Chapter 184 - The Serpent of Darkness Entrance!
The images began to stabilize until they became visible again. The scenario had changed, even if the protagonists were still the two Spirit Emperors. However, the majesty of before had disappeared. The battlefield presented craters of various sizes, and the two fighters were no longer in their optimal conditions as they were at the beginning of the fight.
The giant skeleton had lost most of its armor; some places had even lost part of the bones that formed its very body. Coincidentally, the points where the wounds were deeper corresponded with the wounds on Yuan Cao's own body. Chong Zemin, on the other hand, didn't show any injuries, but from his irregular breathing, it could be seen that he was beginning to experience fatigue.
Despite the state in which they found themselves, however, neither of them intended to give in. After all, it wasn't a friendly sparring session; this was a bloody battle within the final battle that would end the war. There was no margin for a draw - one of them would die, and the other would live.
However, when the two finished taking a breath to keep fighting, a buzzing sound began to jingle across the battlefield. The two Spirit Emperors stopped on the spot and moved their heads left and right in search of the point of origin of that noise. But it wasn't just them, all the fighters still alive heard that buzz, and all of them had the same reaction because the noise seemed too close and loud to each of them.
Screech! Fizzle!
The noise intensified as it acquired a more precise origin. All the martial artists gathered there looked up into the sky where they could see a small rift in the sky above them. This rift was absurdly twisting as it got bigger. It was as if someone was tearing apart a layer of fabric, which in this case was none other than the sky itself.
"What the hell is going on?!" murmured Yuan Cao, who couldn't believe his eyes. Something like that was impossible even for him.
"Is the Space Law?" Chong Zemin wondered. In his heart, however, the historian martial artist was doubtful that it was the Space Law even if there was no other possible explanation. It was because the rift in the sky had reached hundreds and hundreds of meters in length and didn't seem to want to stop.
Crack! Craaak! CRAAAAK!
The rift skyrocketed as the sky opened in half. A gigantic figure emerged from the crack in the sky, a pitch-black snake. Immediately after the snake, a huge dark purple spider came out and so other massive figures with a monstrous appearance. There were also smaller figures, but their pressure was by no means inferior to the ones emitted by the more giant creatures.
In the blink of an eye, the sky was filled with these creatures, and their number showed no sign of stopping. Instead, it was increasing with every passing second, although the creatures that appeared later were less massive and produced weaker pressure than those that came out first.
"The Serpent of Darkness!" shouted Chong Zemin, who immediately recognized the giant pitch-black snake. As a historian martial artist, how could he not recognize the being responsible for countless deaths in the territories inhabited by humans?
But it wasn't just him, everyone on the battlefield had recognized or at least sensed who the snake that seemed to be leading those creatures was. Only a fool wouldn't have connected the figure of that majestic and powerful snake with the countless voices that had spread all over the continent.
The Beast Emperor had arrived on the battlefield! With him, there were the other divine beasts and high-level spirit beasts. Besides them, there were even a small number of humans and demons - the Beast Families, the traitors of both the human and the demon races.
When the Serpent of Darkness entered, Leon and the other members of Hei's group who were watching the recording took a deep breath. Even though they were far away, they could perceive that the Serpent of Darkness was at a different league from the two Spirit Emperors who had fought up until now. Unable to formulate a thought, they could only admire the situation while being astonished.
Hei, Lian, Ye, and Xing instead had different reactions. In Rainbow Island, when Bao Bei used the Concept of Reality to recreate a replica of Hei An, they had been able to witness the power of the entity called the Serpent of Darkness. Therefore, this time, they weren't in awe of his power. No, there were other sensations within them. In particular, this was true for Hei, Ye, and Xing, who were the children of Bao Bei and therefore Hei An.
In addition to the Serpent of Darkness, their eyes also settled on the nearby dark purple spider. Bao Bei, their mother. How long had it been since they last saw her? Even though her memories hadn't faded from their hearts, it was different to see her again with their own eyes.
Awooooo!
Fenrir started to howl as loud as he could. As a spirit beast, how could he remain insensitive to such a view? His mistress, Lang, was also experiencing strong emotions. Among the ranks of human and demon beast tamers who had joined the Serpent of Darkness, there were the representatives of her family. Ancestors whose name she only knew but had heard about so many times - the personification of the ideals that the Beast Families had always followed.
"Comrades! Thanks for coming with me at the end of this journey," The Serpent of Darkness began to speak. However, the language he was using was not human but that of snakes. Only the spirit beasts could understand this. For the humans and demons following the Beast Emperor, the spirit beasts of these tamers were translating his message.
"I know well how you feel. All of us have lost something over the years. Friends, partners, children, brothers, sisters. We all felt helpless to see the ones we loved being taken away without anything we could do to prevent it. We have been living with the fear of tomorrow, wondering if it would be our last day, or it would be the turn of someone we knew.
I know well how you feel. The fear and pain that you have experienced and continue to experience. And I also know very well the hatred that is within your hearts. The same hate that I felt, no, that I keep feeling inside me. I won't tell you not to feel hatred towards humans and demons; it would be hypocritical for me to do so. And I also know that telling you that not all humans and demons are like that can't dissuade you from getting your revenge.
If it is true that the fault of some must not fall on the entire race, it is also true that the good actions of some cannot cancel what many of them have done. So even if it is fortunate to have found incredible allies who have renounced their origins to join us, we cannot still forget what happened.
However, I want to tell you one thing. Even if hatred is what is feeding your hearts and perhaps what keeps you together, preventing you from falling apart, this battle is not a battle to satisfy our thirst for revenge. No, we are here for another reason.
At home, our children and those of our friends are waiting for us. They are too young to fight and have a whole life to live. But, now I ask you. What life do you want them to live? A life tormented by fear and hatred or a life where they can live peacefully and freely?
You already know the answer. This battle won't be remembered as our desperate attempt to take revenge. No, this battle will go down in history as our attempt to protect tomorrow, not only of our species but of the whole world. We will protect the future and create hope for a better future. Let's make sure we are the last to suffer like this."
Then the Snake of Darkness, Hei An, paused. Out of the corner of his eyes, he turned to look at the dark purple spider next to him. The spider's eyes returned the gaze as if to instill courage. The Serpent of Darkness smiled slightly and prepared to order. The last order he would give as Beast Emperor, or so he hoped.
"The time has come to drop the curtain on this conflict that has tormented the world too long. Not as divine beasts and spirit beasts, not as humans and demons who have denied their race. But as companions fighting for a common purpose. Lend me your strength one last time. It's time to create hope and save this world!"
When the Serpent of Darkness finished speaking, all the divine beasts, the spirit beasts, the humans, and the demons under his command uttered battle shouts. Their cry united and spread across the battlefield that stretched for miles and miles. Everyone felt the battle intent within that cry.
"CHARGE!"
The Serpent of Darkness gave the order to advance. As a single entity, everyone behind him moved. Suddenly the sky was darkened by the vast number of these new fighters.
The spirit beasts that made up most of the army assembled by the Beast Emperor swarmed down, heading towards all martial artists under the rank of Spirit Emperor. With them were also the human and demon beast tamers who hadn't reached the rank of Spirit Emperor.
Birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, amphibians, vertebrates, invertebrates, plants, and even inanimate objects. All sorts of creatures swooped against the human and demon armies, engaging in a furious struggle, without sparing a shred of their strength. After all, none of those who had followed the Serpent of Darkness had any plans to return alive. They would fight until their body allowed it.
The divine beasts and Spirit Emperor beast tamers continued to follow the Serpent of Darkness in its advance. Their direction was a definite point in the middle of the immense battlefield. There, the sky was divided into a pure white section and another of a demonic black. It was the place where the Human Hero and the Demon Emperor were fighting.
"Shit! He's heading to the Demon Emperor!" Yuan Cao cried alarmed.
It should be known that both sides had decided to let the two strongest fighters of their respective armies fight each other without anyone disturbing them. After all, the Hero and the Demon Emperor had reached a level of power beyond what normal Spirit Emperors could generate. So it was decided that they would fight undisturbed by everything and everyone.
For the various parties involved, this was the best decision. There were even those who had pressed for this solution so that they could then kill the winner once the battle was finished by taking advantage of the precarious state in which he would find himself. It is because, when one of the two died, the other would automatically become the strongest martial artist in existence. In practice, he would have become the ruler of the continent, no, of the whole world. There was no way they would allow such an existence to survive.
However, the entry of the Beast Emperor on the scene had upset their plans. If the giant snake were to kill them both, the ruler of the whole world would have become him. If instead he died but generated an imbalance in the fight, leading to the victory of one of the two contenders, this would have ruined the plans anyway. The winner could have withdrawn, taking advantage of the chaos generated by the spirit beasts. Furthermore, it wasn't as if everyone was part of the conspirators who wanted to kill the two leaders. Instead, many would have willingly given their lives for the Hero or the Demon Emperor. If the winner were to leave the battlefield alive, it would have been the end for the adverse side and even for those belonging to the same faction but didn't want someone ruling the whole world.
Therefore, all the Spirit Emperors gathered there stopped fighting and flew at full speed to curb the advance of the Beast Emperor. However, the divine beasts and the Spirit Emperor beast tamers were ready to receive them.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The group that was following the Beast Emperor began to thin out more and more. Chong Zemin and Yuan Cao were also blocked by a divine beast - a colossal thirty-meter sand-colored worm. This worm had reached the level of divine beast. Therefore it was fully comparable to a Spirit Emperor.
"I finally found you, human. Now I can avenge my brother." the worm spoke, making its voice resound outside. Worms didn't have vocal cords; the divine beast worm made his thoughts resonate outside as sound with its spirit power.
Hearing his words, Chong Zemin frowned. The worm had used the language of humans, and therefore the historian martial artist had understood the message. And precisely because he understood the words of the divine beast, he was more nervous than ever. His bloodline belonged to a worm-like divine beast, that is, the brother of the specimen in front of him.
Yuan Cao, who was close to him, smiled to himself, thinking that the divine beast would take care of killing Chong Zemin. Therefore, the demon Spirit Emperor began to fly to the place where the Beast Emperor was heading. However, he managed to fly only a few meters when a huge tail crashed against him, causing him to fly backward. Luckily he was still covered by his skeleton and was able to reduce damage.
"What the fuck?! Stupid beast. You have a score to settle with him, don't you? Why are you attacking me? Let me go, and you can avenge your brother undisturbed." Yuan Cao complained as he frowned. He couldn't understand why the worm attacked him despite saying it wanted to take revenge on Chong Zemin.
The worm wasn't enchanted by Yuan Cao's words and replied, "Although I came here on purpose to get my revenge. I haven't forgotten my purpose, no, our purpose - we will protect the future and create hope. I, therefore, cannot let you pass. Nobody should disturb the Beast Emperor. NOBODY!"
The worm, therefore, began to release its spirit power. A crazy amount of spirit power was being poured out of its body. Generally, a spirit beast contained more spirit power than a human being or a demon, but since they were unable to use the Elemental Laws, this gap wasn't perceived. However, this was different for the divine beasts.
The divine beasts were able to use the Elemental Laws and possessed a bloodline. Therefore, in the aspect of the laws, they were equal to humans and demons. But unlike the latter, the divine beasts had more spirit power. It wasn't by chance that the divine beasts were hunted in groups. After all, the rule was that at least two Spirit Emperors were needed for each divine beast.
Looking at the situation, Chong Zemin had no choice but to turn to Yuan Cao. "Yuan Cao! Fight with me and help me defeat this divine beast. "
"Huh?! Why should I? I'd rather die than help a human in battle." Yuan Cao replied with a face disgusted by this thought.
"If you want to die, go ahead. But we both know well the Beast Emperor cannot be allowed to reach the Hero and your Demon Emperor. As despicable as you demons could be, I don't think you're stupid enough not to understand the situation."
Yuan Cao was silent at those words. He didn't want to die at all, and what Chong Zemin had said was true. They couldn't allow the Serpent of Darkness to approach the battlefield of the leaders of their respective factions. And to prevent this, he would have to swallow his pride.
"Okay, let's do it. Honestly, I'd rather cut my arm than help you. But we are both in a situation where we have no other choice." Yuan Cao eventually gave his consent.
"I'm glad you listened to the reason. The fight will be difficult; we both spent a lot of our energy. You'd better not die until we knock this divine beast down." Chong Zemin incited as he charged his spirit power.
"The same goes for you. human." Yuan Cao answered, laughing.
"Human, demon. Have you finished? Now I will show you the hatred with which we divine beasts have lived together too long." the worm-type divine beast began to prepare for battle. Even though it had two Spirit Emperors against, it wasn't worried at all. It was full of excitement over the impending battle.
