Ch. 991..1000

Chapter 991 991 - No Movement

Wester wasn't intending to give Shang a chance to retaliate.

He had already thought that Shang might be able to defend from his Spell, but the ease at which Shang had done so still shocked him.

One had to remember that Wester was four levels above Shang, and Wester was amongst the top three of all Mage Kings!

And yet, a warrior could directly block his Spell while being four levels below him.

If Wester hadn't seen these things with his own eyes, he wouldn't believe them.

It was just too ridiculous.

Usually, the stronger one became, the fewer levels one could jump since everyone else was just as outstanding.

But, apparently, that wasn't true for Shang.

In fact, his relative Battle Strength even increased.

Shang saw which Spell Wester was using, and he only waited with a smirk.

A moment later, time, space, and gravity froze.

The Domain had been activated!

At the same time, Wester's Focus unleashed a powerful beam of lightning, which directly shot at Shang.

DING!

But just as before, the beam was blocked by the tens of weapons.

When Wester saw that, his mind nearly stopped.

How?!

How could a warrior deal with the most powerful Spell a Mage King had access to, the Domain?!

Shang was supposed to be frozen in time!

And then, Wester saw the Domain around Shang.

Just like every Spell, the Domain was also made of Mana, and with the Domain of Entropy, it also became useless.

When Wester saw Shang's Domain of Entropy, he became frustrated with himself.

Now that he truly saw and felt its effect, he automatically compared it to an Abomination's Domain.

Why hadn't he made the connection earlier?!

Naturally, due to the sheer power of the Abominations, the Domain Spell became useless.

In order to get through an Abomination's Domain, one needed to focus a lot of Mana on a small point. Any Spell that tried to attack or restrict the Abomination by encompassing them in Mana essentially became worthless.

Probably not even a Mage Emperor could stop Shang in this way.

When Shang saw Wester's serious grimace, he had to laugh.

"Isn't it interesting?" Shang asked. "We've been here for a while. Gregorio knows of my location. Gregorio probably also knows of your location. You've unleashed several Spells."

"And yet, he hasn't shown himself."

Wester narrowed his eyes as he prepared some other Spells.

"I think he's undecided," Shang said.

At that moment, 18 balls of lightning, metal, and light appeared around Shang.

BANG!

The 18 balls turned into beams and focused all their power on him.

WHOOOOM!

Suddenly, Shang's Domain expanded a bit, encompassing all the beams, and in an instant, they all turned into Neutral Mana.

When Wester saw that, his eyes opened wide in shock.

I-Iow?!

Those had been 18 genuine Spells!

These were not some throwaway Spells that Wester had launched casually!

No, these were actual Spells that he used in fights against powerful Mage Kings!

They used the level six Concept of Lightning, True Lightning, the level six Concept of Metal, True Metal, and the level six Concept of Light, Eternal Light!

Their speed, penetration power, and explosive force were beyond powerful!

For a while, Wester couldn't comprehend what he had just witnessed.

It seemed physically impossible!

And then, Wester noticed something.

Shang had lost one of his tentacles!

It had been the one that ended in the sable!

Finally, Wester understood what had happened.

If the Abominations could sacrifice parts of their body for a power increase, Shang could probably do the same!

At that moment, Wester realized how Shang had been able to survive two seconds against that one Mage King in the Defender Flag in the past.

Ever since the fight started, Shang hadn't even moved from his spot!

He hadn't even launched a single attack!

"Gregorio isn't sure what he should do," Shang continued talking like nothing had happened. "I think he knows that we are fighting right now."

The next moment, six gigantic bars of metal appeared around Shang, and they began to spin rapidly.

As they spun, they released powerful bolts of lightning, which connected the bars with each other.

In an instant, Shang was surrounded by a terrifying sphere of powerful and aggressive lightning.

SHING!

Suddenly, all the bars stopped spinning and pointed at Shang.

BANG!

And shot towards him!

As the Domain of Entropy encompassed the bars, all the lightning weakened, but that was not the point of the attack.

The lightning had been used to speed up the bars, increasing their power.

CRK!

Wester's heart nearly stopped.

What had he just seen?!

Just now, Shang had kicked two bars away, caught two in his hands, and parried the last two with a couple of his tentacles!

And he still hadn't moved from his spot!

"Should he help me?"

"Should he destroy me?"

"I think he's not sure what he should do," Shang said with a chuckle.

BOOOOOOM!

The next instant, Wester unleashed an apocalyptic beam of light!

It was Wester's strongest single-target Spell!

It used a huge amount of Mana, and it focused all of its power on only a single point.

Shang's Domain of Entropy wouldn't be able to even get rid of 10% of its power!

It was so fast that Shang couldn't possibly avoid it!

It was so strong that it would punch through however many limbs Shang put in front of it.

Then, something moved between Shang and the beam.

DING!

BOOOOOOOM!

Suddenly, Wester felt his Mana drain by over 30%!

What?!

How did his own Spell suddenly fire back at him?

Meanwhile, Shang just chuckled as he moved the tentacle with the Colossal Sword back to its original position again.

Shang had used one of his old techniques, Reflection.

Sadly, in order to gain the power to pull it off, he had to sacrifice one more tentacle, leaving him with only around 30.

"That's why he's letting us fight, Wester," Shang said.

"One side represents the selfless goal of protecting the world."

"The other side represents the selfish goal of sacrificing the world for yourself."

"He's not sure, Wester."

"He doesn't know what to do."

Shang chuckled some more.

"And that's why he's letting us decide."

"But deep down, he knows what will happen?

"He only wants to feel like he gave the other option a sincere evaluation."

"He has already committed to sacrificing the world."

Wester's mind was trying to come up with a plan, but he couldn't.

"How about I show him What choice he truly made?"

And then, Shang started to move towards Wester.

 

 

Chapter 992 992 - Wider Universe

Wester unleashed several Spells, but Shang just kept dealing with them.

If Wester used energy-based attacks, Shang just used his Domain of Entropy and blocked them with several swords.

If Wester used physical attacks, Shang just used his body, Void Break, and Sword Focus to parry them.

If Wester used Domains, Shang just canceled their effect with his own Domain.

What else could Wester do?

There wasn't much left.

As Wester kept attacking him, Shang kept accelerating.

In the beginning, Wester was faster than Shang, but when Shang started to use Void Break and Sword Focus, Wester became slower.

And when Shang used his Concepts to increase his speed even more, Wester couldn't retreat anymore.

He would need to use Mana Step, but Mana Step cost a terrifying amount of Mana!

That was when Wester got an idea.

When Shang came close, Wester readied his most powerful Spell again.

From this distance, Shang wouldn't be able to block the Spell with his swords.

It was simply too fast!

When Shang arrived in front of Wester, he moved his tentacles.

Meanwhile, Wester was about to unleash his Spell.

BANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANG!

In a single instant, over 30 swords hit Wester's Mana Shield!

Even more, all of these swords used extremely advanced and terrifying techniques specific to the kind of sword.

Naturally, Shang had easily comprehended Impose for all of these swords.

The sables moved in graceful arcs.

The sabers moved with aggression.

The huge swords unleashed terrifying power.

The small swords unleashed several attacks.

The rapiers stabbed forward.

And Shang's body supported all of this.

Shang's tentacles had been made to unleash just as much power as when he used an arm.

In just an instant, Wester was hit by every kind of sword imaginable.

It was a meat grinder!

And when Wester tried to unleash his Spells, he realized something that chilled him to the core.

He didn't have enough Mana left to finish the Spell!

The next moment, Wester's Mana Shield broke under Shang's Domain of Entropy.

Naturally, Shang's thinnest tentacle moved forward and wound itself around Wester's neck, keeping him from falling.

Another tentacle just slapped Wester's Focus to the side, destroying it.

This hadn't even been a fight.

The sheer power of Shang's body was ridiculous.

"I no longer have a human body, Wester," Shang said.

"You can barely win against an Abomination King as you are, and compared to Abomination Kings, I actually know how to fight."

"Trying to kill me with just a four-level advantage is akin to suicide."

Wester just looked with anger and spite at Shang.

"You weren't this powerful earlier!" he shouted.

Shang smirked.

"You're right."

"Because, back then, I was still a human."

Then, Shang moved Wester so that he faced Aterium.

"Look one last time at the world, Wester. In the future-"

CRK!

"Whoops," Shang said as he saw Wester's head fall off his body. "Sorry, squeezed too hard."

Within seconds, Wester's perception vanished, and he died.

"Well, you would've died soon anyway," Shang shouted after the falling head. "Don't take it to heart, okay?"

A moment later, Wester's head appeared beside Shang, and Shang just looked into the dead eyes.

Somehow, this scene reminded Shang of the end of his first trial.

God had done something similar back then.

"Except that I was still alive back then," Shang said. "I don't have God's power yet."

The next moment, Shang looked up at the sky.

"I wonder, was Lucius that powerful back then?" Shang asked with a smirk.

Of course, Shang didn't receive an answer.

"I hope you're looking forward to our battle in the future."

"I sure am."

After a couple of seconds, Shang took out his pin.

"Gregorio, it seems like Wester has fallen ill. He can't come to work tomorrow."

Silence.

"Did you wish the roles were reversed?" Shang asked.

Silence.

"There was never a going back," Gregorio answered with a helpless sigh.

"Shang, I have felt your power."

"It's not of this world anymore."

"Abaddon's power is still of this world. His power might represent the peak, but it is still part of this world."

"Yours isn't."

"I knew from the very beginning that you would win."

"Oh?" Shang uttered with a grin. "Then why did you let him come to me?"

Silence.

"I didn't want to kill my friend," Gregorio said. "He was a danger to our plans, but I still didn't want to kill him."

"If he simply did nothing for his remaining 15,000 years or so, I would have happily let him be. Receiving a peaceful end was the last I could have given him for the long service he had provided."

Shang heard a sigh come through the pin.

"But he just couldn't help himself investigating. If he had simply ignored the Mana disturbance, nothing would have happened"

"Sadly, Wester was too principled."

"And I guess that was why I had such a high opinion of him."

Sflence.

"Shang, it's important that you know that I genuinely anticipated that you would win. I am honest when I say that I didn't want Wester to win this fight and that I fully support you."

"We've been in this together for around 20,000 years now, and I will not betray you."

"My only wish is to leave the world and visit the greater worlds. You told me that Earth had something like a universe. If Aterium has something similar, I want to see it."

"I want to see people that can destroy a world with a sneeze."

"I want to see beasts bigger than the entirety of Aterium."

"I want to see mountains that are so high that I can't even climb them."

"I want to feel young again."

"I want to experience and discover the wider universe."

"If you need to consume or destroy Aterium for that. so be it."

"But Shang, if there is a way to let Aterium survive, please consider it."

"Yet, even if there isn't, I will follow you."

As Shang listened to Gregorio's speech, he couldn't help smirking.

'Indecisiveness is a bad trait, Gregorio,' Shang thought

'However, I believe you.'

'Since you didn't intend to kill me, we can still work together.'

"I'm glad to hear that," Shang answered.

'But don't try anything else!'

 

Chapter 993 €‹ 993 - Plans And Regrets

After talking for a bit more, Gregorio retrieved Wester's corpse.

It was important that Wester's Mana didn't disperse. After all, Gregorio had to make sure that Wester died of natural causes in about 15,000 years.

Then, he would need to hand his Mana back to the other Emperors, after which it would be claimed in the next Grand Tournament.

The Mana of a Mage King represented a change in destiny for someone.

Someone's longevity would quadruple, and they would join the 100 most powerful beings in the world.

And yet, it was worthless to Shang.

In comparison to everyone else in the world, Shang wasn't missing Mana.

Shang was the only person in the world who could absorb Mana and Entropy from outside the world.

For example, even though Shang had sacrificed some tentacles to Entropy, he simply summoned an Abomination King to replace them.

After comprehending the Concept of Entropy, Shang no longer had to fear the cost of unleashing Entropy.

If he wanted, he could have also unleashed Entropy in a blast at Wester, but the destructive powers of this blast would warn the entire world.

At that moment, Shang would die.

Shang was very confident in his power, but he still knew that he couldn't fight any Emperors yet.

But Shang also knew that the chances of dying were very low from now on.

Even though Shang couldn't directly resist an Emperor yet, things wouldn't stay like this forever.

Soon, Shang would reach a level of power not even the Emperors could resist.

After thinking about all of this, Shang thought about what he should do next.

He couldn't just keep absorbing Abominations without end.

His body always needed a bit of time to digest the Abominations.

'In about 15,000 years, I should become a Peak Sword King,' Shang thought. "I wonder, should I look at all the Concepts during that time?'

Then, Shang snorted.

'Concepts?' he thought with a sneer. 'The rules that dictate how Aterium works?'

'Why would I care?'

'These Concepts only dictate how this single world works.'

'Can I even use them outside this world?'

'Is there even a point to learning how such a weak world operates?'

Shang raised his right hand and clenched it into a fist.

'No, my body and techniques are the only things I can truly rely on.'

'My body will always be strong, and my techniques will always remain usable.'

'The final Destination of a warrior's Path, huh?

Shang smirked.

'Is it truly?'

'Is it truly the final one?'

'Or, maybe every other Warrior Emperor in the past was just trash?'

Shang's tentacles moved around a bit.

'I'm certain I can improve my power even more!'

'A sword? A sword is only a fancy fang! There is so much more I can do!'

As Shang thought about the endless possibilities that his new body represented, Gregorio looked at Wester's repaired corpse with pain.

Wester had been Gregorio's friend for a long time, and Gregorio had enjoyed talking to Wester.

Gregorio still remembered his old assistants, but none of them had the refined charm of Wester.

"You didn't deserve this end, old friend," Gregorio said with a sigh.

"Someone as talented as you deserves to become a Mage Emperor."

"Yet, all of us old guys with our twofold and threefold Spirit Senses are hogging all the Mana, making it impossible for you." '

Gregorio looked at the Lightning Manor absentmindedly.

"I'm not certain about the world anymore."

"It's so beautiful, and it's my home."

"But what good is a world where the talented new generation is helplessly suppressed by the undying weak old generation?"

"If you had been born during any other time, I'm certain you would have become a Mage Emperor. After all, peace between the Emperors had only become a thing when there were only Mages left."

Gregorio looked at Wester.

"You said you loved the world."

"The world has suppressed you for so long and cut off your future, but you still loved it."

Gregorio sighed once again.

"Sadly, I'm not as kind and forgiving as you, Wester."

"I only want to go on adventures again."

Gregorio leaned back in his chair as he looked at the ceiling with a depressed expression.

"I'm a selfish asshole."

Sflence.

After a while, Gregorio looked towards the direction of the Judgment Palace.

"Maybe resetting the world isn't such a bad thing."

"At least, then, we will have many different Paths again, and everyone has control over their own destiny."

"Maybe Abaddon isn't the destroyer of the world."

"Maybe he's actually the savior."

The next moment, Gregorio looked towards the northwest with worry.

"And the best thing I can do is to stop the true destroyer of the world from destroying it."

Gregorio sighed once more.

"But even if he does, I still won't stop him."

Gregorio leaned forward and put his head in his hands.

"I'm pathetic."

"I'm sorry, Lucius."

While all of this was happening, two people were talking to each other in the middle of the Judgment Palace.

"Are you sure this is what you want to do?" Kali asked emotionlessly.

Abaddon just smiled bright and confidently. "You were the one that told me about his powers, Mother."

"Do you think my plan is bad?"

Kali looked at Abaddon with even eyes. "No, it's just not what I've expected of you."

Abaddon chuckled a bit. "Mother, you always told me that my confidence is too great and that you believe I would crack under genuine pressure."

"Is that what you meant when you said this isn't what you've expected?"

Kali continued to stare lifelessly at Abaddon.

She didn't answer.

"Mother, I always told you that I am not blind to true power and changing circumstances."

"We have seen the Abominations, and we can see that they do not come from our world."

"The existence of the Abominations is proof of a wider world out there."

"In the past, my goal has been to become the God of this world."

"But now, not anymore."

"Why not leave this world?"

Abaddon chuckled a bit as he looked towards the northwest.

"And our little friend seems to be the key."

 

 

Chapter 994 €‹ 994 - New Kings

Time passed.

Since Wester had passed away, Gregorio's workload had multiplied.

It wasn't difficult for Gregorio to imitate Wester's voice and aura via his Transmission Medal, but Gregorio had to deal with a lot of things.

'That's what I get for letting Shang deal with this,' he thought in exhaustion. 'If I had intervened before Wester went to search for Shang, he would probably still work for me.'

'At least, I only have to continue like this for another 15,000 years, and I can also make Wester retire 5,000 years before his natural end.'

While Gregorio was trying to deal with Wester's workload, the world was entering a period of peace and hope.

No more Abomination Lords!

No more war!

No more Shang!

The war had been going on for over 20,000 years, which meant that several generations of Ancestral Mages had been born and died during the war.

Ancestral Mages could live for 5,000 years, and four generations of those had been born into war and died while the war was still raging on.

Only the oldest Mage Lords and the Mage Kings could remember a time before the war.

But now, the war was finally over!

And even better, the worsening situation with the Abominations had also ended.

The Ancestral Mages and more powerful knew of the Child of Calamity, and they knew that the Child of Calamity hadn't increased in power for a very long time.

No one knew who the Child of Calamity was, but they knew that the Child of Calamity had to be around 25,000 years old or even older.

This created three possibilities, and all of them were not that bad.

One, the Child of Calamity was very close to running out of longevity.

Two, the Child of Calamity had died.

Three, there had never been a Child of Calamity this time, and the Abominations had just increased in power naturally.

These cases all didn't matter since the Empress of Death had found a way to get rid of the most powerful Abominations.

With enough time, she would probably also find a way to deal with the weaker Abominations.

Some people argued that this didn't make a lot of sense. After all, Abomination Lords were more powerful than Ancestral Abominations. So, how could it be harder to stop Ancestral Abominations from appearing than Abomination Lords?

If the Empress of Death could get rid of Abomination Lords, she should also be able to get rid of weaker Abominations.

But some people also had very strong counterarguments.

"In order to filter something smaller and weaker, the filter needs to be more precise and more advanced. Therefore, it is easier to stop Abomination Lords from appearing than Ancestral Abominations."

"Also, if it were so easy to stop weaker Abominations from appearing, why had the first three Realms of the Abominations always appeared throughout history?"

Most people believed that Kali would one day be able to deal with the weaker Abominations as well.

In general, people were very hopeful, and many people would rather look at a more positive future than a grim one.

All the powerful Ancestral Mages and Mage Lords thought about the friends and family they had lost to the Abominations.

The Abominations had destroyed such a significant part of the world, and they had killed so many people.

Finally, the world had a shot at getting rid of them.

As everything calmed down, more powerful Mages were born, and within just a couple of thousand years, the population of the Mage Lords had recovered to the same level as before the war.

No matter how many people died during the war, the population would always recoven

The population of Mage Kings had also recovered.

Of course, in exchange, the population of Beast Kings had declined.

In order to keep the number of Mage Kings at 90, the Emperors had decided to kill a couple of Beast Kings for Mana.

5,000 years after the Grand Tournament in which Shang had participated, Cynthia became a Mage King.

With Cynthia being a Mage King now, the Lightning Manor had seven Mage Kings again, the same number as when Shang had joined.

Wester, the Custodian. While Shang and Gregorio knew that he was dead, the world didn't know yet.

Kiran, the Catastrophe King.

Sarah, the Starlight Queen.

Amarius, the Dawnlight King.

Emilia, the Heartdevil Queen.

Eluriel, the Voidspace King.

Cynthia, the Arctic Queen.

The departments had also shifted around.

The Starlight Queen gave the Reconnaissance Department to the Voidspace King and took over the Reinforcement Department.

The Starlight Queen also gave the second Department she had run for a while, the Research Department, to the Arctic Queen.

After running several departments for over 20,000 years, the Starlight Queen had finally earned some peace and quiet.

Additionally, she had also proven that her skills were invaluable, which was why she had gotten the second-most-important Department after the Administration Department.

If the Mage King of the Reinforcement Department didn't do a good job, the Lightning Manor wouldn't get new Mage Kings.

20,000 years ago, the Starlight Queen had been the newest Mage King, and she had to prove herself with an unimportant Department like Reconnaissance.

And now, she had finally gotten a valuable position.

20,000 years ago, Queen Primordium ran the Reinforcement Department. Queen Primordium had been much more powerful than the Starlight Queen back then.

But now, the Starlight Queen was close to being able to use the Domain Spell.

And when she finally mastered it, she could have rivaled the Queen Primordium from the past.

As time passed, the new replaced the old.

However, all the Mage Kings also knew that a big change would soon take place.

They knew that the Custodian would soon die.

Luckily, they had already determined a worthy successor.

Kiran, the Catastrophe King.

While Kiran wasn't as powerful as the Custodian, he could use the Domain Spell, and he still had over 40,000 years left.

With a bit of luck, he might even enter the top five of all Mage Kings.

The Lightning Manor was recovering.

The bad times were over.

From now on, the world would recover.

Finally, the dark times were over!

 

 

Chapter 995 995 - Peak Sword King

More years passed.

Eventually, the Custodian retreated from the busy life of a King.

For his last 5,000 years, he wanted to travel the world in peace and live amongst the weaker people.

Several Mage Kings wanted to hold a farewell ceremony for him, but Wester just dechned.

And just like that, one of the most powerful Mage Kings had retreated from the world.

The Catastrophe King took over as the new Custodian and head of the Administration Department.

Amarius, the Dawnlight King, ran two Departments now.

The Force Department and the Diplomacy Department.

Ever since the entire war started, the Diplomacy Department had stopped being relevant since there was basically nothing to talk about with the other Kingdoms.

Technically, the Force Department was also responsible for fighting in wars, but due to the size of the war, all Departments had been part of it, and the people agreed that the Starlight Queen had done an amazing job.

Compared to Wester, Kiran wasn't nearly as talkative and interested in socializing. Kiran, the Catastrophe King, rarely Visited the Ancestor, and he basically only appeared if the Ancestor wanted something.

About 3,000 years later, Wester officially died.

The Lightning Manor mourned the loss of one of the most prestigious and outstanding Mage Kings.

If Wester hadn't been born in this era, he might have been the strongest Mage King. Sadly, Wester couldn't compare to King Sanctified Death.

The oldest Mage King of the Lightning Manor was now Emilia, the l-leartdevil Queen.

She would probably die within the next 10,000 years.

However, compared to Wester's death, not many people cared about Emilia.

Ever since Emilia had become a Mage King, she had only done the absolute bare minimum.

If she were a Mage Lord, she would have long since been demoted into a normal Bolt without a lot of responsibility.

Sadly, as a Mage King, the Lightning Manor was kind of forced to give her an important position.

Emilia had barely done anything, and even though she was now around 90,000 years old, she still belonged to the weakest 10% of Mage Kings in the world.

And compared to the late Myriad King, she didn't contribute anything.

After another 3,000 years, the Lightning Manor welcomed a new Mage King.

The Lightningcrystal Queen, Ferona.

For the foreseeable future, she would follow Amarius and learn from him.

Ferona had quite a confident but competent Aura around her.

Amarius even said that Ferona reminded him of the late Queen Primordium.

With the heightened tensions between Empires, Ferona would be a good pick for becoming the next Mage King responsible for the Diplomacy Department.

Being nice to other Empires was no longer a fitting strategy.

While the Lightning Manor was crowning a new Mage King, Shang had also achieved his goal for now.

Three Abomination Kings were turned into Mana and Entropy around him, and a moment later, Shang's Aura intensified even more.

Shang was now 43,000 years old, and he had reached the Sword King Realm 14,000 years ago.

14,000 years ago, Shang had easily killed one of the strongest Mage Kings, Wester.

Back then, Shang had been at the Initial Sword King Realm.

But now, Shang had reached the Peak Sword King Realm.

The intensity and pressure of his Aura was unprecedented.

A sevenfold Spirit Sense.

Even without Shang's Abomination body.

Even without Shang's Entropy.

Even without these things, Shang would have a sevenfold Spirit Sense and a fitting Battle Strength.

And yet, these two other things pushed Shang that much further.

While Shang's Spirit Sense was "only" sevenfold, Shang's true power might actually reach the level of a hypothetical eightfold or even ninefold Spirit Sense.

Shang's power was no longer reasonable.

When Shang felt the impossible power of his body, he felt a feeling of exhilaration flow through his body.

The feeling of power was intoxicating.

It felt so amazing.

He wanted even more.

Even though Shang was no longer under any time pressure or danger, he still didn't take breaks.

He wanted more power!

The faster he got more power, the better!

He needed more power!

Over the past 14,000 years, Shang had focused on increasing the power of his body and techniques even more.

All the techniques he had created in the past had been integrated into Shang's new fighting style and had been elevated.

The more Shang progressed, the more he realized that there were no limits to his potential.

He was growing quickly at a terrifying rate, making Shang laugh with jubilation.

His mind was so fast and powerful!

His instincts were beyond compare!

The potential of his body was only limited by his creativity!

He could transform into whatever shape he wanted!

The limited ability of the human body no longer concerned him!

The constraints of the rules of the world were no longer important!

Shang had long since broken past them, and he could feel the true power of the wider world!

The Abominations were powerful, and the Abominations would also soon be beneath him!

Shang's tentacles stretched.

BOOOOOM!

And then, they all attacked the silver wall!

The silver wall vibrated.

Back when Shang had been an Initial Sword King, the silver wall hadn't even reacted.

When Shang saw the wall vibrate, he could tell that it was breakable.

If he used Entropy on the wall, it might actually get destroyed.

This was all Shang wanted to see.

Leaving the world right now might not be the best idea.

First, Shang wanted to become a God and kill the owner of the current title of God.

Shang looked at the sky with a mad grin.

Soon".

After a bit, Shang focused on something else.

Since he was now a Peak Sword King, Shang wanted to try something.

No one had ever done something like this, and no one had ever heard about something like this.

But Shang could do it, and he wanted to know what it would feel like.

So, Shang decided that he would do it now.

Shang wanted to know something.

Did Abomination Emperors exist?

 

 

Chapter 996 996 - Abomination Emperor

No one had ever seen an Abomination Emperor.

According to the Watcher's Record,

Abominations hadn't existed for that long, and when they had appeared, they had been extremely weak.

When Lucius had become powerful, the strongest Abomination anyone had ever seen was an Abomination King.

No one had ever seen an Abomination Emperor.

Even more, Shang was actually quite confident that Lucius had never actually summoned an Abomination Emperor himself.

There were a couple of reasons for that.

First of all, Lucius had never undergone the Bloodline Infusion.

One had to remember that Shang was only able to use the True Domain of Entropy because his body was essentially an Abomination.

Even more, Lucius had needed to kill almost all other Emperors to become a God. If he had comprehended the True Concept of Entropy, he definitely hadn't transformed his body and mind.

Shang was certain that Lucius had still been a human.

So, Lucius hadn't had the ability to absorb Abominations to become more powerful, and summoning Abominations also wouldn't help him in accomplishing any of his goals.

He probably even used his status as the Child of Calamity to stop more Abominations from appearing.

In Lucius' mind, summoning an Abomination Emperor was probably akin to endangering the entire world.

But Shang didn't have any of these issues.

Shang wanted to know what an Abomination Emperor looked like, and that was enough reason for him to summon one.

Shang closed his eyes and searched for an Abomination Emperor.

And he didn't need to search for long.

Almost instantly, Shang felt thousands of Abomination Emperors.

When Shang felt the sheer number of Abomination Emperors, his guess had been confirmed.

The world of the Abominations was vastly superior to Aterium.

Shang laughed and grabbed one of the Abomination Emperors.

He easily cut the connection between it and its inferiors, and Shang pulled it out.

The Abomination Emperor was easily pulled out of its world, but surprisingly, it neither helped Shang nor refused him.

It was like it was just bored, and decided to just go along with whatever was happening.

SHING!

The next moment, it appeared in front of Shang.

Surprisingly, the Abomination Emperor wasn't even that big.

In fact, it was just a bit over 180 centimeters tall, the size of an average man.

On top of that, it also almost looked like a human.

While its form and its limbs appeared human, there were still many tentacles coming out of its back.

Compared to Shang's tentacles, these were not tentacles ending in weapons.

Just like with the weaker Abominations, these tentacles basically served no purpose.

They couldn't be used as weapons, and they even got in the way a couple of times.

Naturally, the number of tentacles had decreased as the Abominations had become more powerful.

An Abomination Lord only had tentacles on its face, while an Abomination King had no tentacles.

But now, the shape of the body was different, and the tentacles had returned.

Apparently, a sort of transformation had taken place between the Abomination King and the Abomination Emperor Realm.

The human standing in front of Shang had no scales, but its body was still an unnatural ashen color.

Shang was quite intrigued by the appearance of the Abomination Emperor.

A moment later, the Abomination Emperor opened its eyes and glanced at Shang with interest.

There was no respect or disrespect in its eyes.

It was simply curiosity.

It was almost innocent.

However, Shang realized how terrifying this actually was.

This was no longer something with a pseudo-intelligence.

This Abomination Emperor was like a little child, a being with actual intelligence.

It just hadn't gained any experience or knowledge of the world yet.

But with a bit of time, it would quickly learn many things.

When Shang saw the Abomination Emperor open its eyes, he felt a bit uncertain.

He felt like this wasn't the best idea.

The next moment, the Abomination Emperor looked around the world with interest.

Surprisingly, it wasn't interested in destroying the world just yet.

A moment later, it furrowed its brows and held out its right hand.

BZZZZT!

Shang's eyes widened when he saw some lightning appear on top of the Abomination Emperor's hand.

Even more, Shang recognized that the Abomination Emperor had used the level one Concept of Lightning, Spark!

Yet, hadn't the Abomination Emperor just been a newborn baby?!

How had it already mastered a Concept?!

The Abomination Emperor closed its hand and opened it again.

The next moment, the lightning in its hand began to spin, and the Abomination Emperor looked at the lightning with interest.

Shang felt a cold shiver run down his shoulder.

The level two Concept of Lightning, Magnetism!

BZZZ!

Then, the lightning exploded.

The level three Concept of Lightning, Shock!

More lightning appeared, and it began to spin in a circle as a concentrated bolt.

The level four Concept of Lightning, Bolt!

At that moment, Shang felt something terrifying.

Just now, the Abomination Emperor hadn't felt that dangerous to Shang.

It had barely felt like an issue.

A couple of good attacks, and the Abomination Emperor would cease to exist.

However, as the Abomination Emperor kept comprehending Concepts, the feeling of threat it was emanating rapidly intensified!

The next moment, the lightning in the Abomination Emperor's hands changed color, and Shang took a deep breath.

The level five Concept of Lightning, Lightning itself!

Shang could feel that the Abomination Emperor was very quickly turning into something that could fight him!

WHOOOOOM!

Shang activated his Domain of Entropy.

He had to stop the Abomination Emperor now!

The Abomination Emperor looked with interest at Shang before furrowing its brows.

The next moment, Shang felt an apocalyptic pressure crushing his body, making it extremely difficult to move.

Shang gritted his teeth, and ten of his tentacles turned into nothingness.

BOOOOOM!

A humongous cut went through the world, and the pressure on Shang became weaker.

A moment later, Shang saw the bisected body of the Abomination Emperor before his Domain of Entropy completely turned it into Mana and Entropy.

Shang took a deep breath and used the Entropy and Mana to regrow his limbs before pocketing the remainder.

Sure enough, Abomination Emperors were truly dangerous.

 

 

Chapter 997 997 - Hopelessness

Shang continued training and refining his combat style.

By now, he had found quite a few ways to strengthen himself even further, and he was sure that some of these things were on the same level as the final Destination for warriors.

The world had existed for a very long time, and many people had found their way to the top. Yet, Shang was also certain that not every possible path had been explored to the fullest.

The world could accommodate many more things, and Shang knew that he could create more and more new things.

By now, Shang was even thinking about how the world actually managed to support some of Shang's creations.

Shang could tell that the world worked on a certain ruleset, and many abilities could be used with the support of the world.

For example, when Shang used World Connection, he was technically not hitting his enemy.

The world itself emulated Shang's physical strike and struck the opponent.

If the world didn't support Shang, Shang wouldn't be able to hit someone with this kind of attack.

Magic was extremely similar.

The Concepts represented the rules of the world, and some of the Spells made with these Concepts relied on the world itself.

For example, the Domain Spell used the Gravity, Time, and Space Mana from the world itself and changed them.

Of course, the Mage also had to use their own Mana, but that was only part of it.

What about the existence of Mana itself?

Did the other worlds even have Mana, or did they use something else?

What if the other worlds relied on a mixture of Mana and Entropy, just like Shang's body?

Sword Heart also relied on the world.

Without the world actively following someone's will, many powers wouldn't even work.

And with many of Shang's new powers, he saw the world reciprocating as well.

It was quite surprising.

Shang was quite certain that some of the things he had invented had never been invented in the past.

So, how would the world know how to reciprocate these abilities?

Was it an automatic thing, or did the God do this?

'No, it's definitely not him,' Shang thought with a snort. 'Means it's an automatic thing.'

Something like this was quite impressive, but Shang's horizons had already been widened.

Who cares about how this weak world worked?

One of the thousands of Abomination Emperors could end it.

From what Shang had seen, it would simply comprehend all the Concepts in a matter of minutes, become unattackable, and then destroy all the Mana.

Was this the end goal of the Abominations?

Just get an Abomination Emperor into the world?

It was definitely possible. After all, the Ninth Realm represented the highest Realm in the world, except for the God.

In front of the Abominations, Aterium couldn't even resist.

SHING!

Shang slashed with one of his tentacles, leaving behind a black tear in the air.

A moment later, all the Mana in Shang's surroundings was sucked into the black tear.

Shang just looked with ridicule at the black tear that was absorbing the Mana.

This wasn't exactly one of Shang's techniques.

This was simply a result of Shang becoming too powerful.

By using all of his powers and actively targeting reality, Shang could create a tear in reality, which would continue absorbing Mana indefinitely.

'This world is so weak.'

'I'm not even in the Ninth Realm, and I can already tear it apart.'

'What a disgusting world.'

Shang watched with disgust as the tear slowly began to close.

It took the tear nearly ten full seconds to close fully, which was just pathetic in Shang's eyes.

Whenever Shang moved or did anything, he felt like he had to be careful, lest he accidentally break little poor Aterium.

It was like Shang had to walk on eggshells all the time.

He hated it.

He hated this world for being so weak.

Nevertheless, Shang had to wait for about 8,000 more years.

Well, he didn't have to, but he wanted to.

Whenever Shang thought of the future, he had to grin.

'You Emperors have been a pain in the ass for long enough.'

'You tried your best to kill and suppress me, and after so long, I can finally take revenge.'

'Become a Sword Emperor?'

Shang smirked.

'No, that would be boring.'

'I want to make them lose all hope.'

'I want them to try everything to kill me.'

'I want to give them hope before crushing it!'

'I won against Wester with a four - level disadvantage.'

'So, why can't I win against one of these useless Mage Emperors with a five - level disadvantage?

'Wester already knew many level six Concepts, and the Mage Emperors just know a couple more.'

'But what's the point of having level six Concepts?'

'What's the point?!'

'My power is absolute!'

'My power no longer follows the conventions of this world!'

'You are all just pathetic little worms living in the rotting piece of shit you call Aterium!'

'Your useless little toys can't do anything to help you when someone comes with an actual weapon!'

'I will show you!'

'For everything you've done to me, I will tear down your hope again and again before I snuff out your lives!'

'I am going to destroy your Mage Kings!'

'I am going to destroy your Mage Lords?

'I am going to destroy your Empires!'

'I am going to destroy everything you hold dear!'

'I will rid this world of humanity, and while I'm at it, I might as well rid this world of every other life as well!'

'And I'm not even doing this for the level six Concept of Death.'

'I'm just doing this because you all want to save Aterium.'

'You all tried to take my life from me.'

'So, I will take everything that you love away from you!'

Shang couldn't stop smiling happily.

It felt so great.

He was so excited!

Just about 8,000 more years!

In 8,000 more years, he could finally turn the Mage Emperors' lives into a world of despair and hopelessness!

 

Chapter 998 - Silent End

More years passed.

By now, the world had recovered in full.

Except for the couple of Beast Kings that had been sacrificed for the Mage Kings, the world had fully recovered.

While the war was technically still ongoing, no one had truly fought in it, and people didn't even think about it.

There hadn't been any battles in thousands of years.

The war didn't even feel like it existed.

Except for the Abominations, the world had become peaceful again.

However, the existence of the Abominations had already become a normality for all the people.

While Abomination Lords had stopped appearing, Ancestral Abominations and weaker still kept appearing, but they had been appearing for such a long time that not even Mage Lords remembered a time before them.

And if not even the Mage Lords had witnessed a world without Ancestral Abominations, how would the weaker people feel?

It had always been like this.

Naturally, the appearance of the Abominations gave the world a certain feeling of doomsday, but the Empress of Death represented hope.

She had already managed to get rid of Abomination Lords.

At some point, she could also get rid of Ancestral Abominations!

They were sure!

After tens of thousands of years of terrifying war, the world was finally in an age of hope and peace.

Yet, while the general public looked at the development of the world with bright eyes, the Mage Kings and Mage Emperors felt very different.

The closer they got to the Ultimate Tournament, the more worried they got.

All of them had already seen Abaddon's power before, and they all knew that he could fight them.

He wouldn't even need to become a Mage Emperor.

Of course, if two Emperors attacked him, he probably wouldn't win.

But what after he became a Mage Emperor?

Then, they would all need to fight him simultaneously.

It was really dangerous.

In secret, many of the Emperors had already come to talk to Gregorio in private.

"Hey, now that all of this is over, do you really want to go through with the Ultimate Tournament?" they asked. "After all, you wanted this tournament for your warrior, right?"

One had to remember that the tournament only existed because Gregorio had threatened everyone with releasing the Archivist.

If Gregorio stopped threatening them with the Archivist, they could just not hold the tournament.

Yet, Gregorio shot all of them down.

"You wanted this," Gregorio answered with annoyance. "Originally, I helped Shang because I wanted him to kill Abaddon. While I can't negotiate with Abaddon, I was able to negotiate with Shang."

"I wanted Shang to kill Abaddon, give him a couple of Kings and Emperors so that he can become a God, and make him deal with the Abominations."

"But because of you, he kept destroying himself more and more until he became something that I don't even recognize anymore. How am I supposed to stop someone like that from destroying the world?"

"But then, he died."

"And now, you're stuck with Abaddon."

"So, no, I won't stop threatening you with the Archivist."

"If the tournament doesn't happen, I will release the Archivist."

"You dug your grave. Now, you have to lie in it."

Obviously, the Mage Emperors weren't the biggest fans of Gregorio's answer.

Most of them just argued more.

Some of them reacted with aggression and called Gregorio a sore loser.

And one of them, Linastra Boomwitch, even agreed with Gregorio to a certain extent.

Linastra Boomwitch said that she had been on the sidelines for too long and that she should have supported him.

But Gregorio just said that it was already too late.

The damage was already done.

The fate of the world was set.

He told her that the world would end in about 5,000 years after the Ultimate Tournament.

Of course, Linastra didn't fully believe that.

After all, the final battle between the Emperors and Abaddon hadn't happened yet.

There was a real chance that they could win.

Gregorio didn't answer.

When Linastra left, Gregorio just looked towards the northwest.

He saw Shang, or more precisely, what Shang had become.

The more time passed, the less human Shang became.

By now, his body didn't even look human.

Shang was no longer human.

In fact, Shang wasn't even an Abomination.

Shang had become his own being.

The most fitting word Gregorio could come up with was Nightmare.

Shang had become a Nightmare.

An enemy to all life and existence.

The end of the world.

Shang had become the apocalypse.

Gregorio knew that the world was already over.

More years passed, and the Ultimate Tournament was already on the horizon.

A couple of old Mage Kings died, and new ones were crowned, but none of that mattered anymore.

The Mage Emperors were fully focused on the Ultimate Tournament, and they came up with many strategies.

They wanted to include Gregorio in their meetings, but Gregorio declined.

He was done with them.

Eventually, only a thousand years were left.

Shang was now 50,000 years old, and he had been in the Sword King Realm for 21,000 years.

For 21,000 years, he had worked on nothing but his power, and his results were terrifying.

Shang's power kept escalating to the point that he wouldn't even need any Abominations to destroy the world.

He wouldn't even need to reach the Ninth Realm.

He could just tear Aterium's reality slowly apart.

When Gregorio saw Shang, he felt only one thing.

Acceptance.

The world didn't know, but the end was already certain.

There would be no excitement.

There would be no last epic battle.

Shang's power had reached places that no one had even dared imagine.

Shang had become so powerful that he could probably even fight the Archivist...

As a Peak Sword King.

This was no battle for survival.

Without anyone noticing, Shang had already become the undisputed strongest being in the entire world.

He had already become the ruler.

He might not be a God, but he was already one in practice.

Gregorio just looked at the world with melancholy.

For the last millennium, Gregorio just watched the world.

It was like watching a loved one slowly dying.

And then, it was time.

The 50,000 years were up.

The Ultimate Tournament was here.

The end of the world had arrived.

 

 

Chapter 999 999 - The Ultimate Tournament

It was finally time.

After 50,000 years, the time had finally arrived. The Ultimate Tournament.

The strongest Mage King would become the newest Mage Emperor!

While all the weaker people were excited about the rise of another Emperor, the Mage Kings and Mage Emperors became worried.

While the normal people didn't know the specifics about every Mage King, the Mage Kings themselves knew that this tournament was only for show.

They knew that King Sanctified Death would win.

Whenever any of the Mage Kings just so much as looked at him, they already felt helplessly inferior.

It was like they were looking at a Mage Emperor!

King Sanctified Death was on a level that they couldn't even hope to resist!

Luckily, this tournament wasn't to the death.

Because of that, the Mage Kings could still try fighting ng Sanctlfied Death.

Many of them always wanted to fight against the most talented Mage in existence.

Due to King Sanctified Death, the Mage Emperors decided against holding the tournament inside the Judgement Palace Empire.

Instead, they decided to hold it in the south, in the Event Horizon Empire.

Since the Event Horizon Empire specialized in Space, Time, and Gravity Magic, the center of their Empire was made of especially malleable space.

In the center of the Event Horizon Empire, a monumental grey pearl floated in the sky.

It was over 5,000 kilometers wide, but that wasn't even close to its entire size.

The Space, Time, and Gravity Mana inside the grey pearl had been compressed by so much that the inside was over a. million kilometers wide.

Sadly, the warped Mana inside the pearl made it impossible to comprehend any Concepts.

This pearl was called the Horizon, which gave the Event Horizon Empire part of its name.

In a way, it was similar to the reality tear that Shang had once traveled through.

The Empires decided that the final battle over the fate of the world would be held here.

Just as promised, they would hold the tournament and hand over King Sanctified Death's prize.

And then, the final battle would take place.

Abaddon might not want to destroy all the matter in the world, but for living beings, he might as well be just as dangerous as the Abominations.

After Shang had died around 25,000 years ago, Abaddon had become the enemy of the Mage Emperors.

If they managed to get rid of Abaddon, they would only have to deal with the Abominations.

Of course, Kali would probably also have to die since she would most likely take Abaddon's side.

So, it was very possible that the Abomination Lords would return to the world. After all, Kali had probably rigged her Magic Circles to explode in case she died.

But the Mage Emperors were already prepared for that.

Three of them had focused on comprehending the Magic Circles Kali had created, and they had already gleaned a lot of information from them.

They were not yet certain how these Magic Circles could stop Abominations from appearing, but the Emperors now had a direction they could focus on.

Eventually, one of them would be able to recreate Kali's Spell.

And then, all the problems would be solved.

They only hoped that they would be able to resist Abaddon's attacks and kill him.

Luckily, Gregorio had only said that the tournament needed to conclude officially.

This meant that a winner had to be crowned, and the prize had to be handed over.

However, that didn't mean that everyone had to wait for Abaddon to absorb his prize.

That moment would be when the fate of the world was decided.

As the tournament grew closer, one person after the other arrived.

As the host, Isis N eweston was already present, and she waited in the middle of the Horizon with her candidate.

Isis Neweston's candidate was her most powerful Mage King, a young-looking man with grey hair and grey eyes.

His title was Eternity King, and he belonged to one of the ten most powerful Mage Kings in the world.

The first other Emperor that arrived was Nivera Preston, the Deepsteel Empress.

Her candidate was an adult woman with grey, azure, and white hair.

This was the Icespear Queen.

The Icespear Queen had been Wester's rival, and she was the reason why Wester had always only been second or third place amongst the Mage Kings.

The Icespear Queen was one of the rare prodigies that were seen only once in a hundred thousand years.

She had three Afiinities!

Ice, Lightning, and Metal!

Now, after Wester had died, the Icespear Queen had become the undisputed second place among the Mage Kings.

The next person who arrived wasJenny Greenhouse.

Her candidate was a girl with orange and blue hair who naturally had a Dual Affinity of Fire and Ice.

Her title was Fierycold Queen, and she belonged to the top ten of Mage Kings.

The next one that arrived was Linastra Boomwitch, and her candidate was a man with light-red hair and red robes.

His title was Sacredfiame King. He had Dual Affinity of Fire and Light, and he belonged to the top ten of all Mage Kings.

The next one that arrived was Bina Ching with her candidate, who had icy and black hair.

She was the Abyssfrost Queen, and she had a Dual Afiinity of Darkness and Ice. She belonged to the top ten of Mage Kings, but she was most likely within the top five.

Next, Brutus Cesar arrived with his candidate, a stalwart, tall, and muscular man.

His title was the Unbreakable King, and he had a Dual Afiinity of Earth and Metal. He also had a high likelihood of being among the top five of Mage Kings.

The next Emperor that arrived was Amon Gus, and his candidate was a beautiful girl with black and White hair.

She was the Duality Queen, andjust like Amon Gus, she had a Dual Affinity of Light and Darkness. She could also fight for a position among the top five.

After Amon Gus arrived, quite some time passed until the next person arrived.

It was Kali with her candidate.

Naturally, her candidate didn't need any introduction.

Abaddon just politely greeted everyone present.

Surprisingly, the other Mage Kings didn't seem to fear him.

Instead, determination appeared in their eyes. Everyone focused on Abaddon.

"Can we start?" Amon Gus asked.

"We're missing one," Isis Neweston stated evenly.

"Are you sure he will come?" Amon Gus asked with a shake of his head. "After all, the Custodian died, and his true candidate also died. The Catastrophe King is becoming quite impressive, but he is not yet on the level of the present people."

Silence.

"I'm here."

Everyone heard Gregorio's voice with surprise, and a second later, he appeared to the side with his candidate.

When everyone saw the candidate, they felt like their minds had stopped working.

 

 

Chapter 1000 1000 - The Plan

They couldn't believe what they were seeing.

No, this couldn't be!

How?!

Why?!

While Shang's Aura and clothing were different, his appearance couldn't be any more distinguishable.

After all, who else was missing his eyes, an arm, and both his legs?!

Beside Gregorio hovered a torso with a head and a right arm, encompassed by a bloodred piece of cloth.

How was he still alive?!

When Abaddon looked at Shang, he laughed loudly.

"You're still alive!" he shouted with happiness. "And I thought this tournament would be boring!"

When the Emperors heard Abaddon's exclamation, their minds started to go wild.

Was it really so bad that Shang was alive?

If Abaddon and Shang were to fight in the final...

And then, the Emperors realized that no one in this tournament was supposed to die.

But with a vote, they could probably change that.

So, if Abaddon and Shang fought to the death in the final, one of them would be dead, and the other one would be severely injured.

As long as Isis Neweston, the organizer of the Ultimate Tournament, handed over the prize very quickly, the Emperors would be able to fight a weakened Abaddon or Shang!

Of course, all of that was mixed with many other feelings and thoughts.

How did he become a Peak Sword King without anybody noticing?

How was he still alive?

Hadn't Lucius said that no non-Mage Emperor was supposed to appear again?

What was Gregorio's plan?

In an instant, Amon Gus, Brutus Cesar, and Kali gathered Mana in preparation to unleash their Spells.

Shang didn't do anything.

Just like always, hejust silently hovered in the air, almost like a ghost.

"And what are you planning?" Gregorio asked with a bit of annoyance.

"Upholding the law," Kali said. "He has reached the Eighth Realm without being allowed to. According to the laws, he will be killed."

"Now, now, Mother," Abaddon said with a smile. "Does that actually matter? After all, I will be fighting him soon. I would hate for my only decent opponent to die before the tournament even starts."

Kali furrowed her brows and looked at Abaddon.

The next moment, she dispersed her Mana and took a step back.

Obviously, Kali had only acted like she wanted to kill Shang to keep up appearances.

Kali and Shang were already connected.

If she betrayed him, Shang would only need to unveil the method Kali used to get rid of the Abomination Lords.

She could only betray Shang after the final battle was over.

For now, they were stuck together.

However, Brutus Cesar and Amon Gus didn't back down.

"And how did he break the law?" Gregorio asked. Even though Kali had already backed down, her earlier statement also represented the other two Emperors.

"How didn't he break the law?" Amon Gus asked with a snort. "How did he reach the Eighth Realm, and even the Peak of said Realm at that?"

"Why would I need to explain?" Gregorio asked calmly. "You're supposed to prove that he broke the law."

"His mere existence is already proof enough," Brutus Cesar grumbled coldly.

"How?" Gregorio asked. "You all looked at the Beast Lords and Beast Kings with incomparable paranoia for thousands of years, and nothing unusual happened to them."

"You constantly checked all the Mage Lords of all the Empires, and you also saw no discrepancies in them either."

"Keeping track of all the Mage Kings is especially easy."

"There are also no huge genocides."

"Over the last 28,000 years, you didn't even complain about anything for a single time."

"Reaching the Eighth Realm isn't forbidden. It is simply forbidden to consume any of the Beast Kings or a huge number of Beast Lords or Mage Lords."

"So, which of these laws did he break?" Gregorio asked.

Amon Gus only snorted. "A lot of words to say nothing. Fact is, he took Mana from somewhere, and it is forbidden to take so much Mana without our permission."

"Okay, where did he take it from?" Gregorio asked.

"It doesn't matter from where. The fact that he is at the Peak Eighth Realm means that he did just that," Brutus answered.

"I need more proof than that," Gregorio said.

Amon Gus and Brutus Cesar narrowed their eyes.

"Enough," Isis Neweston spoke calmly but with authority.

The two angry Emperors looked at her with annoyance.

"We all know Gregorio," she said. "He won't back down without proof, and if he is that confident to appear this openly, it means that it is impossible for us to find proof."

"Instead, we should focus on the tournament."

"Now, will this be a malicious or benign tournament?" she asked.

Amon Gus and Brutus Cesar noticed what Isis was doing and stopped complaining.

Originally, there wasn't supposed to be a vote for benign or malicious.

This was just supposed to be a benign tournament since no Empire actually wanted to lose their most powerful Mage King.

Everyone knew that Abaddon would win. There was no point in throwing the lives of their Mage Kings away.

But now, things had changed.

"Malicious."

"Malicious."

"Malicious."

"Malicious."

"Malicious."

"Malicious."

"Malicious."

"Malicious."

"Malicious."

"So, we are all in agreement," Isis Neweston said. "Nine votes for malicious and zero for benign."

"This tournament will officially be a malicious tournament. If one side of the battle wants the battle to be malicious, it will be malicious."

All the Mage Emperors and Mage Kings focused on Gregorio, Kali, Abaddon, and Shang.

All of this was for them.

When Shang and Abaddon met, they would obviously choose malicious.

After all, they were each other's greatest enemy and rival.

Both of them had lofty goals, and both of them obviously wanted to become the next God.

Yet, there was only enough Mana for one of them.

This meant that this was the best moment to kill the other person.

However, the price would be heavy.

Everyone knew that over 50% of all the Mage Kings would die.

Sadly, this was a necessary sacrifice to kill one of them and weaken the other.

After all, the two of them had to meet in the final. Otherwise, the weakened one would recover.

The Mage Kings became extremely nervous, but all of them had lived for a very long time, and they were loyal to their Empires.

"Then," Isis Neweston proclaimed.

"The Ultimate Tournament will officially begin!"