Chapter 185 - Ending of the Registration
Desert Worm Bloodline, Activate! Earth Law, Earth Domain, Sandstorm, activate! Earth Law, Earth Domain, Quicksand, activate!"
Under the amazed eyes of all present, including the two Spirit Emperors, the spirit power of the worm-type divine beast began to cover a thirty-meter radius, creating a sandstorm that enveloped itself and the two enemies Spirit Emperors. In addition to the sandstorm, the underlying soil suddenly became soft until it became a layer of fine sand. If one of the two Spirit Emperors had placed only one foot on it, they would have sunk into the depths of the ground.
"A Double Domain?! Are they even capable of this? Fuck…" Yuan Cao swore as he didn't expect such a move. Creating a domain was already an arduous undertaking; it wasn't for nothing considered the materialization of one's understanding of the Elemental Law. It was the pinnacle of the elemental techniques that could be achieved. Even among the Spirit Emperors, not everyone was able to create one, and in any case, it wasn't something achievable in a short time.
Yet, now, before his eyes, a divine beast had managed to create two domains using the same Elemental Law. It was even more absurd than the creation of two Domains based on different Elemental Laws.
"Fuck, stupid beast. Who cares if you know how to use two domains, you will die anyway. Ghost Law, Bone Domain, Bone Bullet Barrage."
Yuan Cao's power began to form an infinite number of bone projectiles within a sphere of 20 meters in radius. These projectiles vibrated with an imperceptible frequency to the eye, accumulating power every second that passed.
"Well said, demon! Earth Law, Earth Domain, Army of the Desert!" Chong Zemin, in turn, activated his domain. Other sand soldiers surrounded the ten sand soldiers that had previously been summoned. An army of 100 units was formed. Each of them was equipped with axes and two-handed spears and had sturdy armors. In addition to that, each of the 100 soldiers rode a warhorse, increasing the grandeur of their appearance.
"KILL!" the three fighters screamed in unison.
Bone bullets were fired at the divine beast worm. Whenever a bullet came out of the range of Yuan Cao's Domain, the demon would create a new bullet, basically creating an endless barrage of bullets. Meanwhile, the hundred sand soldiers who made up Chong Zemin's army advanced as well. The human Spirit Emperor was frantically waving his hands to control every single movement of his soldiers. Although he could typically command them with his mind, there would have been a certain delay in responding when he did this. To avoid this, it was enough for him to create strands of sand tied to the body of each sand soldier as if they were puppets. In doing so, the sand soldiers were not inferior in speed than a normal Spirit Emperor.
As far as the divine beast worm was concerned, the colossal being was moving as if it were swimming within the sandstorm it created. A thick layer of sand armor shielded it from the bone bullets as it regurgitated liters of sand to wipe out the army of sand soldiers. The most dangerous thing was, however, when it descended, sinking into the quicksand. Once down there, it was practically invulnerable, and when it went back up, its ascent speed was insanely high. The two Spirit Emperors had no way of dodging its attacks, having to resort to using defense techniques to avoid being trampled by the large mass of the worm.
Leon and the others were looking at the scene in amazement. If the battle skills already shown previously by the two Spirit Emperors were impressive, the techniques and the way they were fighting now was on a completely different level. But the most surprising thing was how the worm was fighting. The divine beast had a superfine ability toward its control over the sand and had a strong sense of battle, managing to fight two opponents of the caliber of Chong Zemin and Yuan Cao without making mistakes. It was evident that because the Spirit Emperors had spent part of their spirit power, they weren't at their full strength, but it was still an extraordinary achievement for the divine beast.
However, not everyone was watching that insanely high-level fight. Hei, Lian, Ye, and Xing's gaze was still turned to Hei An and Bao Bei. Their figures were moving further away, but from their position, the four still managed to distinguish the two divine beasts.
"Mother, Father ..." Hei murmured.
Bao Bei, the mother who had saved him from certain death and had given him life and love. She would always be a fundamental figure for him all his life. Hei An, the father who had never really known but to whom he was eternally grateful. Without his sacrifice, Hei would never have been able to meet Bao Bei and his little sisters. Now, these two beings were in front of his eyes, at the peak of their strength.
Lian was also looking at Bao Beautiful, but besides her, the young woman's beautiful sapphire blue eyes were turned to the small female figure that was almost invisible when compared to the gigantic being by her side. But Lian was sure who she was, her heart and her bloodline were telling her - it was Gaiya. And as expected, she was at Bao Bei's side.
The Beast Emperor's group kept decreasing until there were three of them - Hei An, Bao Bei, and Gaiya, shortly after, Gaiya too had to stop advancing while taking over two incoming Spirit Emperors. Now only Hei An and Bao Bei remained. However, there were still four free Spirit Emperors in their path. Even though they were wounded and lacking in spirit power, they were still four Spirit Emperors.
The giant pitch-black snake seemed hesitant, but the dark purple spider next to him placed one of the eight legs on the snake's tail, slowly pushing it forward. After that, Bao Bei snapped against the four approaching Spirit Emperors. Her spirit power was released as a massive dome of spiderweb was formed, trapping herself and the four enemies inside. Now only Hei An remained of the group of divine beasts and Spirit Emperor beast tamer who had advanced up until there.
But there was no need now for the others. By now, Hei An had arrived where he wanted and had to - the place where the Human Hero and the Demon Emperor were fighting. The place where the future of the world would be decided.
At that point, the images began to distort again. The second fragment finished as well.
"NO!" Hei shouted that he wanted to continue seeing more of his parents. His scream startled Leon and the others who were close to him, but seeing how Hei was clenching his fists, they asked no questions. Lian also indicated them no with her head. Fortunately, the images began to stabilize again, and the battlefield appeared once again. As before, the situation was different from what they saw a few moments ago.
The sandstorm, the barrage of bullets, and the army of sand soldiers had all disappeared. Even the quicksand in the ground had vanished. Of the three fighters, only two could be seen - Chong Zemin and the divine beast worm. Looking closely, though, you could see a body split in half - the lower part that once belonged to Yuan Cao's body.
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At the moment, Chong Zemin was kneeling on the ground while breathing heavily. His right arm was gone, and the Spirit Emperor was blocking the bleeding with his spirit power. The worm-type divine beast, on the other hand, was lying on the ground while it too was breathing heavily. Its body was torn apart by an insane amount of wounds. It was evident that it was now close to dying.
Chong Zemin and Yuan Cao had fought with all their strength to win, but even when they burned their blood essence to gain more power, they couldn't reverse the situation. The force of the worm seemed boundless as the expanses of sand of a desert. Furthermore, the divine beast even went so far as to burn its blood essence for more power. If it hadn't been for some Spirit King rushing to the aid of the two Spirit Emperors, the winner of the clash would have been the divine beast.
Yet despite the intervention of other martial artists, Yuan Cao was dead, cut in half by a blade of sand while Chong Zemin had lost his arm. Fortunately, in the end, the worm had collapsed to the ground, exhausted from its wounds and the consumption of spirit power. All that was left was to deal the coup de grace.
Pant! Pant!
Chong Zemin looked towards the worm that was in terrible condition. During the fight, he had felt his body boil as if it wanted to refuse to fight the worm - to be precise, it was his bloodline.
"It is surprising. Although all of its presence should have vanished, the bloodline inside my body has begun to rebel against my command. I always thought that you divine beasts were intelligent, unlike many others, but I would never have imagined that you were capable of experiencing such emotions. Was your bond with your brother so strong that even after his death, part of him still lives?" Chong Zemin asked with difficulty.
"He wasn't my brother, or rather, we didn't have common parents. We worms are insignificant creatures that crawl on the ground, even within the spirit beasts we don't occupy a prominent position. But he was the first worm to reach divine beast status, changing our being insignificant. He showed that even we who crawl on the ground could aim to touch the sky. Once he became a divine beast, he proceeded to train new young worms, and one day he happened to choose me.
Even though I call him brother, he was more like a teacher or father to me. But since he was still quite young and had no children, he told us to call him brother. The day we learned of his death was a day that I will never forget. Ignoring the advice of the older worms, my other companions who had been raised by him and I set off to get our revenge.
But humans proved to be a superior enemy to what we thought. We were easily swept away until it was just me. I should have died that day, but the Beast Emperor came to our rescue. He came too late to save the others, but he was able to save me. He treated me and trained me in the place of my brother, giving me a new purpose to move forward. Yet despite this, I never managed to appease the anger and hatred within me. For this reason, I could not help but come immediately to you, the one who possesses my brother's bloodline. All this just to kill you."
Chong Zemin silently listened to the worm's words, with a look full of mixed feelings. Eventually, he replied, "I understand your pain, but in the end, yours was nothing but a futile desperate attempt. Maybe things could have gone differently if ... no, forget it, it's too late now. In any case, this attack of yours is useless. The Serpent of Darkness is strong, stronger than any other human or demon Spirit Emperor. But even he is not the opponent of the Hero or the Demon Emperor. No, perhaps it is on par with the Demon Emperor but certainly not the Hero. In the end, it will be the Hero, the winner. He will bring victory and salvation to the human race and the whole world."
By hearing this, the divine beast worm chuckled as it coughed, "You're wrong. Your Hero won't win because the Beast Emperor will win. He is the only one the world has been deemed worthy of being the savior."
"Worthy? What do you mean?" Chong Zemin asked, unable to understand the worm's dark words. Before he could get an answer, however, a roar rang in the air while the words of dark language entered his ears.
"Oh comrades, I promised you that I would bring you victory, and I intend to keep my word. But the enemy turned out to be stronger than I expected. I know it is a lot to ask, but I will still ask you to give me your strength. I ask you to sacrifice the strength of our race for a higher good - protect our world. Please allow me to use our essence."
A call for help from the one who was the absolute ruler of the divine and spirit beasts. This appeal not only rang in the battlefield where they were fighting but also all over the world. Even the humans and demons who remained in their territories were able to listen to it, although they didn't understand it.
The spirit beasts of the whole continent, no, of the entire world, listened to the call of their sovereign, and all gave their consent. As if the cork of a bottle had opened, the spirit power on the battlefield began to condense toward the leaders of the three factions - to be precise, it was condensing on the giant pitch-black snake.
"My life and future is yours, make use of it, oh my Emperor," said the worm as even the last drops of spirit power left were leaving its body to converge on Hei An, the Beast Emperor. But before it was completely exhausted, it had one last thing to do.
Stab!
Chong Zemin's eyes widened in disbelief. His gaze was directed to the point where the spirit power of the spirit beasts was converging, but suddenly he felt something piercing his stomach. Looking down, he noticed a sand dagger stuck deep in his body.
"You humans and demons are selfish. You even desire the death of those who are your saviors. But we are different, to allow our Emperor to obtain victory, we are willing to sacrifice everything about ourselves. Thank you, my Emperor, for giving me my revenge in the end."
The worm then breathed its last breath, leaving Chong Zemin on the point of death. The human Spirit Emperor spat blood but strove to remain conscious. Meanwhile, the spirit power over the Serpent of Darkness had reached the peak and exploded, creating a giant shock wave that covered the entire battlefield. Chong Zemin's crystal ball shattered instantly as soon as the shock wave hit it as all the other spheres.
"Divine Rank? How is it possible? Not the Hero but the Beast Emperor? No, I have other things to worry about. I have to pass on today's events to posterity so that history doesn't repeat itself a second time."
With his last strength, Chong Zemin grabbed the remains of his sphere and created a formation to protect them. After that, he, too, took his last breath. At that point, the images began to distort. Still, instead of stabilizing shortly after that as had happened the other two previous times, the twelve spectators returned with their consciousness to the room.
All of them had clouded eyes as they thought about what they had seen. It was too much information to digest in a short time. A long time passed before the silence in the room was broken.
"It has been a heavy day, and I know that all of you have many thoughts in your head. It's better if you all go back to your rooms." Hei said to the rest of his companions. His eyes were red as if he had cried until recently. But his tone of voice was flat as the surface of a lake.
Leon, He Fen, Lang, Fenrir, Haruno, Mareo, Lilian, and Mia all nodded their heads and returned to their quarters, leaving Hei, Lian, Ye, and Xing alone in the room. None of them were in the mood to speak and had a thousand thoughts in their heads.
Hei closed the doors of their room and sat on the bed while stroking Ye and Xing. Lian just watched him by his side, remaining silent. They stayed like this for a full hour before Hei spoke, "I'm fine. It was nice to see Mother and Father again and the respect the other spirit beasts felt for him. It was good to have been able to observe this recording. As Chong Zemin said, we cannot let history retake the same course. I don't know exactly how, but together we will find a way. Leave it to me. As long as you stand by my side, everything will be fine."
Ye, Xing, and Lian nodded. The two little divine beasts were inundated with various feelings and didn't want to speak. They simply hid their heads in their big brother's chest and closed their eyes. Lian also decided to remain silent. Sometimes, it wasn't necessary to speak to express what was in the heart. In that way, that incredible day ended.
The headmaster of the academy managed to hide what had happened to public opinion, but he still informed the Imperial Family and the Eight Big Families. This news caused a massive sensation as the demons had managed to infiltrate so deeply into the empire. It led to a deterioration in the relationship between the Sun Empire and the Moon Empire that couldn't be called good in the first place. However, this was something that had nothing to do with Hei and his family, at least not for now. For now, the four were sleeping soundly next to each other.