Chapter 35: Therefore, Fear 5000
As for what the specific mission was… what else could it be?
The Mycroft Flame had been rekindled, and they had even helped the Ancient Dragons of the Chronos World reshape their world. Without a doubt, they possessed the elements of creation, at least one of them—whether it was the First Flame or the Primordial Steel, the Mycroft people must have one.
"Find it."
The Demon King, who existed in the Valley of Tears Fortress only as a shadow without a physical body, spoke thus. The Abyss Lord said in a voice so faint it was nearly inaudible: "It must be in the hands of some 'Grand Lord,' but I cannot foresee who… I need more information."
"Haier Mu, Saruka, your previous missions both failed and brought heavy losses to the Sixth Abyss—you must bear the responsibility for the annihilation of Blackwater City and the Lava Fleet."
The Demon King was not ferocious, nor was it vicious… The Demon King, the Abyss Lord, was the ruler of demons. It had to be powerful, possessing a strength that could instill fear in the irritable, bloodthirsty demons. But that didn't mean it had to act like a beast at all times. In fact, quite the opposite. The Demon King possessed keen intellect and wisdom, remaining calm at all times, because only then could it lead a horde of frenzied demons in their constant invasions of other worlds.
Haier Mu and Saruka feared the Demon King before them, who made judgments with cold composure, far more than they feared the enraged Goliath. They involuntarily lowered their heads, listening to the final words spoken by their king.
"At any cost, find that person—at the very least, obtain more information for me."
The calm voice carried a chilling undertone. Haier Mu ended this recollection. The humanoid Eye Demon Grand Lord felt the barrier of Abyss Will surrounding him gradually weakening. The power originating from the Demon King was being constantly consumed by the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground. They had already delayed the teleportation by nearly ten minutes. All preparations were complete. It was time to see what traps the Mycroft people had prepared.
"Let's go."
Exhaling a breath, Haier Mu dispelled the barrier around him. In an instant, he was swept by the surging temporal currents towards his destination. Saruka did the same. The two Demon Lords descended with violent ripples, arriving at a world that felt strangely familiar to them.
A spatial rift opened, and their field of vision suddenly cleared—what entered the two Demon Lords' view was a vast, seemingly boundless world of sky. It had no ceiling above, no floor below. Countless shattered stone islands floated in mid-air, and flowing water gathered into spheres, slowly drifting throughout the entire world.
Above all the floating islands hung a colossal, blood-red moon—it was burning, emitting a blazing light. The warm light made the two Demon Lords extremely uncomfortable, yet also intensely yearn for it. This contradictory feeling immediately snapped Haier Mu and Saruka back to reality. They knew exactly where they were.
This was the Bloodmoon Abyss.
After going around in circles, the demons had returned to their familiar territory… but this time was different. The moment they arrived in the Bloodmoon Abyss, Saruka suddenly looked up. The Insect Demon Lord, capable of freely transforming into various forms, instantly shifted into the 'Iron Wall' stance, best suited for defense. He said gravely, "Someone is fighting!"
Saruka didn't need to remind him. Haier Mu noticed it immediately as well. He quickly erected a high-energy light-speed barrier around himself. The next moment, a violent explosion erupted from the direction they were looking at.
Boom—Bang!
As a stone mountain high above exploded into a cloud of dust, they could see two immensely powerful beings fighting in the upper reaches of the Bloodmoon Abyss. One wielded a power akin to a negative energy sea, while the other showed no unusual phenomena—but at this moment, the one without any phenomena was suppressing the other in a relentless assault. They could only see the negative energy sea, covering half the sky, surging and cracking. It tried to coalesce again and again, but was repeatedly scattered, like waves crashing against solid reefs.
"Those people have mercy in their hearts, Black Dragon Kei Anuo."
It was then that the two Demon Lords heard a voice they were both very familiar with—both the pained howl of the Black Dragon and the cold, almost inhuman human tone. Saruka vividly remembered the battle in the Chronos World, and Haier Mu was not one to forget his own failures.
It was that man… it was that man!
At that moment, the impatient male voice sounded again.
"Baniel and William have conscience and goodwill in their hearts—they can't crush defenseless dragon eggs, nor can they bring themselves to use magic to burn the wailing hatchlings in the dragon's nest. They would be unable to act because of your pleas, prayers, repentance, tears, and begging. They have read your literature, know your history, and thus would show mercy because of their friendship with you."
"But I won't."
The voice came from the heights of the Bloodmoon Abyss, like a judgment from heaven. The two demons who had just finished teleporting could only see a dragon shadow plummeting from the sky, crashing into a massive stone island. Instantly, the island sank rapidly. Cracks like spiderwebs spread from the point of impact. Within a single second, the originally kilometer-sized floating mountain island shattered into tens of millions of rubble. From the sky, a golden-red stream of light descended rapidly, charging into the wreckage.
The dull sound, like a steel hammer striking flesh, followed: "I have no mercy."
"Damn human!"
The Black Dragon's roar came from the island's wreckage. With its furious shout, the two demons immediately saw an endless surge of negative energy explode. A grey tide, like an ocean, swallowed all the island fragments. This negative energy condensed into a huge, twisted dragon head, glaring coldly at the world.
Dragon King Kei Anuo finally couldn't hold back and unleashed his full power—he began a long chant. Within the surging sea of negative energy, space underwent a series of strange, twisted changes. The stone islands within his power range seemed to sink into water, swaying with the ripples.
This was the true meaning of the Nether Sea. The powerful negative energy eroded space-time, making it fragile and turbulent. All matter within it appeared distorted, like images seen through surging tides. Things bulged and sank, and the Black Dragon King could easily destroy any matter within.
In this turbulent, sea-like space, the twisted projection of the Black Dragon opened its maw, as if to swallow the entire world. In its mouth, space had completely shattered like glass shards. All matter drawn in was divided into basic particles. Almost nothing could escape.
Almost.
Within the twisted, turbulent Nether Sea, only one figure maintained a normal posture. It was a steel giant, majestic as a mountain. The changes in space had no effect on him. Light bent behind him. Facing the Black Dragon King's attack that annihilated everything, the giant stretched out his four arms. Space shattered from this perfectly normal movement. The golden-red core in his chest had turned blazing white—
The colossal Black Dragon phantom was the carrier of the negative energy condensed from the entire Nether Sea. It was the manifestation of the negative energy Kei Anuo had accumulated over four hundred years. In the mortal world, even Pope Eagle would find it difficult to purify with Holy Light. But the steel giant had no intention of purifying it. He only needed to destroy it.
Some fragments peeled from the giant's surface due to the spatial fluctuations, causing lightning to erupt in the surrounding void and shaking the electromagnetic forces of the entire world. A massive magnetic field rotated within his body. The steel giant gathered all his mass, clenched his five fingers into a fist, and threw four uninterrupted punches!
Boom, crack, crack, crack, crack!
The instant the steel giant threw his punches, the immense mass combined with terrifying energy density compressed the material particles in the air. Countless particles were squeezed together, emitting the destructive light of nuclear fusion. In a flash, four suns appeared. Shockwaves capable of sweeping across ten-thousand-meter mountain ranges spread in all directions. All floating islands within hundreds of kilometers involuntarily began to move towards the steel giant's location. But the next moment, these stone islands, attracted by the mass, were pushed away by the explosive shockwaves, shattered into pieces, forming a vast empty zone.
Around the Black Dragon phantom, the Nether Sea was originally so dense that even light couldn't penetrate. But now, violent, blazing winds raged, accompanied by shifting magnetic and mass fields. Four fist imprints, penetrating front to back, tore through the Nether Sea and the Black Dragon behind it. Space dented from the pure mass displacement. Light was also distorted and twisted by the fists—in less than an instant, the colossal Black Dragon phantom burst and shattered.
The vast Nether Sea dissipated instantly. The distorted space returned to normal. The steel giant flashed to the center of where the Nether Sea had been, now in front of the Black Dragon, who was vomiting fragments of its internal organs. He cruelly stomped on Kei Anuo's head. A crisp cracking sound rang out. The Black Dragon's two horns, tougher than most substances in the world, snapped off. The Black Dragon let out a piercing dragon's roar, but showed no intention of retreating. Its eyes, already bloodshot, glared wildly. It lunged at the steel giant like a madman. Negative energy, capable of disintegrating all matter, extended along its dragon claws, forming sharp blades. But the steel giant also had no intention of dodging. He swung his fists, engaging in a relentless, close-quarters brawl with the frenzied Dragon King.
Instantly, the battlefield descended into chaos again. The overly turbulent energy and blinding light rendered all observation methods useless. But even so, the two Demon Lords could still hear the information stream of Steel Force transmitted directly to their minds.
"I will kill all your young, crush every dragon egg. I will put your women and children on the grill and decorate my castle with your skulls after dinner—if you don't want this outcome, then surrender and accept judgment. Your brothers, the Metal Dragons, are forced to shrink their Dragon Island because of you. The centuries of effort they spent to integrate into Mycroft have been ruined by you."
The negative energy claw pierced the giant's shoulder, tearing off his upper right arm. Golden-red molten iron scattered in the air. But despite this severe injury, the giant's tone remained flat. He said in a deep voice, "I don't talk much. For me, killing you directly is the best choice. But for the sake of Baniel and William's repeated requests, Kei Anuo, give up resistance and return to Mycroft with me to accept judgment."
"You are doomed to die, but we will leave enough dragon eggs for you to reproduce, to be raised by the Metal Dragon clan."
"Those cowards! They abandoned their identity as exiles, forgot the hatred of their mother world! They gave up their responsibility, merged with other civilizations—they don't deserve to be called dragons!"
The giant pushed the dragon into a floating stone island. He threw a heavy punch, smashing into the Black Dragon's skull. Instantly, the rock island behind the Black Dragon's head collapsed into a crater hundreds of meters long from the blow. The island shattered. The sound of bone cracking could be heard—but Kei Anuo was still roaring. A skull injury wasn't fatal for a Legendary Dragon King. He was only slightly at a disadvantage. The dragon whipped its tail, causing the giant's body to tilt slightly. Seizing the opportunity, he struggled to fly out of the collapsing mountain.
Dust exploded. Kei Anuo dragged a grey trail of negative energy, like a grey meteor. The Black Dragon King reached the heights of the Bloodmoon Abyss, exuding a majestic and vast aura. Although his horns were broken, one dragon wing had been torn off by the giant, black blood was flowing, and he had no time to heal, his claws remained, and his will to fight endured.
"Human, do you think you can win?!"
Highly condensed negative energy surged on Kei Anuo's body. The Black Dragon King's eyes gradually turned pure black. Around him, space was collapsing. With the rolling black tide, matter disappeared as if erased by an eraser. He raised his head and let out a long roar. This seemingly powerless cry of a wounded dragon echoed through the Bloodmoon Abyss. The next moment, it transformed into a grand, resonant sound, causing tens of millions of floating rock islands to tremble and shake!
As Kei Anuo roared, an unbelievable, overwhelming aura emanated from him. It was like a blade capable of annihilating and erasing all existence, capable of destroying everything, even… itself! It could be seen that the scales on the Black Dragon King's body began to peel off bit by bit. The purest negative energy surged, and even his Black Dragon body, tempered for centuries and nearly assimilated with negative energy, couldn't withstand it!
But what awaited the Black Dragon King, who had driven himself to the point of self-destruction, was only silence and distorted gravity.
Of course he could—the warrior had no doubt. He was certain of victory, his own victory, the victory that was sure to come! So, no answer was needed.
The steel giant the man had become was shrinking. The colossal body, hundreds of meters tall, was slowly shrinking. But accompanying this was an increasingly severe distortion of the surrounding light. Silver light, like stardust, swirled around the giant. Gravitational waves rippled around him, like the surface of a lake disturbed by rain. Tiny arcs spread out, giving rise to ripples.
Hum—
A soft sound. The bent light instantly formed a vortex. The light released by the Bloodmoon Abyss twisted into strange parabolas when passing by the soldier, making it impossible for any existence that used electromagnetic waves for observation to look directly at him. The next moment, the shrinking giant stepped on the air. Instantly, a sea of fire appeared out of nowhere. Endless plasma and plasma streams were released behind him. Above, the Black Dragon, gradually self-annihilating, let out a dragon roar fragmented by the shattering of space, then, wrapped in the vast tide of the Nether Sea, fell towards the giant like a meteor.
Haier Mu and Sanika watched this scene.
They saw the Black Dragon pierce the giant's chest. Molten steel splashed. But the man didn't care, letting the opponent churn inside his body. Then he punched into the Black Dragon's left shoulder socket. Flesh tore. He forcefully ripped out an arm bone. The dragon opened its mouth, biting off the space along with the man's head. But the next moment, the headless steel giant kicked out. A sharp kick, like an axe swing, severed the Black Dragon's tail along with its left thigh bone.
The inhumanly powerful beings fought in silence. They tore parts from each other's bodies—bones, internal organs, the core furnace, the dragon heart. Blood mixed with the stench of burning steel filled the air. The headless giant pressed his hands against the Black Dragon's skull, exerting force to shatter all matter inside into basic particles. They locked eyes. The giant shot nuclear fusion flames from his eye sockets into the dragon's, burning its head and brains to ashes. But the dragon's remaining wing, empowered by annihilation energy, formed a blade that corroded everything. With a harsh grinding sound and flying sparks, it cut the giant in half. The corrosion energy suppressed the giant's regeneration, preventing the body from rejoining.
This scene was so unbelievable. The vital points of living beings seemed non-existent within these two super-lifeforms. They broke each other's spines, ribs. They tore each other's flesh, bombarded energy cores. But no matter how violent the nuclear furnace self-destruction, no matter how intense the negative energy surge, both would burst through the energy tide and reappear. Severed iron fists flew on their own, finding opportunities to strike the Black Dragon's belly. The dragon's head, burned to bone, also detached from its body, frantically biting the giant's form. The 'immortal' super-lifeforms engaged in a brutal, ruthless slaughter, mutually annihilating and devouring each other in a seemingly endless process. Even if only an arm, a bone, or a piece of flesh remained, they would continue.
But even so, this cruel, merciless slaughter had to end.
As the sea of negative energy abruptly dissipated, like mist under sunlight, the Black Dragon's remains, which could have released a string of negative energy beams from even a single drop of blood, lost all power. The scattered bones, flesh, and dust in the surrounding space fell, plummeting towards the bottomless end of the Bloodmoon Abyss. Amidst the dust of the opponent's remains, the shattered steel giant stopped in place. He had no head, and only one and a half of his four arms remained. But the silver light of Steel Force formed a head-like shape where his head had been. Nebula-like mist swirled around him.
He stared at the place where Kei Anuo had fallen. There, a huge, broken black dragon soul was struggling to turn its head, looking towards a Holy Light seal. It was the seal used by the Church of the Seven Gods to isolate the Bloodmoon Abyss from the Mycroft World. The dragon soul gazed at the seal with a reluctant, longing look. Then, the light solidified. It turned into millions of light motes, dissipating into the abyss.
The silver Steel Force rapidly reshaped the head. The man closed his eyes, then turned, opening them again. He looked towards where the two Demon Lords were. The two Demon Lords also looked up at this man.
Joshua Van Radcliffe stood amidst distorted light and magnetic lightning. His body was covered with puncture wounds and massive damage left by negative energy. His insides were almost hollowed out by the Black Dragon's desperate final counterattack. Only a golden core flickered with light. The man had ground the Black Dragon to dust, scattered its soul. But he himself was also severely damaged, suffering unprecedented trauma.
This was the most opportune moment. The two Demon Lords knew this—as the defeated opponents of this man, they knew that only at this moment could they possibly truly kill this Legendary.
Haier Mu felt he should be overjoyed and relieved. But he wasn't.
In the demon's heart, there was only fear.