Sage Monarch

The burning sun shone so hot above that it seemed capable of melting metal.

And yet, the streets of Mongoltar were as busy as ever, filled with many top energy arts experts. On the street occupied by the Myriad Consortium, business boomed as usual.

The guards at the gate were in the middle of a conversation. “Captain, remember that Nonary Lifeseizer who stopped by three days ago? I wonder if he’ll be back today. He was pretty generous. Three Lifeseizing fiend-devil demon cores? I wonder what sort of deal he wants to work out with our Myriad Consortium.”

The captain snorted. “He won’t be back, I guarantee it.” After all, he knew what was going on behind the scenes. Smiling coldly, he said, “Look, you need to forget about the whole thing. Asking questions will only get us in trouble. From now on, just pretend you never saw that guy.”

“Yes! Yes, of course….” the other guards replied, averting their gazes from the captain.

The captain nodded in satisfaction. “Excellent. I like that you can obey orders. The first rule in the Myriad Consortium is to follow orders no matter what.”

Suddenly, one of the guards shouted, “C-cap… captain!”

“What?! What’s with the shouting?” Even as the shocked captain prepared to slap the guard across the side of the face, the man blurted, “Sir, look! Isn’t that the guy from three days ago?”

The captain swiveled to find Yang Qi striding toward him, wearing the same disguise as three days before.

“Th-this… th-this, this is….” The captain was at a complete loss of words. 

“Remember me?” Yang Qi said coolly. “I'm back for my information. Hurry up and lead the way.”

“J-just… just wait a moment….” The captain was flustered, but had a lot of experience in life, so he quickly composed himself. “Sir, just hold on a bit and I’ll inform the vice-president that you’re here.”

“No, there’s no need for that. I’ll go find him myself.” With that, Yang Qi made as if to walk through the gate.

“Hey, you can’t go in there!” the captain shouted. “I have to report the matter to— oomph!”

Suddenly, he looked down and realized that a spear of true energy had been plunged into his chest, and blood was spilling out like a waterfall. “You killed me…?”

“Block my path? Guess you're not interested in living!” Yang Qi twisted the Infernal Deity Spear, and the captain exploded.

Instantly, this part of Mongoltar erupted into a huge commotion. People immediately began to gather in the area, even Lifeseizers.

“He killed him!”

“Who is this guy!? He’s killing people! Wasn’t that a captain from the Myriad Consortium?! What does he think he’s doing? Quick, spread word!”

“Not even Legendaries are allowed to randomly kill people in Mongoltar! Isn't he afraid of being executed?”

“It must be a revenge killing.”

“What, does he think he's going to fight the entire Myriad Consortium?”

“The Myriad Consortium is so powerful it’s terrifying. There’s no way he's a match for them.”

“Let’s just wait and see what happens….” 

The other guards reacted very quickly. 

“An ambush!” they shouted, drawing swords and sabers. 

Meanwhile, a group of Lifeseizers flew out from the interior of the Myriad Consortium, all of whom took up positions to block Yang Qi’s path. 

One of them, a Tertiary Lifeseizer, shouted, “Drop your weapon and surrender. Killing people in the Myriad Consortium is an unforgivable crime!”

Raising his voice, Yang Qi said, “Three days ago I paid a deposit to your Myriad Consortium, for information about the House of Shadowblight. Instead, you people sold me out. The House of Shadowblight even sent people to kill me. Anyone care to explain the situation?” He spoke so loudly that all of the onlookers could hear him clearly.

“What? The Myriad Consortium betrayed him?”

“That’s very bad form. If they do business like that, how could anyone trust them?” More and more people were gathering to watch the scene, and many of them were already cursing the Myriad Consortium.

“Bullcrap!” another of the Lifeseizers said. “How dare you insult us in that way? Do you have any proof that we took your deposit and then sold you out to the House of Shadowblight? Do you have a witness? Or some physical evidence? Bring it out immediately! I didn’t think so. Come on, let’s arrest this guy and figure out what type of heretical wretch-devil he is. I can’t believe he actually came here to slander our Myriad Consortium.”

“Evidence?” Yang Qi said. “This isn’t about evidence, it's about justice. I'm here for one reason: to wipe you out one and all. After today, there will be no Myriad Consortium in the Rich-Lush Continent!” Smiling darkly, he lunged forward with his spear, stabbing with such speed that it was almost blinding.

SNICK!

The Lifeseizer who had demanded evidence died in an explosion of blood.

Then, Yang Qi’s spear was a blur as it took the heads off all the other Lifeseizers. Blood erupted from their necks, shooting like bright red rainbows, high into the air.

“Stay your hand!” someone shouted from some distance away. Then, two powerful auras descended as the vice-president and president arrived.

The vice-president looked at Yang Qi, and then down at the bodies of the Lifeseizers. Eyes turning bloodshot, he said, “You fiend-devil!”

“Vice-President,” Yang Qi replied calmly. “Three days ago, did you or did you not betray me to the House of Shadowblight? Did you or did you not have them send people to kill me? Who's the fiend-devil here, huh?”

“What did you just say? I don’t know what you're talking about. I've never even seen you before! Ladies and gentlemen, this fiend-devil came to the Myriad Consortium for the purposes of murder! That’s an unforgivable crime that should provoke universal hate from all of you! If we don't condemn this, Mongoltar will become a lawless land of bloodshed!”

“It doesn’t matter what you say,” Yang Qi said, hefting his spear. “Death has come. First for you, then the rest of the Myriad Consortium!”

“Freakish hellion!” Suddenly, something like a clap of thunder caused all of Mongoltar to tremble, and a figure appeared above the street that housed the Myriad Consortium.

An energy field sprang out which caused the entire street to ice up, and forced the crowd to back up, hearts pounding with fear. At this point, one of the Lifeseizers present said, “Legendary! A Legendary patriarch is here! It’s the ruler of Mongoltar, Patriarch Mongolbeast!”

Permanent residents of Mongoltar all recognized this person, who had ruled over this sprawling city for a thousand years.

As soon as Patriarch Mongolbeast appeared, the street went deathly silent. The only thing that could be heard was the clink of armor as soldiers rushed to gather in the area. At the same time, multi-colored pillars of light climbed into the air in different areas of the city, evidence of a grand spell formation being activated.

If Yang Qi could set up a spell formation in Yanhaven, then it was little wonder that the ancient, famous city of Mongoltar would have similar defense.

“What’s going on here?” Patriarch Mongolbeast said, his voice thrumming with awe-inspiring power. “Tell me immediately why you slaughtered these people!”

“City Magistrate,” Yang Qi replied, “I came to do business with the Myriad Consortium, and they betrayed me. They sent the House of Shadowblight to kill me, and now I'm back to seek justice.”

“Bah!” the vice-president said. “I don’t even know this man. I've never seen him before.”

“City Magistrate, please,” the president said, “you must enforce your own laws here. Killing in Mongoltar is a capital offense!” Looking over calmly at Yang Qi, he continued, “This man is besmirching your dignity, Sir. That in itself is an unpardonable offense. Furthermore, he mercilessly slaughtered many experts of the Myriad Consortium. If you don’t put him to death, the common people will be up in arms.”

“You're right,” Patriarch Mongolbeast said. Looking sharply at Yang Qi, he said, “I don't care what your reasons are, or where you’re from. The punishment for killing people in Mongoltar is death. Even if the Myriad Consortium did betray you and cover up the truth, the proper reaction would be to come to the city magistrate’s mansion and file a court petition for redress, after which, you could follow through with all subsequent legal formalities. I take the lead in presiding over justice in this city, and I've forbidden vigilante justice. Without rules, chaos will result. I make all the decisions here, and therefore, I'm going to give you two choices. One: surrender to be sentenced by me. Two: be executed. Choose.”

With that, Patriarch Mongolbeast clasped his hands behind his back and waited for a response from Yang Qi.

The city’s warding magics had already been activated, making it impossible for anyone to leave the area. Furthermore, with the warding magics at his disposal, Patriarch Mongolbeast was confident that not even a Legendary of the same level as himself would be a match for him.

A moment passed, and then he said, “I’ll give you three breaths of time. One—”

Whoosh!

Yang Qi’s only response was to lunge forward with his spear.

In response, strange colors flashed in the sky, and the entire city suddenly filled with the glow of nightfall. At the same time, a strange music drifted out, like a symphony performed by the legion of gods during the end of days.

Patriarch Mongolbeast’s expression flickered, and then a cold smile filled his face as he reached out toward the incoming spear.

However, when the hand made contact with the spear, it was powerless to stop it. In fact, the spear immediately stabbed into the hand, and then through the defensive true energy that protected his body. Within the shortest of moments, it proceeded to his throat, and then out the top of his head.

Yang Qi flicked the spear, and Patriarch Mongolbeast’s head flew off of his shoulders, his eyes still flickering with the utmost disbelief.

The head flew up into the sky, trailing drops of blood.

Yang Qi then twisted the spear, and the patriarch’s body exploded, causing blood and gore to rain down on the street below.

As the severed head began to float down, Yang Qi looked at it and said, “You think you’re the law? I was giving you face by providing an honest explanation. Drag things out, and it’s just asking to be killed. Even if you’re a Legendary, I’ll cut you down without hesitation if I need to!”

With that, he stabbed his spear out, sending it piercing into Patriarch Mongolbeast’s forehead.

Patriarch Mongolbeast was a Blood-Form Legendary, and thus, even if his fleshly body were to be killed, his soul would survive. But now, he couldn’t help but blurt, “You… you killed me?”

“Enough with your blabbering, moron.” Yang Qi twisted his spear a final time, and the head exploded, causing the entire city to tremble.

Patriarch Mongolbeast, a powerful Legendary, had been killed with virtually no effort, and so quickly that no one could even react.

Eyes tranquil, Yang Qi said, “President. Vice-President. Who are you going to call to help you out now?”