“Alright, I’ll do it,” Viktor murmured.

 

“Now.”

 

“Now? I can’t just go back to Russia right now they need me here—“

 

Viktor blinked and he was already In Russia, standing in front of a mansion. He had also been “blessed” with his enhanced senses from Vikentiy again. 

 

While he wanted to wonder how Vikentiy could affect the world this much while he was dead he clearly had to prioritize things right now. If he didn’t get this over with quickly he couldn’t return to Malaysia.

 

He didn’t bother with any grace or courtesy as he walked through the gardens of the mansion, many servants and guards were trying to stop him with magic and weapons but he didn’t even bat an eye at them. They had definitely alerted the people inside the manor though, he could hear the chaos from outside

 

More guards came from inside and raised their weapons at him. Next came an older man, clearly trembling in Viktor’s presence. He wasn’t someone who was supposed to be here after all…but they had always prepared for this.

 

“I-Ivanov…H-How dare you break in here!” This old man was the head of the Evanoff family and like all the previous heads after Filipp Evanoff, he had been hiding his whole life. His eldest son was as well. 

 

People didn’t even know he existed, there was a fake head of the family in the main manor in Moscow and Grisha was the fake heir. He was never supposed to come in contact with an Ivanov, he was just supposed to hide with their treasure for the sake of the future of the family. This manor was supposed to be untraceable, the most hidden of all places but the enemy had walked right in and despite all their training, none of them were truly prepared.

 

“…I won’t kill you if you just give me what you owe to me. This game has become quite boring.” Viktor murmured.

 

‘Maksim is already on his way through the tunnels with the eyes…I just need to stall long enough for him to get away…then I can run.’ The head of the Evanoffs was clearly trying to stall for time but his thoughts are what really gave him away.

 

Viktor smiled, this ability could be quite useful at times. He closed his eyes and listened for a while…

 

‘I can’t let them have the eyes…they’re the only thing we have over them…the key to our revenge!’

 

“You should build escape tunnels that go in the opposite direction.” 

 

The head of the Evanoff family didn’t even get to process that before Viktor infused his fist with magic and punched through the ground, collapsing the ground beneath him. He caught the carriage right in the middle and stopped it from escaping.

 

He jumped down and pulled the roof off the carriage. He noticed how much stronger he felt but he didn’t dwell on it for more than a second. He grabbed the tank with Avelina’s eyes and plucked it from the heir to the Evanoff family’s arms.

 

He examined the eyes, confirming that they were Avelina’s before just smiling.

 

‘Happy now?’

 

‘Yes, happy at last.’ Vikentiy responded, he sounded apathetic though.

 

‘Why couldn’t you have done this? It was like taking candy from a baby.’ Viktor asked, noting how he could feel Vikentiy’s magic coming out and making the eyes disappear from their container.

 

‘The scale will always return itself to a place of equilibrium. When I was in the dungeon–when Avelina was killed–Vsevolod came to me and tried to pull me back to the scale. He succeeded but I defeated him once again and left the scale but…I had made the scale aware of my existence once again and as a result…It decided that balance needed to be reestablished…so It sent my dear brother assistance…in the form of that tank.’ Vikentiy explained.

 

‘The tank?’

 

‘If the scale is balanced, it is completely invisible, if the world is in my favor it is invisible. But…if the world is not on my side it is visible to me and I am able to have its contents. 3 of the four beasts have reached their final incarnation and have gained the power of their main bodies from the scale, Hundun has swallowed enough mana and magic energy to take down a country and possibly even summon the other fiends…It is clear that I am no longer on the heaviest side of the scale. The scale has decided I am allowed to exist as a whole again.’ Vikentiy explained further and warped Viktor back to where he had been fighting alongside Lian Bai, he was still speaking to him though.

 

‘You…will tip the balance once I fully give you this power…but I will be gone forever. The scale is not going to turn on you like it did to me…and if it does…you have a lot more gods on your side than I did..I’m sure you’ll be fine.’  Viktor started to hear Vikentiy’s voice less and less. He could feel blood dripping from his nose and intense pain from his eyes and chest instead.

 

He could hear Lian Bai’s muffled voice and feel how she tried to get him to sit or lay down or something. His legs were shaky.

 

‘If I could change the scale…I’m sure a kid like you who’s half god could do it much more easily…’ That was the last thing Viktor heard Vikentiy say, that was the last thing he heard anyone say before he passed out.

 

—

 

Viktor woke up and 20 minutes had passed. Lian Bai was trying to circulate her own mana through him. She was convinced he was experiencing Qi deviation but Viktor suddenly sat up and wiped the blood from his nose and mouth on his sleeve before pushing Lian Bai away.

 

“Don’t get up! You need to rest!” Lian Bai exclaimed.

 

Viktor shook his head, raising his hand to motion for her to not get closer.

 

“If you come closer I’ll end up stealing all your mana…You shouldn’t stay so close.” He coughed a little, spitting out some blood that had been in his mouth. He looked up at Lian Bai who seemed to have taken his words into consideration and suddenly realized his vision had once again changed…He could see Lian Bai’s core clearly as if it was standing in front of her but Lian Bai herself was a blurred-out part of the background.

 

‘As if I didn’t have enough things clogging up my vision…’ 

 

Viktor stood after getting his thoughts in order. He was going to take it easy for a little while longer and figure out just what else had changed now that he had taken Vikentiy’s powers as his own but he didn’t get the chance to. A wave of power passed through the area like an earthquake and Viktor immediately knew what it was and it immediately knew that it meant it was time for him to go help.

 

Lian Bai definitely was not keen on letting him go though.

 

–

 

The main battle was Elena, Andrei, and Fei Xiang Against Zhao Zhihao but as Huy and Mai arrived it became clear that there was no need for them to jump in. Instead, they decided to focus on Hundun itself. 

 

“...Just don’t let go of me. I’ll always protect you.” Huy said to Mai and gave her a soft smile. He suddenly transformed completely in front of her. It actually even caught the attention of everyone fighting below them. Huy’s full transformation was a giant bird that cast large rays of light on everything around it like the sun had come to the earth. 

 

He could control this form well though, nothing was being burnt by it and Mai who was on his back was completely unharmed even as she sat right on his burning body.

 

‘Hundun cannot easily absorb divine energy but it can still absorb it slowly so be careful.’ Elena told Huy through telepathy.

 

‘I’m not going to attack, I’m going to keep it from moving until you and Yue are able to come help.’ Huy explained, he knew 1 on 1 he couldn’t do much damage against Hundun but he could slow down its expansion.

 

He began to circle Hundun at high speeds, keeping it in its place. Hundun at first tried to push past but clashed with Huy’s divine energy constantly and failed to fully digest it quickly enough to move past him. 

 

Hundun stayed still for a few seconds before it launched something from its center out toward Huy. Huy at first thought it was a harmless little thing but then he saw it change and quickly stopped circling Hundun and got farther away.

 

The thing that was tossed at him was a core but shortly after it was thrown from Hundun’s center, it exploded.

 

‘What the…’

 

More cores started to fly out from Hundun and started to explode many were aimed at Huy and Mai but a lot were aimed at Elena, Andrei, and Fei Xiang as well.

 

Andrei and Fei Xiang avoided them but Elena just took them, continuing to attack Zhao Zhihao as she did so. She knew Zhao Zhihao was being hurt by them and because of her scales, she wasn’t hurt by them at all so she didn’t care how many were thrown at her.

 

‘I can feel Yue coming this way…Let’s finish this quickly.’ 

 

Fei Xiang and Andrei nodded in response to Elena’s message.

 

‘Andrei’s scales can protect you from some of the damage from Zhao Zhihao, use it to your advantage and strike. I’ll take care of the rest.’

 

Fei Xiang and Andrei did exactly that. Andrei rushed forward from the opposite direction that Elena was attacking from, Elena didn’t give Zhao Zhihao any chances to fend Andrei off so he took it. His arm was cleanly cut off by Andrei’s sword but black sludge began to drip from Zhao Zhihao’s shoulder and eyes, his attacks became more fervent but Andrei and Elena expected it and blocked them. The black sludge burned when it hit their scales but Elena silently urged Andrei to hold it in. 

 

Zhao Zhihao took notice of the slightly pained expression on his face and got sloppy, purposefully allowing himself to get attacked so that his blood would splatter onto them. 

 

He was too entertained by the idea that he was hurting them to realize what Fei Xiang was doing.

 

The resonating sound of the wind cut through their battle. Fei Xiang’s Azure Wind slash cut through Zhao Zhihao’s chest, leaving him to suffer, his body a gory sight as his pitch-black blood stained the ground. Even Elena winced at that moment, Fei Xiang had sliced him in half starting right through his chest and slicing the stolen core inside of him as well.

 

‘Satisfaction…what an awful sensation.’

 

Fei Xiang was still for a moment before he was pulled by Elena and Andrei. They dragged him far away as Hundun suddenly moved with an explosive speed toward them. They avoided it but it swallowed Zhao Zhihao’s remains.

 

It got a little stronger and that concerned them but not as much as the Hundun followers that were covered in impure energy that were quickly approaching.

 

Huy had already started trying to deal with them but no matter how many flames he threw at them they would get back up and continue fighting.

 

Elena quickly transformed some more and joined him, she didn’t fully transform as it wouldn’t be much help in this situation but she used her powers to try and strike them down. Even physical attacks from Fei Xiang and Andre didn’t work. More and more people were absorbed into Hundun and more and more followers of Hundun kept appearing.