BOOM!

Another earth-shattering explosion reverberated through those jade and gold-infused walls of the Heavenly Imperial Palace, which kicked up tremors that caused even those ancient carvings to shed dust like tears.

"Thisss... is incredible! To think that a mere BULL would withstand ssso many of Lu Ignis'sss most devastating techniquessss!”

“Impressive indeed!”

The two elders, Lu Mongue and Lu Noid, had retreated from their positions beside the throne and watched the unfolding battle from a safer distance as the very air crackled with untamed, brutal energies that could melt diamond.

The spectacle had them questioning, “Is it still alive?”

“That bull is standing? After being struck by ‘Imperial Ssscale Barrage’? Incredible! Truly resilient, he iss.”

But then…

"Look..." Lu Noid pointed his tail toward the center of that chaotic explosion. It was a spectacle those eyes of his, even with their immense capabilities and ancient blessings could barely make out, a blur against blinding lights.

The smoke and dust were beginning to dissipate. They saw their emperor who was still coiled around his beloved golden trident, but its magnificent shine had dulled, for upon those curves and edges, were gouges and even a cracked segment near its tip. This damage, it had been inflicted by that upstart’s hooves and wings!

A creature beyond their expectations indeed.

And before their leader stood, or rather, slumped in a crater was…

The Golden Bull Thork.

Blood dripped from a dozen gashes that crisscrossed his majestic golden hide, forming a crimson pool beneath. His normally fierce face was marred with pain as a deep gash tore through the flesh above his right eye. His left wing was no more, but his right wing hung limply. And even that mighty tail, which had effortlessly pulverized those serpents of earlier, was now missing a chunk.

This bull was close to defeat.

Yet it was still alive.

Lu Ignis peered down at his battered foe with an air of mocking amusement. From the tip of his trident, he hissed: “Stinking bull, you’re more sturdy than I thought. Any other prey would be dead by now. Hmm, it seems those rumors about your tenacity were not simple braggadocio… I will give you that. A worthy opponent indeed. However… It seems I’ll have to put my back into the next attack.”

Below, Raphael heard those words and his heart sank, he tried focusing those bloodshot eyes on his surroundings and a chilling realization had those legs of his trembling even harder.

‘This… I’ve underestimated this bastard!’

He tried to glance at his Shadow Bat legion, those loyal and fearless subjects that hovered nearby, but his blurry vision made it almost impossible to see properly.

Then he saw it.

They were tattered! His faithful shadow army, they were as bruised as his pride now. Only fifteen remained from those hundreds he’d arrived with.

Even his trusted Commander was struggling. Bat General Kong hovered valiantly beside him. His armor was fractured and that once-powerful spear that commanded Rai Shen Long had long since evaporated into those chaotic energies. He was just a shadow of his former glory.

“There’s only 15 bats remaining from the horde. I’ve exhausted all of my left wing potential, and to make matters worse, I’ve not managed to put a dent in that bastards scales. He is truly a terrifying serpent.”

This he experienced. first hand. Those relentless strikes, those close calls when the Emperor's bronze scales deflected his Helios Stream and crushed bones with ease. It filled Raphael with despair.

Lu Ignis's chilling voice sounded, “Little bull, your time has run dry. Prepare to die!”

A foreboding red glow began to radiate from his monstrous form, illuminating the room in a horrifying crimson light as his scales pulsed and dripped lava that sizzled upon hitting the floor.

“He’s… charging another attack! Oh no! That is…” He had witnessed the devastating power of that technique before. Those charred beasts, those blazing trees that dotted Ho Eastern, all reduced to nothingness from those hellish red orbs.

“HELL WINK!”

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Above them, those peaceful skies were pierced! Multiple monstrous red eyes, glowing with an incandescent, orange-crimson energy manifested. Hundreds upon hundreds, blinking ominously as they bore down.

"YOUR MAJESTY!" Lu Mongue cried out in alarm as those white scales of his trembled in fear. “That's overkill! Surely even with this bull’s durability…?”

He couldn’t finish this pleas because the Emperor’s intention to obliterate was clear.

Lu Noid instinctively understood what that attack meant if unleashed in those confines. They were seconds from utter annihilation, and perhaps this palace would be no more!

"We have to leave here at ONCE!" He commanded his friend before dashing away from those gathering energies, his tail whizzed past those still-stunned Sun Imperial Guards and servants by those archways.

“HISS! Those eyes! That power!"

Lu Mongue didn’t need to be told twice. He also slithered from those deathly beams of doom, and within heartbeats, both elders vanished through those gates that now groaned in pain from those tremors above as if the heavens itself wanted to crack and consume them all.

"Master, we’ll protect you till our last breath!"

"SURE! MASTER! WE'LL PROTECT YOU!"

Raphael looked up in amazement at those loyal few who still hover as a pitiful legion above his trembling, blood-soaked hide. There was no fear, no doubt in their eyes. They were ready for those sweet embraces of oblivion.

He couldn’t hold back those feelings now.

"Thanksss… you guysss…” His anguished voice shook those claws. Deep down he knew, they were all done for.

“I…I just hope Lu Jade managed to escape… That dammed Qi Hawk…” He’d placed his trust in those pronouncements from a scheming Emperor, and now… they would all pay the price, he concluded.

Then as a flicker of his life came to the fore, those events, those actions he'd taken to get them here, he remembered something from those stolen treasures.

That crimson fruit!

It’s image appeared before his closed eyes in those final moments before oblivion. It was as if screaming those ancient whispers of forgotten power.

"Devil Star Fruit!” Those words brought back a chilling description from the treasury assistant manager's bragging. ‘A potent fruit, capable of amplifying your essence. Your cultivation base. Your very life-force, but for a limited time.’

His time was running out!

He was cooked!

So, without any deliberation…

Raphael called forth the fruit from the shadows of his ruined wing.

"I’ve got it. Now to eat!"

The 'Devil Star Fruit'. It was as vibrant as the flames consuming his very essence. It glowed.

"Perhaps it'll give me a fighting chance to survive that attack. A Calamity’s full force…" He didn’t waste time. His last gamble was cast.

With a flick of his monstrous tongue he grabbed it,

Gulp!

It was down the hatch.

But that little act didn’t go unnoticed.

"Hmm? Did you… Did you just…? YOU DESPICABLE BULL!” Lu Ignis roared with a rage that could melt those frozen peaks from his birth lands!

He couldn't believe his eyes. That glowing crimson light that the Bull was chewing on, it resembled…

"THE DEVIL STAR FRUIT! It was my PRIZED possession! I’d planned to use it as a desperate measure against the Void Emperor if need be! And now… I’ll thoroughly erase thisss sssstain!”

Lu Ignis was done with talking.

"DIE!"

BOOM!

Hundreds upon hundreds of crimson eyes glared down. Then, as if by decree of some ancient god, they blinked in unison, a blinding golden-red light engulfed everything, even those who stood miles from this clash shut their eyes in horror. The energy was that terrifying!

And from those Hellish depths…

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

"Hell Wink!"

Countless blasts, each the size of a human house, shot down towards that motionless bull!

The very air around the Emperor’s throne began to warp. And within heartbeats…

CRAAACK! BOOM!

The impact resonated for several miles. First It travelled through those corridors and incinerated many human slaves, not even their bones were left behind. Glass shattered, then tremors caused those mountain ranges of Hebikuni to crackle.

It was a spectacle truly deserving of those titles – Emperor Calamity.

But even as this immense, blazing, chaotic energy dissipated, revealing a massive crater where those golden hooves were standing moments before, and leaving behind only those familiar aroma of scorched meat…

Lu Mongue and Lu Noid who stood at the entrance could only utter with amazement:

"His power... It hasn't waned these past hundred thousand years, but rather…"

"He's gotten STRONGER, STRONGER than even those DRAGON CALAMITIES in Fol Ash!"

They watched in awe, waiting for those smoke, those shadows, to fade before reveling in their master’s victory. Then as their eyes adjusted, a new and more chilling realization took shape before them.

Within the heart of that devastation, they saw a figure. But this… this was impossible!

An iridescent barrier was radiating. Within those shimmering blue, orange, white, black, red and golden colors that danced wildly, stood the bull, unscathed, those hooves tapping impatiently.

"NO!"

“It… It’s impossible!”

The creature’s wounds had completely healed, his left wing restored to its former splendor, and most frightening of all, those eyes now burned with an intensity that surpassed even their master’s wrath, the raw power of a Calamity amplified by untold levels!

Raphael was brimming with power. He glanced at his rejuvenated hooves, and those wings, they vibrated with this newfound strength, and for a moment he felt as if he could fly forever.

"Thissss iss what it feels to be extremely powerful? But compare to Lu Ignis …"

Those words of delight and power were suddenly cut short.

"I wonder if…"

Raphael brought down a golden hoof with thunderous, amplified force!

“GOLD PRESS!”

BOOM!

The ground buckled. Those jade walls that survived those earlier tremors, now crumbled into dust as an enormous, golden, spectral hoof materialized above Lu Ignis's massive head! It pulsed with unimaginable power, an echo of a terrifying, ancient bloodline unleashed.

And before the Emperor had time to comprehend what this meant, or unleash a counterattack. His world, HIS DOMAIN, shifted dramatically and not to his will.

"NOOO!"

Lu Ignis's monstrous head was driven straight into those floors with enough force to make even Hellphet wet himself in fear!

CRUNCH! CRAAAACK!

A deafening, bone-jarring impact reverberated!

Those elegant lotus flowers below him, now pulverized, sending fragrant pink essences into a chaotic whirlwind.

And upon that sturdy trident he so adored, deep fractures now spread out from the point of contact as if it were about to shatter. Such a sight would leave any snake trembling!

This power, this humiliation…

It was unimaginable!

But alas, very, very real.