Vallot, the Heir of Ink, was one of nine offspring produced by the Weapon Emperor, Kang. Her tasks consist mostly of lazing around, doing the minimal amount of cultivation, and the maximum amount of relaxation. She, as dictated by her father, has certain official duties to fulfill. But his reign of terror mostly governs itself, leaving her to whatever shenanigans she wishes to pursue. In spite of all this, she remains the most talented and powerful of her siblings, easily reaching the Expansion stage at the tender age of 19. The confidence and security of being powerful herself and having a reliable father convinced her of invincibility. Few in their universe can challenge her in direct combat, and if they can, they’d be mortally terrified of crossing death incarnate. As such, when she received the summoning from one of the battlefields her father used for farming, she descended with the utmost calm and arrogance. Never in her pampered life would she have expected a fist to respond to her question.
A fist moving at such speeds, its color embraced a bright blue hue, inched towards her beautiful face. The attack was seemingly lacking power, but logic denied the discrepancy. In a desperate attempt to evade, Vallot activated her Shadow, tearing the tattoo-ish marks off her skin. She erected the dark substance as a last-minute shield directly over her face, bracing for impact. Without prior warning, she was launched across the wasteland, gouging out a great divide in the landscape. If rain were to ever grace the desert again, it would no doubt become a magnificent river. But for now, only blood and soil would decorate it.
The already deafening sound of flesh tearing sand and rocks apart was muted by a boom rocking the entire planet they occupied. Samuel’s target hit something she could not pass through, thwarting his plans to strike upon her complete orbit. Redirecting his focus momentarily, Samuel moved rapidly towards the creations of misery, still dripping with blood. Not knowing if the woman could leave as she pleased, he knew time was of the essence. Instead of exacting perfect justice through revenge, destroying the weapons that reaped so many lives must suffice. In one swift motion, an attack left unused for too long, swept them in a wave. A wave of decay. Withering Wave reduced the once glorious killing machines to mere scrap metal. Devoid of will, energy, and power.
Unfamiliar with the space he occupied and restricted by the world, Samuel was unable to open spatial tears, resulting in him rushing by flight towards his target. Vallot was lying dazed in a ginormous crater on the side of a mountain; fully stuck. There was an odd energy keeping her locked in place, barred from leaving. It potentially saved her life by stopping her path but would likely result in her end regardless. Indeed. From the distance, she could feel the air shift unnaturally, bending to someone's will. How was this happening? Was she not powerful? Was her father not powerful? How can the lower battlefields house such unfathomable cultivators? All questions destined to fade into obscurity together with her. The tiny hope she clung to earlier tried to connect to her, but it was irrelevant. The amount of time required to receive assistance was longer than Samuel needed to end her. She knew this.
Although lazy and arrogant, her intelligence was not pathetic enough not to realize the situation she was in. Perhaps only if her father exited seclusion to save her would she stand a chance of survival.
Something to note about Emperor Kang is his ruthless personality. He is not one cruel to his foes and loving towards family. He was cruel to all. Kang would rather die himself than abandon a cultivation retreat to save his embarrassment of a daughter. When had he ever received assistance in a life or death situation? Could she not protect herself with her cultivation, techniques, artifacts, and siblings, then so be it. He could easily produce another offspring. Someone who won’t let him down. Only on the minute potentiality of him being free and in a great mood could he perhaps step in. It’s a near 0% possibility.
“Someone's coming; I need to finish this now. Time Distortion. By Creation. Animus Imperium.” Samuel launched three revolutionary techniques at once to accomplish his goal. Trapping the entirety of the planet within his slow-motion time field where only he functioned at regular speed, Samuel began to alter creation according to his will. Draining the essence of all around him, space, wind, grass, you name it, he gathered it into the shape of a compact spear. The spear was but two meters long with one long blade locked in a colorless hilt. It was unassuming, yet remarkable at the same time. This was no doubt the strongest attack Samuel was capable of casting by relying on his techniques. When he was exactly ten kilometers from Vallot, he drew his arm back to throw the spear. Upon release, Samuel lost control over his time field due to the destabilizing effects of the attack. This was a mistake on his part.
For a time distortion to affect someone, they have to physically be inside the field. If someone, anyone, regardless of power, is outside the stopped, enhanced, or reduced passage of time, they will remain unaffected. Were Samuel to have utilized a more apt attack, Kang would not be capable of acting in time. But now… pandemonium was imminent.
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The fickle presence of the world was erased as a bloody door opened on the mountain peak. From it emerged the nightmare of the Kalhistarn Universe. The Weapon Emperor, the smith and general, Kang. Whatever remained of the populace were reduced to corpses upon his arrival. The seething blood oceans calmed; the winds terrified to disturb this monster. The trembling planet, however, became more unstable. The consciousness and will governing the functions and stability of Mallick were exterminated, commencing the countdown to its final destruction. That combined with a Demi-God’s pressure only enhanced the rate. While this would be an inconvenience to most, it was godsent for Samuel; his only chance to escape.
Due to the unfamiliar nature of planets in this universe, he found his spatial capabilities restricted to a minimum before Kang's arrival. His various talents and his physique were now working overtime to sneak his way far away from his imminent death. Samuel was unsure what was happening and how the situation unraveled into this depraved misery he found himself, but discarded non-vital questions from his mind.
All universes in the Nothingness are categorized according to the complexity of their spatial structure and energy levels. This universe, in opposition to Balamier, has 16 axes, making navigation more tedious and time-consuming. Nevertheless, Samuel knew this to be his only chance of survival. Actually, if Kang was not currently directing a condescending stare toward his daughter, he would most likely be dead.
Kang is excessively powerful, turning any attempt to force a wormhole open in his presence into a wonderful dream. So grasping his opportunity, Samuel forced a minute spatial curve open a few million kilometers away. Far enough that Kang would disregard it as irrelevant to the situation at hand, but close enough Samuel could teleport upon its maturity. The distance forced him to compromise on stability and formation time, making for an immensely tense situation.
Samuel’s improved, yet somehow crippled body, pulled all its muscles taught. His shoulders tightened, and his neck stiffened to such a degree his eyes were tormented. He shortly welcomed a blaring headache, dampened only by his racing heartbeat thundering in his ears. In a crescendo of awfulness, it all culminated into one monstrosity of uncomfortableness when Kang's apathetic and striking blood-colored eyes met his. Feeling death prick his very brain once again, Samuel opted to escape with the risk of his wormhole collapsing midway. It would be better to die somewhere no one could bear witness, rather than be annihilated next to someone he was attempting to kill only moments earlier.
Making use of every trace of qi left in his weary and exhausted body, Samuel altered time around him and the area next to his wormhole. Without a trace, he vanished from his position.
Kang, the future god of dominance, was inspecting an interesting specimen who went against him when he suddenly vanished. As an absolute overlord, Kang was aware no place in Kalhistarn could hide from him. As such, he was more than content allowing his attempted escape. The specimen, Samuel, was also talented in a coveted area, spacetime. He controlled both the passage of time around him, could teleport, and construct a spatial passage crossing the entire universe. Kang knew every move Samuel made. Not only was he capable of sensing it clearly with his superior cultivation, but also heard and saw all the useless plans of escape he formulated in his head. Kang’s entire cultivation revolves around the manipulation of minds for various purposes, of course, he was capable of reading others' thoughts.
Kang’s recent breakthrough brought him such a wondrous mood; however, that instead of wanting to kill Samuel, he was thinking of recruiting him. Talents such as his were rare regardless of location. He could groom him into becoming a proper inheritor capable of ruling the universe after his ascension. Taking the mantle, so to speak. Granted his personality suited Kang’s vision, of course. If not, his mind would make for a good snack.
“While we wait for his return, would you mind giving me a reason not to punish you, Ink?” Kang’s tone was calm and monotonous, revealing his complete disregard for this daughter of his. Whether she were to be punished or not didn’t matter. Only the blight to his reputation and legacy did. Had her assailant not been someone as special as Samuel then she would no longer exist. How dare his offspring be mediocre?
“F-father, he caught me by surprise. He was concealing himself, waiting in ambush when I arrived. I stood no chance against his cunning nature and hidden power! You saw him, did you not? You saw his cunning rat-like nature. No move was too despicable for him. Not even punching a beautiful young lady in the face.” Vallot said. Or screamed rather. Her fright caused her volume and pitch to rise the more she reflected on her potential punishment.
Her last punishment was due to misspeaking in front of a delegation from a neighboring universe. For this offense, her father placed her in the Spire of Wretched Justice for three years. Her time there was so miserable she refuses to recollect whatever happened inside. She only remembers she would rather die than go back. However, she had a feeling her punishment would be far, far worse this time.
“I have given you two chances due to my phenomenal mood, and you just expended one of them. Remember not to lie to me again, wench. One chance to remedy your mistake remains. Retrieve the boy back to the palace within a week using whatever means necessary, or you will face the consequences.” The universe chilled upon Kang uttering his threat. Opting to retreat to his chambers in wait, Kang left through the bloody door, stranding his daughter there.
“I’m screwed.”