nor did they control the aftermath of the fight, so the destructive power started from the point of contact and spread wantonly in all directions.
"Boom!"
The first second had just passed, and the roof of the palace flew up and instantly disintegrated in the air, followed by the four walls of the palace, which suddenly collapsed outward.
The destructive force continued to spread, crashing into the other palaces outside the council palace, making the once-sturdy palaces look like cardboard toys at this moment, quickly twisting, deforming, tilting, and collapsing.
"Crash!"
"Crash!"
"Crash!"
One palace, another palace, yet another palace.
In an instant, more than half the entire Imperial Palace collapsed, raising clouds of dust that obscured the sky.
The light became somewhat dim, the scene was a mess, and many people were frightened, completely forgetting the Alliance Emperor’s preferences and screaming loudly.
The situation was worse atop the ruins of the council palace, where apart from some court officials who preserved themselves with agility and luck amidst the battle’s aftermath, the unfortunate officials were directly buried under rubble, cries of agony unending.
It is worth mentioning the Alliance Emperor, who, whether by great luck or something else, sat on the throne mostly unaffected, though his clothes got a bit wrinkled, as he now stared wide-eyed at Richard.
Likewise, the Red Moon, who had battled Richard, was staring at him with wide eyes.
The Red Moon now floated mid-air, her energy-form body riddled with cracks, and the characters on her surface were ninety percent shattered.
The Red Moon looked at Richard, then at herself, and then at the hand Richard had struck her with—his left hand that followed his right, which almost canceled out her attack, then successfully delivered a heavy blow—continuous streams of black void energy were now pouring into her near-collapse energy-state body.
The disbelief was clear in Red Moon’s eyes, but reality triumphed over all; her energy body was being dyed black at a visible speed, the cracks widening under the effect of the void energy until they reached their limit.
The Red Moon looked at Richard.
Richard looked back at the Red Moon.
The Red Moon opened her mouth, wanting to speak, but ultimately couldn’t get the words out; before the first syllable left her lips, with a "crash," her entire energy-form body shattered and dissolved into the air.
Richard glanced over and muttered, "The third time, hmm, the third death."
After speaking, he moved his body slightly and just stood there patiently, waiting for the expected resurrection of the Red Moon.
But...
A minute, two minutes, three minutes...
In the blink of an eye, ten minutes passed.
Richard surveyed his surroundings, voicing his astonishment: "Is she dead? Truly dead? Only two resurrections, then dead?"
As he spoke, he fully extended his senses, carefully scanning for quite some time, discovering no trace of the Red Moon’s aura.
It seemed the opponent was truly dead.
Richard suddenly felt a sense of vague loss; honestly, he had prepared various means for the Red Moon’s subsequent resurrections, but to end without using them felt unsatisfying.
The opponent’s performance was somewhat lacking.
Richard pursed his lips... truth be told, the Red Moon’s weakness made it hard to see her as a major villain, or a puppet master, whereas he himself now seemed more fitting.
Well... in a sense, he was indeed a major villain, a puppet master... now having successfully eliminated the competition, he had become the victor, the ultimate major villain, the ultimate puppet master.
So, next, should I do what an ultimate major villain or an ultimate puppet master should do?
Richard turned his gaze to the Alliance Emperor sitting alone upon his exposed throne.
He began to step towards him, smiling slightly, "Your Majesty, the meddlesome person is gone, so perhaps we can talk?"
"Talk about what?" the Emperor asked, clutching the armrest, maintaining his composure.
"Talk about why you, a well-established Emperor, want to rebel?" Richard asked earnestly.
The Emperor’s breath hitched.
In the next moment, he shouted loudly, "You’re the one rebelling, you deserve to die!"
"Shing!"
By now, Richard was only a few meters from the throne, and suddenly a cold flash appeared in the air, sharp enough to seemingly slice the soul. This cold flash instantly cut open Richard’s abdomen and chest, nearly bisecting him, yet no blood flowed.
Hmm? Was it the Red Moon?
Richard pressed against the open wound, retreating a step, raising an eyebrow, only to realize it wasn’t the Red Moon but a diminutive man, about one meter fifty tall, wielding a broken blade, blocking his way—it was him who had cut Richard’s body.
This is the Shadow, right... Richard glanced at him and came to an understanding... Generally speaking, important figures have a shadow by their side, a covert wizard skilled in concealment, providing close protection to prevent unexpected assassination.
Apparently, the slight man in front of him was the current Alliance Emperor’s shadow. No wonder the battle’s aftershock left the Emperor unaffected—it was due to the shadow’s protection, and no wonder the Emperor remained composed after the Red Moon’s demise—because of this final trump card.
However, this makes no difference to the final outcome.
