Desolate Era

Ji Ning nodded. The entire Icepeak Army had a total of four Golden Emperors, with the most powerful being the Lonely King due to his possession of multiple Sithe war machines. He had destroyed even otherverses with those machines! The Flamewing God was all by itself, after all; it would be very hard for it to fight that many people at once. If it had to protect others as well, the only way for it to do so would be for them to hide within its estate-world as it fought.

Of course, Ning could’ve ordered for the Flamewing God to charge straight into the Lonely King’s base. In other words, if this battle truly got out of hand it wouldn’t be good for anyone involved.

Whoosh. Flamewing transformed back into a ruddy-faced fatty and re-entered the realmship. “That was a good fight! Its been ages since I’ve had the chance to fight like that. Whew!” Flamewing was quite delighted with itself. “That Lord Wolf or Wolfe or whatever, he sure can take a beating! I can’t even count the number of times I whacked him, but I just couldn’t put him down.”

Hegemon Brightshore, Hegemon Netherlily, Hegemon Windrain, and Azurefiend all stared at the fatty with a look of some dread. This harmless-looking man was capable of butchering Hegemons with ease when he fought. Even Otherverse Lords would be completely dominated, albeit still capable of staying alive.

“And who are these three?” Flamewing glanced at Hegemon Brightshore and the other two, then licked its lips. “Master, should I eat them?”

“Don’t!” Hegemon Brightshore and the others were badly frightened by that offhand comment.

“They are my friends, Flamewing. Stop causing trouble,” Ning immediately said.

“Oh.” Flamewing nodded, then casually slouched over a nearby chair. It then waved its hand, causing some food to appear which it began to munch down on.

“Chaos Primordials truly are exceptional!” Hegemon Brightshore let out a relieved breath. All of them unconsciously moved closer towards Ning, wanting to keep a safe distance away from the Flamewing God.

“My horizons have been expanded after seeing that battle,” Hegemon Windrain said with a sigh. “I’ve often heard of how terrifying the battles between Otherverse Lords can be, but I’ve never witnessed one myself. Experts on that level rarely fight, after all! This was the very first time, and it truly was an incredible sight. They really do completely surpass us in power.”

Ning nodded. He had also been stunned by this recent fight. The Flamewing God’s flames alone would’ve been enough to roast him to death, while the Golden Emperors lived up to their reputation; Flamewing had unleashed everything it had but remained unable to harm Lord Wulf.

Ning was slowly beginning to understand that Flamewing had slightly more attack power than Otherverse Lords, but wasn’t capable of actually killing them! In terms of defensive strength, however, Flamewing was completely indestructible, and its strength was nearly limitless as well.

The Lonely King’s Sithe war machines allowed him to actually slay Otherverse Lords! And yet, he still wouldn’t be able to harm Flamewing in the slightest, and his defensive strength was merely on par with other Golden Emperors. Most importantly of all, he was unable to fight an extended battle. Much like how Realmslord Windgrace would expend an enormous amount of energy with each activation of the Blacksun, the Lonely King’s Sithe war machines also consumed a terrifying amount of energy.

Thus… even though some major powers clearly had greater attack power than a Chaos Primordial, they still remained completely unable to harm those creatures. Flamewing could slaughter all of the Lonely King’s subordinates with impunity, and the Lonely King would be able to do nothing but watch.

This battle truly had been quite stunning for everyone involved. Ji Ning, Azurefiend, Brightshore, Windrain, Netherlily… they were all Hegemonic figures, and today they realized how terrifying the higher-level Otherverse Lords were. The others were also envious of the fact that Ning had actually managed to tame a Chaos Primordial.

……

“Damnit.”

Multiple figures were scattered throughout the realmship. All of them were silent, and the golden humanoid was the first to speak and disrupt the deathly silence.

Lord Wulf stood there, his eyes cold and filled with murder. The air around him seemed to have frozen solid. He had never suffered a humiliating defeat like today’s.

“General?” The other four looked at Lord Wulf.

“We definitely cannot just let things end here.” Lord Wulf gritted his teeth. “We have to invite his Majesty to help out.”

……

Whoooooosh. An endless aura of cold emanated out to cover the surrounding void.

A giant iceberg was hanging in the middle of the void, and the iceberg was filled with frozen mountain peaks. A figure was levitating in the air above the peak of one of those mountains.

This figure was seated on a giant levitating silver throne and dressed in beautiful silver robes. His hands, his neck, his face, and the other exposed parts of his body were all golden! The silver-robed golden humanoid sat there atop his throne, his arms resting against the throne’s armrest. A blood-red gemstone was affixed to the middle of his forehead like a third eye, and it brimmed with might.

This man was staring into the distant void silently.

Everyone in the Icepeak Army knew that the Lonely King would often sit there by himself and stare off into the void. The Lonely King always had a cold look on his face, a look that inspired terror in those who saw him. With but a thought, he could rescind the Golden Emperor and Black Emperor bodies of his subordinates, then give them over to others. Thus, all of the soldiers of the Icepeak Army were filled with dread towards him. They were terrified of incurring his displeasure.

The only time he ever revealed the hint of a smile was when he was engaged in battle and slaughter.

“Majesty.” A gray-robed figure flew over, then bowed respectfully.

The Lonely King turned his golden gaze across the gray figure. “You are Lord Wulf’s retainer?”

“I am,” the gray-robed figure said respectfully. “My true body has accompanied the general for many years now. Just now, I received orders from Lord Wulf to report some news of grave import to you, your Majesty.”

“Speak,” the Lonely King commanded calmly, his gaze focused upon the infinite void once more.

“This matter involves a Daolord known as Darknorth.” The gray-robed figure began to respectfully narrate the entire affair in detail, not exaggerating anything at all. He described things exactly as they had occurred.

The Lonely King listened to the entire story without interrupting a single time. When he heard that Ji Ning had the power of a Hegemon, his only response was a blink. It wasn’t until he heard the words ‘Chaos Primordial’ that he turned to look at the gray-robed figure.

“A Chaos Primordial?” The Lonely King murmured softly, “And who does it serve? Waveshift?”

“No. Lord Wulf said that he saw Daolord Darknorth issue an order to the Chaos Primordial. He said, ‘Flamewing, kill them all’,” the gray-robed figure replied. “This Chaos Primordial should therefore be named ‘Flamewing’, and its master should be Daolord Darknorth.”

“This Chaos Primordial’s master is Daolord Darknorth?” The Lonely King’s lips curved upwards slightly.

He was smiling.

This scene inspired terror in the gray-robed Emperor. Whenever he saw the Lonely King smile, he felt a sense of terror.

“Good. It is good that he serves a Daolord.” The Lonely King nodded slowly, seeming to be quite pleased.

“Lord Wulf said that he lost five Black Emperors,” the gray-robed figure said hurriedly. “What should we do? We’re waiting for your orders, Majesty.”

“Let bygones be bygones. Let this matter come to an end,” the Lonely King said calmly.

“Then what of our five slain Black Emperors?” the gray-robed figure asked.

“If they died, they died.” The Lonely King remained quite calm and indifferent. “Let this matter come to an end. This ‘Daolord Darknorth’ deserves his reputation as an unbelievable genius. He now has a Chaos Primordial at his beck and call… and most Daolords are madmen! Best not to fight against this Daolord Darknorth. If we fight against him and he orders his Chaos Primordial to attack our base, who can withstand it?”

The gray-robed figure continued to listen obediently.

“Send my response to Lord Wulf. He and his subordinates are to be stationed permanently in the Flamedragon Realmverse!” A hint of anticipation was in the Lonely King’s eyes. “Let him wait and collect every bit of information he can find about Daolord Darknorth. Once he receives word that Daolord Darknorth has failed his Daomerge, have him notify me.”

“Understood,” the gray-robed figure said respectfully.

“Remember! From this day forth, you are not to antagonize Daolord Darknorth. Do not speak to me of him until he fails his Daomerge,” the Lonely King commanded. “Now go.”

The gray-robed figure bowed respectfully, then immediately departed.

The Lonely King continued to sit there atop his levitating silver throne, staring quietly into the void. A hint of anticipation was within his eyes. “So its master is a Daolord? Daolords have such short lives. Once the Daolord dies, it’ll be time for the creature to accept a new master.”

……

The Hiddenfiend Realmverse. The Blacksun.

Realmslord Windgrace had received the reports from Hegemon Brightshore, Hegemon Windrain, and Hegemon Netherlily.

“A Chaos Primordial? And its master is Daolord Darknorth?” The disheveled-looking old man walked out of his little courtyard, his eyes brighter than ever.

“So one of the legendary Chaos Primordials has appeared.” Realmslord Windgrace immediately barked, “On my orders, ensure that no news regarding the Chaos Primordial is divulged to outsiders. All Hegemons within the Sixteen Realmverses Alliance, as well as the visiting Hegemons and Emperors, are all under strict orders to not spread this information to anyone.”

“Yes, Master,” the two nearby disciples both said respectfully.

Realmslord Windgrace mused softly, “Once word spreads, even more of those old fellows will be drawn over here. Daolords have such short lives. Once this Daolord dies… if he issued an order for the Chaos Primordial to follow another, it would quickly come to accept its new master.”

“Master, the Lonely King should be aware of this matter as well,” Hegemon Wuye said.

“I know the Lonely King. He would never divulge this information to others.” Realmslord Windgrace shook his head. “As for what happens when Darknorth fails his Daomerge… if the Lonely King tries to fight with me over it, he’ll learn that he cannot beat me. Hmph!”