Emperor Thannath was the asura who had reached the furthest up the scales of power in the last 5000 years. Furthermore, the fact that he was a mage that only 1% of the asura race could become only made him even more brilliant to anyone who looked at him.
His stats were monstrously high and worthy of a Fourth Order existence. However, as a being primarily focused on the annihilation of armies through the use of powerful magic spells, the emperor's main stats were naturally Mana and Magic; of course, this did not mean that Thannath was lacking as far as the rest of his stats were concerned but they were simply not comparable to how monstrously high his Mana and Magic were.
Generally, mages had weak bodies but this was only compared to melee warriors with a similar level or scale of power to them; if a normal First Order existence ever tried to take down Emperor Thannath just because they believed that mages were weak in melee combat, then that being would die without even knowing how!
But, was Bai Zemin a normal First Order existence? This was the key question that ironically answered the mystery of what happened next.
Once Bai Zemin's 100 punches hit the center of the emperor's chest, a colossal explosion shook the earth, and had it not been for the laws of the Oblon world being superior to those of Earth, countless small spatial rifts would have opened up right there; adding to the ones floating in the sky as Crimson Blood Judgment and Massacre Barrier clashed.
Emperor Thannath's eyes widened in shock at the overwhelming pain that engulfed him from his chest and he could do nothing to stop a thin trickle of blood from slipping from the corner of his lips.
"Tsk." Bai Zemin clicked his tongue and hurriedly jumped back, putting considerable distance between himself and the emperor.
He narrowed his eyes and looked at the golden robe the emperor of the asura race was wearing.
The robe appeared to be made of silk and had various decorations in different shades of gold and silver. But the most striking thing was that it had several strange runes engraved on the surface which gave the garment a strange but at the same time mysterious and extravagant look.
"Your Majesty really knows how to enjoy life." Bai Zemin sighed and shook his head. A genuine bitter smile appeared on his face as he looked his enemy in the eyes and slowly said, "Could that be a Rank 4 magic robe?"
Just before, when Bai Zemin punched his Void Fist into the emperor's chest, he felt 40% of the skill's power being almost completely suppressed. Every punch that Bai Zemin threw forward had felt like falling into a large bed of squishy white cotton.
Emperor Thannath did not respond and instead spat a large amount of saliva mixed with some crimson blood on the ground.
Were it not for the fact that his robe was an Epic-grade treasure he had stolen from a mighty warrior after dominating another world, Bai Zemin's attack would have been able to leave wounds that a Fourth Order mage would not be able to ignore.
At this point, both Bai Zemin and Emperor Thannath were at a stalemate.
Emperor Thannath could not move as he was doing his best to contain the enemy's bestial magical attack. Furthermore, the fact that his four-circle magic attack from earlier had somehow been resisted by the enemy left a mark on Thannath's subconscious that made him think that perhaps the young man before him had a way to block his attacks. So, to avoid wasting large quantities of Mana that would serve to block the attack that was over his head and threatened to destroy everything, Thannath did not attack again.
On the other hand, Bai Zemin was not very different from Emperor Thannath in certain respects.
Unlike what Emperor Thannath believed, Bai Zemin was not only badly wounded but also had used his only way to protect himself against magical attacks that overwhelmed him by a wide margin. Simply put, the current Bai Zemin had no way of surviving if Thannath decided to cast a second magic spell; forget about four circles, just one magic circle would probably be enough to send him into oblivion!
As if the aforementioned were not enough, Bai Zemin could not allow Emperor Thannath to notice nervousness or fear in his expression as this might reveal his facade. So, Bai Zemin did not dare to launch a second attack against the emperor since if that strange robe Thannath wore were to suppress such an attack again then Bai Zemin would be losing hundreds of Stamina points by launching another Void Fist or valuable Mana points that he could use to try to survive in case he were attacked.
Each of them had their own worries so for several seconds they simply looked at each other as if they wanted to find each other's weak point only by looking at the other.
Meanwhile, natural disasters forced by the constant vibrations and explosions of mana and magic continued to plague the Oblon world and terrify the beings that inhabited it.
Not only the asuras but there were also many wild beasts and creatures of all kinds that had died and continued to lose their lives with each passing second.
2000 kilometers away from the place where the battlefield of Bai Zemin and Emperor Thannath was located, a giant city not inferior at all to the city destroyed by Bai Zemin was currently experiencing the worst catastrophe in its entire history since its construction more than 10,000 years ago.
Poison Fire City had been built near a miasma-filled forest and a volcano that was over 7 kilometers high.
The reason why the ancestors decided to build a city in such a dangerous place was because the miasma-filled forest was inhabited by countless beasts that could be hunted for food and from which the asuras could extract Soul Stones as well as a large amount of materials to construct buildings and forge equipment. As for the giant volcano, the last time it had erupted was more than 400,000 years ago so everyone had already forgotten its terror and also in the vicinity there were elemental creatures born from the magma that was hidden underground; creatures that once killed dropped fire cores that served to enhance magical equipment for attack or defense.
None of the more than 5,000,000 residents of Poison Fire City knew how it began nor did they know the reason why all this was happening. However, the reality before their eyes was impossible to deny no matter how terrifying it was.
The poisonous miasma surrounding the mutant forest was expelled into the surroundings as the earth began to rumble and the constant explosions of air coming from the distance caused the dark-looking cloud to spread until it finally reached the interior of the city.
The asuras could do nothing against the poison but endure the pain of being slowly corroded from the inside as they fought against the wild beasts that had run out of the forest frightened by what was happening.
For every second that passed, hundreds and even thousands of asuras fell prey to the jaws and claws of a creature or fell victim to the poisonous miasma that was slowly corroding their internal organs.
After more than 100,000 asuras lost their lives fighting bravely and fervently, a sound unknown to all resounded underground.
At first, it was something similar to the sound of a growling stomach in search of food. However, it didn't take more than a few seconds for the sound to turn into something similar to an enraged beast searching for the one who wronged it.
Rumble…
The earth began to rumble without warning and with bangs that woke everyone up from what they thought was just a nightmare as cracks spread throughout Poison Fire City.
Each crack was similar to an earth dragon stretching over 300 meters wide and several hundred kilometers long. As for the depth… If one were to look down, one would see pure darkness were it not for the small flash of orange to yellow light.
Tens of thousands of asuras and tens of thousands of mutant beasts fell into the cracks that appeared without warning as they screamed in terror or roared in fear, falling deep into what seemed like an endless abyss of no return.
Waves of hot steam began to rise from the cracks and in an instant the entire city was mixed with greenish-grayish clouds. The sizzling sound caused by the waves of steam when they came in contact with the poisonous miasma mingled with the rumbling of the ground as the smell of fish filled the air.
Then, to the terror of asuras and beasts alike, the giant volcano that had been silent for hundreds of thousands of years roared like a creature that had finally awakened from its seemingly eternal slumber.
It was then that the inhabitants of Poison Fire City realized what those waves of steam were… It was the living magma from deep within the earth's crust!
The fiery vapor and the poisonous miasma collided with each other and in time an even more terrifying poison than the previous one was formed because when it entered the lungs one would feel as if they were on fire from the inside out as the poison slowly corroded everything.
Screams, cries, curses, supplications, groans, roars…. The asuras and the beasts that did not know why they had to go through such cruelty expressed their complaints before the inevitable death.
Poison Fire City was just one of the many cases.
Oblon world was a world that was in its Third Evolutionary Stage and thus not only its laws were tremendously powerful but its natural size had expanded greatly to the point where the Earth would be no different than a grain of rice compared to the world's largest airplane if it were placed next to Oblon.
However, all the cities inhabited by asuras and the forests filled with mutant beasts and plants that were 200,000 kilometers away from the Cosmos Gate as the center experienced the meaning of the word Armageddon.
It was as if the true end had come.
It was as if the trumpets of the apocalypse had sounded.
It was as if the heavens were about to collapse over their heads.
When had the Oblon world ever experienced chaos of such magnitude? At least, no asura or living beast could remember.
However, more than 3,000,000 years ago, when Oblon was not very different to Earth, chaos of similar magnitude had assaulted the peaceful lives of its inhabitants in a manner similar to the present but on a global scale.
It was when the unknown entity called Soul Record decided to appear before all and shine in the retina of every living being on the planet.
How many died until several centuries later an empire was created that finally brought some peace to the asura race? Countless. Too many to count.
"Do you know how many have died for what you just did?" Thannath asked hoarsely as he looked at Bai Zemin with a now calm expression. "Women, old people, children, and even newborn babies…. Countless have perished and still perish as we stand here because of your act of cruelty."
"…. My act of cruelty, you say?" Bai Zemin looked at the emperor dumbfounded before bursting out laughing.
He laughed as if he had heard the world's greatest joke for several seconds before slowly stopping. His black eyes flashed with anger beyond all possible description even though his voice sounded calm:
"When your asura race raided other worlds, did you think of the billions dying under your bloodthirsty clutches? When you foul beasts slaughtered left and right just to pick the brains of others, did you think about age or gender?" Finally, Bai Zemin seemed to lose himself as he pointed directly at the emperor and roared, "Don't you dare sermonize to me, you fucking hypocritical bastard! It was you beasts who attacked MY WORLD and MY COUNTRY taking advantage of the fact that Earth's defenses were low! Did you think of how many children and newborn babies would die then?! What the hell do you know about suffering if from your birth until now you lived under the protection of an established empire! Before you talk about me, wash your rotten mouth! You, as well as all others of your race, are worse than hyenas!"
Unlike Bai Zemin and all the other inhabitants of Earth, all the asuras except those who had already died almost 3,000,000 years ago, had lived in an empire where there was a certain law and were under the protection of trained and powerful armies.
On the other hand, the asuras attacked and destroyed other races for the sake of eating the Soul Stones of other beings. So, in Bai Zemin's eyes, Emperor Thannath's words were no different from a way of mocking him.
The emperor's expression did not change at Bai Zemin's words. He looked him straight in the eye and said in a neutral voice: "You all are just dogs following in the footsteps of something you don't even know. What's wrong with slaughtering some dogs?"
Bai Zemin stood stunned for almost a full minute as he stared at the man in front of him intently. Suddenly, he closed his eyes and without another word turned around to walk toward the Cosmos Gate which at this moment had shrunk to the point where only one person could pass through.
Just before crossing the rift, Bai Zemin stopped and extended his hand backward. With a grasping gesture, the wind howled and the greatsword easily pierced through the barrier meant to stop magical attacks.
The reason why Bai Zemin's greatsword had not yet pierced the barrier was because the weapon was deep inside the trident created with blood and surrounded by magical flames.
Since the purpose for which Bai Zemin had used Crimson Thunder Dragon's Last Words had been achieved after taking advantage of the weapon's weight when it was time to activate Gravity Manipulation, there was no need to maintain it any longer.
Now, what Bai Zemin needed to do was very simple. One word from him was enough to accomplish it.
After securing his weapon, Bai Zemin said slowly word by word and in an extremely calm voice:
"At this moment, it may be impossible for me…. But I want you to engrave these words deeply in your head…. If you survive to what is coming in a few seconds, I, Bai Zemin, swear in the name of my beloved mother that I will find you. Even if I have to cross the entire universe, even if I must traverse every planet in existence, I will definitely find you….. Centimeter by centimeter I will peel off your skin as if you were an apple, I will throw pure salt on your naked flesh, I will cut your flesh inch by inch before tearing out your eyes and throwing every piece of you to the pigs."
"It is a promise, Asura Emperor. I, Bai Zemin, was raised by my father from a young age to keep my word." Bai Zemin took a step forward and as half of his body disappeared beyond, him he pointed back and whispered, "Explode."
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