God-Tier Villain

Chapter 22: Chapter 22

Where that power swept, not a blade of grass survived, the heavens wept, and purple lightning wreathed his body.

The gap between a Middle-Tier and Lower-Tier Demon Emperor ran roughly tenfold, perhaps several tens.

The commotion it raised was on another order entirely.

Vast as the Violet Jade Immortal Domain was, that demonic pressure and the storm that came with it still brushed the senses of its ruler.

Victoria left the Great Immortal Palace alone, without a second’s hesitation, and stood deep among the clouds, feeling for the center of that terrible might.

"Master has broken through!"

"Master, you’re amazing!"

"The King of Amazing!"

Bruce looked far more thrilled than Soren himself, the blockhead had no talent for compliments, but those huge round eyes made his sincerity impossible to miss.

"Serve me well, and I won’t treat you poorly."

"You are half-human, half-beast, and your realm is capped by your bloodline, but I believe I’ll soon have a way to break that cap."

Soren was thinking of the Beast Demonic Form, once he saved the Beast Dao and converted it, he could steer the evolution of the beast race and the tier of their bloodlines at will.

When that day came, upgrading Bruce’s bloodline, even pushing him into a more powerful evolution, would be as easy as turning over his hand.

Bruce’s faith in Soren had always been absolute, hearing this, his eyes went hot and red.

"Master treats me far too well."

"I, Bruce, have no talents, just a bit of brute strength, wherever Master needs me, I’ll go. I’ll sell this life to Master for a lifetime... no, ten lifetimes! A hundred!"

Soren cleared his throat. "Good that you feel that way."

None of it existed yet, he was still in the grand-promises phase of the operation.

While the two of them talked, the space overhead ripped open into a long, narrow slit, Victoria stepped smoothly out of the rift.

A bright moon hung in the sky, a soft wind moved slow across the land.

Her arrival dimmed the moon and stars, and even the wind seemed to step politely aside.

That figure and that face struck Bruce dumb on the spot, he had only ever heard Victoria’s title, beautiful beyond compare, never once seen her.

One look, and his soul nearly left through the top of his head.

He snapped out of it fast, his foot slammed down, and in a blink he stood planted in front of Soren, hammer up, glaring at her.

The dazzled appreciation vanished from his eyes, replaced by pure hostility, Victoria was indeed a woman you couldn’t look away from, but Bruce’s head stayed clear.

Protecting his master came first, always.

"So it really is you!" Victoria looked at Soren, surprise crossing her face.

Bruce, she ignored entirely, a Demon Venerable was no threat to her whatsoever.

Her eyes held only Soren, the man who had just broken through to Middle-Tier Demon Emperor.

Soren kept it simple, he smiled. "Just passing through."

"I have no interest in the Violet Jade Immortal Domain, so there’s no reason for me to misbehave on your land."

"If you don’t stop me, we can call this matter settled."

Victoria’s expression cooled. "Are you threatening me?"

"Soren, you have entirely too much nerve."

"I haven’t even settled the last account with you yet!"

"You killed one of my Upper-Tier Demon Venerables, and you also... you..."

"In short, don’t think it will be that easy!"

The purple-gold hammer in Bruce’s grip whirled hard enough to sing, the air warping wherever the hammerhead passed, his eyes wide, he bellowed at her without a trace of fear.

"Demoness! I think you’re the one with too much nerve, taking that tone with my Master!"

Victoria’s mouth twitched, in a single second, it twitched at least seven or eight times.

She hated being called a female demon above all things, and demoness was somehow filthier to her ears than even that.

The smile she forced out brimmed with murder.

"Hehe, I am going to kill you."

Bruce knew he couldn’t beat her, he wasn’t afraid either, losing a head just left a scar to him, but letting anyone speak to his master in a threatening tone? He’d fight to the death before allowing it.

Victoria’s finger flicked, Violent demonic energy condensed into an arrow and shot at Bruce, he roared and swung both hammers to intercept.

There was no contest, the impact hurled him backward, feet gouging trenches in the earth as he skidded thousands of meters, until he slammed into a mountainside.

The mountain split, and stone buried him.

Bruce learned in his bones what it meant to face a Great Demon Emperor, one light flick of her finger held more power than he could ever hope to parry.

Victoria laughed softly and drew back her fist for a follow-up blow at the rubble.

Just as that fist took aim, Soren flashed to her side and caught her wrist.

Surprise flickered, then her expression turned grave.

Is this man truly a Middle-Tier Demon Emperor? Then how is his strength greater than mine, an Upper-Tier?

Victoria had never once met this situation, even trading blows with the Great Demon Emperors of other domains, she had almost never been at a disadvantage, yet Soren neutralized the full power gathered in her fist with one hand, and made it look effortless.

"He used a gutter word like demoness on me, confidant of yours or not, he dies."

"If you insist on standing in this Empress’s way, then don’t blame me for..."

Victoria never finished the sentence, Soren’s lips sealed it shut.

Her thoughts dissolved into chaos.

Inside, she was screaming at herself, push him away, quickly, push him away! But her hands ignored every order, resting feather-light against his chest, unable to summon the slightest force.

"Soren, you bastard!"

"You."

"Let go of me this instant."

"Or I... I’ll..."

Her whole body had gone soft, weightless, drifting like an immortal.

If this goes on, I am actually going to fall for him.

Victoria felt her consciousness slipping, a moment ago she could still steal fragments of a second to think, feelings still surging through her, now her mind was blank.

Soren kept his eye on the relationship readout in the Strategy Encyclopedia.

Victoria was an Upper-Tier Demon Emperor, that Dao Heart of hers would not crack easily, and the same forceful move yielded diminishing returns.