‘I waited too long! I messed up!’ Zuko inwardly exclaimed as shock, bewilderment and fear temporarily paralysed him.

The worst case scenario, something that he had briefly thought could happen but had ignored because of the low probability, had just happened.

“What rotten luck!” Zuko growled with frustration.

He knew that with the powerful vibes the fruit were admitting, the chances of it attracting those that were close enough to sense it weren’t small, but he was proud of his strength. He was known as the strongest Sea King around and it wasn’t for no reason. So long as he wasn’t facing a mental attack, he had full confidence in fending off any other Sea Creature.

But, as in, any Sea Creature BELOW the 4th Realm!

For Emperor Bilibu to be at this location at this time, this was a situation that could leave anybody flabbergasted. It was just too much of a joke.

Zuko had a strong urge to abandon everything and leave. Even though he had received many gifts from the Moon that gave him the ability to fight against people multiple stages above him, it would not be enough to guarantee success here.

There was an entire Realm gap to be bridged, and it was the infamous 4th Realm at that. It was already fantastic that with his peak 3rd Realm essence cultivation, his talent allowed him to scrape the bottom of the barrel known as 4th Realm - Stage 1, however…

Emperor Bilibu was known to be on the verge of reaching the 2nd Stage of the 4th Realm, making him Peak Stage 1. And even though Zuko possessed Realm 4 - Stage 1 Strength according to the System, that evaluation did not take into account stamina/energy reserves, or even range of abilities, perception, reflexes, instincts and most importantly combat experience.

Zuko didn’t dare to compare his experience to Emperor Bilibu, a creature who had been around since the conception of Magic.

He may be weak compared to others of his kind thanks to his innately weak constitution that limited his options, but for Zuko, this was absolutely not someone he could underestimate. His chances of winning in a fight to the death were less than 20%, and he did no like those odds at all.

Hence, it was definitely the smart decision to flee whilst he still could.

But…

He looked towards the fruit once more and unwillingness surged through him. A fruit like this, so perfectly suitable for him and nutritious enough to push him into the 4th Realm, was not a chance that he was likely to see again any time soon. And with the Kaiser battle coming up, he needed it more than ever!

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Faced with these facts, Zuko was left with a single decision to make.

Flee to fight another day, or make a leap of faith.

Zuko knew that he was talented enough to use something lesser in quality and still enter the 4th Realm. Push come to shove, he could find other Sea Kings and devour them until he became an Emperor. For others, a plan like that was a joke, no Sea King wanted to fight to the death without adequate reason. But for him, he could really do it!

If he made the effort to use the Diving Lunar Enhancement, the increase in his speed was enough to shock a top tier Emperor silly! This, coupled with his 4th Realm strength and Water Enhancement, was enough to chase any Sea King down.

The only reason he didn’t want to do that was because of the amount of attention he would draw to himself after such a stupendous situation. It was enough to make others gang up on him in the Kaiser fight without hesitation.

They still would because of his reputation, but if he really did go on a hunting spree, it would be so much worse. Even Stage 3 Emperors were likely to join in and that was terrible. Even if he himself would be an Emperor at that time, that was such a poor situation to be in and it was best to avoid.

However, he had enough time to find other resources. He wouldn’t need to go King hunting just yet if he chose to flee. That was the last, last option.

Theoretically, he should just go… This situation was too dangerous and even a bit unnecessary. He had the talent, he had the subordinates, he could just find anoth-

‘I REFUSE!’ Zuko inwardly roared before zooming towards the fruit using his fastest speed. “I REFUSE TO YIELD!” He roared out this time, knowing that he was definitely within the range of Emperor Bilibu’s Spirit Sense and could be heard.

=Know your limits, boy.= A deep voice suddenly slipped into his mind, cold and unfeeling.

However, Zuko paid it no heed.

From the start there had been only 1 option. His body may have buckled with fear and his Soul may have shivered with warning, but his Will, the same Will that helped him with his mutation back then, the same Will that made him take the risky deal with the Moon, the same Will that brought him this far, only gave him one choice!

Fight! Fight!!! FIGHT!!!

But fight for his destiny, not for the sake of it. He wasn’t dumb enough to fight to the death with Bilibu. But if he played the situation perfectly he might be able to escape with only a brief clash and a few severe injuries. The chances were low, but he had to do it. The mysterious fruit felt like it was harmonising with him and he hadn’t even touched it yet, it was too good to pass up!

=So be it.= The voice came again.

As he came closer to the fruit, he noticed that Emperor Bililu had shrouded himself in electricity and his speed had increased exponentially. As a matter of fact his figure had become indistinct and he could barely perceive it. It was more like a collection of lightning bolts were spreading out towards him and it would soon catch up.

This was why he hated lightning users. Whilst the low level ones were even more dangerous to themselves than they were to others, the high level ones were completely immune to the effects that their lightning abilities had on the water and in fact they could use it to their benefit.

The water, which was previously one of his greatest benefits, would now become one of his greatest enemies in his fight against Bilibu.