CHAPTER 2454: SHEDDING EGO

RUMBLE...

With each passing moment, the Kandrian Empire trembled ever more.

With each passing moment, the atmosphere in the Kandrian Empire chilled ever more with menacing dread.

With each passing moment, the air boiled with peril.

The citizens of the Kandrian Empire could feel it.

They could feel the reckoning that was coming for them.

The sheer terror they felt in every inch of their bodies was unlike anything they had ever felt in their entire lives.

Not even the attack of the Sekigahara Confederate had inspired this much fear in them. This time, however, the winds danced about in a frenzied panic while the lands beneath their feet tremored with fear.

RUMBLE...

Heaven and earth themselves feared what was to come.

It sent the citizens of the empire into a mass hysteria as they scrambled for the Martial shelters like their lives depended on it.

And their lives did depend on it.

"Somebody please help!"

"Get out of my way!"

"I must get my family to safety!"

The streets of the Kandrian Empire were flooded with citizens as each of them lashed out in a frenzy of fear, dreading the fate of the polity and their lives. The hysteria was so infectious that even Martial Apprentices, old and new, struggled to not let themselves get swept by the wave of panic that seemed to have choked the entire nation by the throat. Martial Artists of various Realms were deployed to maintain order and aid with evacuation of the nation for they were too weak to participate in the battle. The fact that not even Martial Masters were able to participate was chilling, for it showed the sheer scale and power of the incoming battle.

It was a battle that could potentially destroy everything.

"Is that your goal, Edward?" the Emperor of Harmony growled. "Do you want to destroy everyone and everything?"

A chilling smile appeared on the face of the Britannian Prime Minister. "The only thing that I intend to destroy is the Kandrian Empire."

In a conference hall in the Kandrian Empire, two men faced each other.

Their powerful gazes remained fixed on each other.

The prime minister's eyes flared with vengeful malice as he glared Emperor Rael down.

"You..." Emperor Rael's eyes grew grave. "Have you lost your mind?"

"On the contrary, I have never been more sane." Prime Minister Edward chuckled. "All those years, decades, and centuries of defeat... It got me wondering."

His eyes sharpened. "Why can't I win?"

Emperor Rael stared at him with a severe gaze.

"Why can't I extract a single victory?" His voice shook with a snarl. "It drove me to the brink of insanity."

A gruesome smile appeared on his face. "And only on the brink of insanity did I learn the answer."

A single word escaped him.

"Ego."

Emperor Rael stiffened as Prime Minister Edward had finally gained the self-enlightenment to understand his greatest weakness.

"All those years that I failed... All those decades I was defeated by the slimmest of margins... All those centuries I came so close to victory only for it to slip out of my hands..." he growled. "All of it was because my ego demanded me to extract the most perfect, picturesque, and absolute victory there was possible."

Emperor Rael's expression darkened with a knowing expression.

"My unwillingness to settle for anything other than a crushing and dominant victory in this war almost resulted in my defeat for the umpteenth time," he spat as his smile grew cruel. "I refused to suffer a single loss. I refused to suffer anything other than a clean triumph with no blemishes of any kind. You knew that. You always knew that. This whole war you've known that and exploited my ego to manipulate the war in your favor."

Emperor Rael's expression hardened as he understood just how dangerous the situation had become.

"The only thing that ever separated us was my ego," the Prime Minister snarled. "You, the most powerful emperor in all of humanity, are devoid of ego. It sickens me. But it also means that if I want to win the war, I must set aside my ego and crush you with every ounce of power I have."

"You fool!" Emperor Rael's eyes flared with fury. "You will destroy not just the Kandrian Empire but the Britannian Empire as well! You will lose all the power that makes the Britannian Empire a powerhouse! Your nation will become a tattered Sage-level nation like any other! You will lose your dominance! You will lose your prestige! You will lose your power! You will lose everything!"

Pure, raw determination and willpower blazed in Edward's eyes as a single answer escaped

him.

"So be it."

Emperor Rael's eyes widened with shock. "You..."

"If that is the price I must pay to extract victory from you, then..." His eyes flared with vengeance. "Then so be it."

"You will cost not just yourself the ultimate price but also cost each and every single one of your allies everything!" Emperor Rael gritted his teeth. "Your alliance will crumble!"Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.

A menacingly gruesome grin appeared on Edward's face. "Too bad they fear three Sage-level powerhouses more than they fear the consequences of this war. On top of that, with your recent admission of guilt of mass fraud and your chilling mass assassinations against them, it was easy to manipulate my allies into believing that the destruction of the Kandrian Empire was ultimately necessary for their prosperity. Hahaha! They will join me in destroying you and everything you have ever built! This war ended the moment I set down my ego!" "YOU EGOTISTICAL FOOL!" Rael bellowed with scathing frustration. "THIS WAR BEGAN BECAUSE OF YOUR EGO!"

"And it will be won because of its shedding." Edward's gruesome grin of malice widened.

"Do you know how many enemies you have?" Rael growled at him. "Do you know how many people hate you and the Britannian Empire from the bottom of their hearts? Do you know how many people plot for its destruction every single day? Do you know how many people pray for its destruction everyday?!"

His eyes sharpened. "If you do this, you will lose all your power and you will be unable to overcome all the powers that will move to destroy the Britannian Empire in its highly vulnerable and weakened state."

And yet, Emperor Rael's words only evoked an even wider grin from Edward. "You are the only one I have ever failed to defeat, Rael. With you gone, I will be able to overcome anything and

anybody else."

His eyes flared with bloodlust.

"This is goodbye, Rael."

His tone boiled with vengeance.

"Die knowing that you are the man that forced me to put down my ego."

RUMBLE!!!!!

Far away, seventy-five Martial Sages converged upon the center of East Panama in a battle

that would define the future of human civilization for eons to come.

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