The Golden Cicada Spirit King suddenly roused, turning his head in the direction of Great Buddha mountain. He could not see the gushing demon qi from here, but he could sense the collapse of space and the surging of the demon cavern, and the sensation was becoming clearer by the moment.
Li Qingshan said, “Xiao An and I will deal with the demon cavern ourselves. Just go without worrying!”
The Golden Cicada Spirit King nodded and gently shed his skin. “This is my gift.”
The tribulation clouds gradually dispersed as the whistling tribulation lightning slowly gathered together as well. He spread out his slightly-wrinkly cicada wings and faced the sky again.
He had waited ten millennia for this moment!
However, in the final moments, a certain part in his heart began to hurt more and more, like a deeply-buried spine. Originally, he thought it would vanish with time, but he had only grown accustomed to the pain. It had never disappeared. It had pierced his heart once again to his surprise, making him bleed inside. His expression began to change, sometimes saddened and sometimes confused.
The tribulation lightning that originally posed no more threat suddenly became even sharper and more terrifying than ever before. The rumbling thunder filled his sea of consciousness, even giving him the false impression that his body and mind was falling apart.
Xiao An saw this through the eyes of the Skeleton Demons and seemed to realise something. Then she looked at the Soaring Locust King in dire straits.
“Golden Cicada!” With a mad howl, the Soaring Locust King rushed towards the tribulation lightning without any regard.
Everyone struck together. The sharp atmospheric winds, the sweeping black sand, the dragon-like spear, as well as Northmoon’s clone supporting them, all trying to prevent him from breaking free.
The Soaring Locust King did not dodge, forcefully enduring all the attacks with just a single thought in mind!
The Skeleton Demon Formation revolved and closed around him, even making the Soaring Locust King feel despair. However, he continued to buzz his wings as hard as he could, flying towards the Golden Cicada Spirit King.
The Skeleton Demons in his way suddenly shifted to one side, and the Soaring Locust King immediately broke free from the encirclement, rushing into the clouds.
“Xiao An!” Li Qingshan was rather perplexed, but he believed she had her reason for doing this.
The Golden Cicada Spirit King gazed at the incoming Soaring Locust King. There was no fear or panic. Instead, he became relieved, and his expression settled down. The roaring thunder faded off into the distance, having been discarded from his mind.
“Go die!” The Soaring Locust King used all of his strength, extending a claw towards the Golden Cicada Spirit King. He completely disregarded the fact that he had been swallowed by the tribulation lightning as well, or perhaps this was his objective in the first place. He would do it even if they perished together!
The Golden Cicada Spirit King gazed deeply into the Soaring Locust King’s eyes. His cold, compound eyes possessed a natural viciousness, a hysterical hatred as well as deep pain.
They had known each other for ten thousand years, but never had he seen him in so much pain. Even when he had been hunted to the brink of death all those times, he would always go back to planning his revenge in a frenzied manner. Under his frenzy, he was actually very clever, possessing intelligence unbefitting of an insect, even more clever than the Golden Cicada Spirit King himself. He had never cast aside his cultivation for the sake of something like revenge. He did not even take revenge seriously. He viewed any and all precarious predicaments as perfectly logical and natural. It was perfectly logical and natural to eat humans, and it was perfectly logical and natural to be hunted down by humans. All it came down to was who was stronger in the very end.
However, this revenge had broken that principle of his. He had not multiplied furiously for cultivation, much less to satiate his gluttony. Instead, it was purely for the sake of revenge. He carried out a massacre like he was venting, and it was just so that he could make him see it all.
“I understand. From beginning to end, I was the only one you hated.”
The betrayal that time led to a grievance that the Soaring Locust King would never forget, but it also became something that weighed on his mind for several thousand millennia, something he could never free himself from. He constantly thought about it in recollection. Was there perhaps a better way to handle it? Had he perhaps been wrong right from the get-go?
Was it saving all living creatures? Was it out of benevolence? Was it upholding justice? Was it punishing the wicked?
Or was it selfishly selling out friends! Using deceit to defeat trust! Using ill will to defeat goodwill!
He had not buried himself deep within the magma for the sake of cultivation only.
Lolth could be regarded as vicious in nature, yet he remained hidden in the magma, allowing her to do as she pleased, just in an attempt to find an answer.
But even until now, there was no answer. He could not satisfy both sides!
But at the very least, he could still bear it.
As a result, when the claw shot towards him, he did not fight back or assume a defensive position. Instead, he spread his arms and apologised.
“Sorry. I was… wrong!”
In the next moment, the sharp claw pierced his chest, and golden blood splattered out. The Soaring Locust King gritted his teeth and said hoarsely, “Golden Cicada, it’s too late!”
The tribulation lightning intensified once again, drowning them in lightning and blurring their figures.
“I know…” The Golden Cicada Spirit King murmured.
“You’re always so hesitant and uncertain! Since you’ve already made your decision to betray me, then you should have downright killed me! You wouldn’t have today if you did that,” the Soaring Locust King said viciously.
“I can’t,” said the Golden Cicada Spirit King.
“But you’ve already killed me!” the Soaring Locust King bellowed.
The tribulation lightning had already reached its end, but due to the Soaring Locust King’s entry, its might had reached an unbelievable level. The figure of the battle demon on his back rapidly faded away, and soon afterwards, even his body began to disintegrate.
The Skeleton Demons watched closely. Even if he pulled out of the lightning immediately, he definitely would not be able to escape with his injuries. He had no intention of escaping either.
The Golden Cicada Spirit King was unable to say anything in response. He lowered his head.
“I’m at fault too. I clearly knew you were soft-hearted and a fool, easily deluded and deceived by others. I shouldn’t have let you go to the monastery of baldies!” The Soaring Locust King suddenly noticed the half-transparent cicada wings on the Golden Cicada Spirit King’s back. The madness and hatred on his face faded away, seeming rather remorseful.
“Sigh, we’re both going to die, yet you still say something like that.”
The Golden Cicada Spirit King sighed, but his heart lightened up for some reason as if he had returned to a very long time ago.
The spine in his heart vanished. As an ignorant, foolish insect, a feeble, fleeting insect, perhaps there was nothing he could complain about for having a life like this!
“Die? I still haven’t forgiven you yet! I will make you regret it forever!” The Soaring Locust King extended a claw slowly, throwing a punch at the Golden Cicada Spirit King’s face.
Li Qingshan caught the golden cicada skin that drifted down from above. It felt weightless, yet it also felt indestructible. He looked up at the sky again, and even he did not expect a conclusion like this, where the two great Daemon Kings perished together.
Gu Yanying glanced at the Skeleton Demons. Just like that, they could kill the Soaring Locust King without any risk, without any loss, and no one would be able to find any fault in it. Even the Golden Cicada Spirit King himself had accepted this conclusion. Her calculations were truly unpredictable. As a matter of fact, she was not even sure to describe it as benevolent or cruel.
“Hmm?” Li Qingshan noticed something. The Soaring Locust King and the Golden Cicada Spirit King’s figures suddenly separated in the resplendent lightning. Originally, he thought the Soaring Locust King had gotten his revenge and was planning to flee, but all he saw was that he turned into a locust, flying against the lightning and into the sky. His colossal body almost intercepted the lightning, but it only sped up his disintegration.
The Golden Cicada Spirit King fell down with his eyes wide open. All he saw was the Soaring Locust King gradually vanish within the lightning.
“No!” He immediately spread his wings and flew towards the sky.
Boom! A great rumble drowned out all of the thunder, and the Soaring Locust King’s body shattered violently. Blinding light illuminated the surroundings, even more dazzling than the lightning. A violent wave of air slammed the Golden Cicada Spirit King against the ground heavily.
The heavens seemed to have unleashed their final bit of fury, and the tribulation clouds finally dispersed gradually. Sunlight peeked through the cracks, scattering on the ground.
This was his final revenge!
