The aftermath of Michael's punch shook the entire plane. As many nobles of different empires were present in the competition, the display was sufficient to cause the entire world to be stunned.
Emperor Nicholas immediately thought of all his champions resigning after looking at Michael's powers. While Ragnar kept his mouth shut, in fact, it seemed like he wanted to take back his participation immediately. After all, Michael had killed Bluewind in a single blow! This was Bluewind who was expected to be not too far away from immortal-slayer level. His power was usually compared with Karslon - the most renowned expert of the light empire. This was a transcendental existence who could command respect from all races even though he was an independent expert. And such a person had died with a single fist. There was no need to talk about the weaker immortals like Ragnar and others.
Michael's strength was so high that he would perhaps be able to kill all the elven immortals in a frontal battle. This is what it meant to be an overlord. Nicholas and the rest of the immortals understood it clearly. Had they not had countless years of experience, they would not have managed to react this fast.
Nicholas simply said:
> Lord Michael Rageberg - the human prince is the winner of Battle of Princes. We elves are no longer interested in blocking his way as his strength is beyond our means to block. So, there will be no more champions from our family in the upcoming battles. If the other experts gathered here want to challenge Lord Michael's wedding claim, they are welcome to do so.
The gathered immortal-experts then came out of their shock after listening to Nicholas' words and they all cursed him under their breath.
Do you not see that monster standing there? You want me to die so bad? This daddy is still interested in living. There is no way I will stand in that guy's way.
What, you want us to challenge that death god. There is no one in Aterna that can challenge him. Even the immortal-slayers would have to avoid him or they too will be slain.
No race can stop him anymore! No, it's not about races, no empire can stop him! Even 30 immortals together would perhaps die in 30 moves. Perhaps only god-beasts could stand against him. He is the overlord of the entire plane now!
But no one dared to voice their thoughts. What they said was this:
> Lord Nicholas, how could we old bones compete with Lord Michael here. He is young, vigorous and heroic. His genius is beyond anything this plane has ever seen. He is the most suitable for Lady Ashley.
>
> Lord Nicholas, congratulations! You have found a great groom. Even the heavens are going to be jealous.
>
> Lord Michael and Lady Ashley are a match made in heavens. How could we even think of breaking this bond. If anyone dares to challenge Lord Michael, he would first have to go through me!
When the last comment was heard, all immortals cursed in their minds. What a good way to suck up! The others felt that they missed their chance.
What was even more interesting was that they were calling Ashley as Lady Ashley. Ashley who was being seen as the trophy for the tournament and an object of lust suddenly turned into a respected and divine goddess. Who could say otherwise? Now, behind that beautiful figure, one could see the shadow of the most fearsome expert in Aterna. No one dared to have any more lustful thoughts about her as if they thought that if their thoughts ever became known, no one in the entire plane would be able to save them.
The abrupt change caused Ashley to feel as if she was in a dream. Never in her life had she thought that she would be this lucky.
Kandrif too felt like his uncle's words were pure gold. Michael's power was something that he could not grasp but he knew one thing - he just secured the backing of the plane's overlord. In some senses, he was now more important in the race than his uncle the beast-emperor. Now, no one would dare to stand against his leadership!
Ragnar was white as paper thinking about what he had done and what Michael might do. Thus, he decided to go through heaven and hell to seek Michael's forgiveness. He liked sex but he liked living much more.
As the different immortals were making their plans, the tournament ended and Michael was given the greatest honour of the elven race as they claimed him to be the greatest allies of the elves. They gave Michael a leaf from the sacred tree of elves in the ceremony symbolising him as the greatest ally of their race. After all, he was their in-law.
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Kandrif too visited Michael and laughed with him but their relationship was different from before. Kandrif seemed much more nervous and reserved. Seeing this Michael said:
> Brother Kandrif, we have fought side by side in wars, trained and practised together. I may have obtained power right now but I am not one to forget my brothers. You are my brother and always will be. Most importantly, the beast emperor helped my family when I was not strong enough, thus, I will still owe him a favour. Tell him that he can cash it whenever he wants. And don't be so stiff in front of me. My nature will not change after gaining some power.
After talking some more, Kandrif left. It finally turned dark but it was a night that no one was going to sleep through.
The message tokens buzzed constantly and the entire plane knew in just a few hours of Michael's immortal-slaying. The contents of the message were so shocking that it took the leaders of different races a long time to process it. Most of the experts returned with a great hurry to their races. That night, emergency meetings were called by all races and organizations in Aterna. Everyone wanted to decide their next course of action.
Entire race assembly was summoned and the meetings kept on happening. Several methods were suggested to cope with the sudden emergence of the overlord. Many people were trying to figure out Michael's powers. How he was that strong?
The immortal-slayers all met together and tried to analyse what was going on. Grimjoy recalled his tale as well. Then, the immortal-slayers found that they knew too little. They sent voice transmissions to many people who had seen Michael's battles or knew about his combat methods. Karslon got so many transmissions that he simply crushed his own contact talisman. But he did tell Igor what he knew - how it was Michael who had been contacted by the otherworldly expert. Then, Astang too recounted his experiences and his daughter's observations.
The information covered was extremely shocking, to say the least. All this was done overnight. To truly understand the extent of Michael's powers, Igor decided to wake up an ancient dragon ancestor from his slumber. This was one of the ancient existences who had seen the great war. As this ancient dragon woke up, his voice echoed through the entire crypt:
> Igor, why have you chosen to wake me up? Is there something that you can not handle?
>
> Igor : Yes ancestor. Something huge has happened in the plane. Please listen to this story.
Following this, Igor told all the information he knew about Michael to his ancestor. The dragon was more and more stunned as he heard the things. Finally, he kept quiet for an extremely long time before speaking again:
> Ancient Dragon : To think that such a person has emerged in the plane. This person is indeed incredible. From what you have told me, I can figure out that he has learnt life laws. There are methods that can be used to burn life-force to gain great power and most likely he is using one such method to increase his power in battle. Generally, these methods are taboo to use as they sacrifice the life of the person using it. Even immortals can not use it regularly. There is only one exception - if the person knows life laws. Then only can they use such methods to power up.
>
> Igor : Ancestor, life laws can replenish life force?
>
> Ancient Dragon : Yes, they can. It seems like the kid obtained law inheritence from some expert cultivating life laws. In historical texts of the race, it is said that the progenitor was friends with one otherworldly expert who cultivated life laws. It is possible that that expert left behind his inheritance in the plane and that kid managed to find it. Also, he is definitely cultivating death laws as well. From the cultivation technique you have shown me, most likely the otherworldly expert who has taken him as disciple taught him death laws as well. This explains the two vortices that lass saw. Also, he is has some special method to extract much greater power from laws than the rest of us. I have never heard of such a method or technique. So, it is most likely something special about that child. It may be due to his conscient or blessing. I don't know but it makes him a great talent in law cultivation. Perhaps this was the reason the otherworldly expert took an interest in him.
>
> Igor : Yes ancestor. It explains his powers.
>
> Ancient Dragon : No. I have seen the battle images. He also has some other secrets that I can not decipher. Whether he learned from his master or by other methods, none of his powers are coming from the plane-will. They are all his own. This could be a blessing or a disaster for our race. Most likely the news of invasion is correct as well. Ready the defences. Judge the power of invaders. If they are too strong - open the tranafer array!
>
> Igor : Ancestor! The transfer array is pretty much dead. We don't have sufficient energy to send anyone out there. Besides, it will be hard to convince him to leave.
>
> Ancient Dragon : It all depends on the circumstances. His cultivation is still low. He is perfect - someone who can hold on his own in that place and we can afford the energy to send him as well. If the invasion is as huge as he has said, this might be the only option for the plane to survive. I will return to slumber. When the invasion begins, I shall wake up to fight for my motherland.
After this discussion, Igor released this analysis to all the immortals. This caused the immortals to develop an understanding of the abnormality known as Michael Rageberg. It also hinted about how Michael seemingly resurrected. But no one dared to question Michael. Only the immortals knew of this information but no one leaked it. They all understood that Michael wanted to create a fitting legend for himself and no one dared to disturb his plans.
In the few days that the ceremonies took place, the entire plane was abuzz with activity. The news travelled down the social chain and in just a few days, everyone in the plane knew of Michael's unrivalled powers. The entire human kingdom rejoiced. The jubilation was so fervent that people ignored the news of two Atrexia nobles being killed. Several weak races from all over the light empire pledged their allegiance to Michael.
The entire plane was watching the rise of Michael as Unrivalled Under Heaven.