Everyone unconsciously turned their heads towards the source of the voice. The familiar silhouette hovering majestically in midair made their eyes widen in shock.
Despite his current thin and sickly appearance, he still gave off a pressure equivalent to Mt.Tai.
Staring at the silhouette who was looking at them as if they were a bunch of flies, the n.o.bles who had defected to the second prince revealed apprehensive expressions.
"Yo-Your mmajesty, this..." Duke Abil was stammering as he spoke fearfully. Thick beads of sweat trickled down his scholarly face. Even his body was quivering non-stop, while the emperor simply disregarded his existence as if he was an unworthy ant.
Duke Maynard"s present state was not any better. His knees almost felt like it turned into jelly as he was staring at Emperor Aventus.
"Your majesty I-"
Before he can continue his speech, Emperor Aventus glanced at him calmly which made him swallow back the words he was about to say. Despite the calmness in the emperor"s gaze, Duke Maynard felt like he was placed in a freezingly cold environment making him shudder without end.
"Abil, Maynard, you have disappointed this emperor." The emperor shook his head, but his expression was so calm that it made everyone palpitate in fear.
It was always the unknown that was scary.
The two dukes felt like their bodies were being bathed in flames, making them sweat non-stop.
"Yo... Your ma...majesty, we thought... We thought..." The two dukes could not even speak accurately at the presence of the emperor.
Although they knew that he was terribly ill, it did not stop them from being fearful of him. Emperor Aventus" reputation had long since spread far and wide, so how could they not know how fearsome he was? Smacking them to death was no problem at all.
"You thought that I won"t live for long, thus, you tucked your dog tails and bowed down to my good son, t.i.tus. Am I right?" The emperor emphasized the words "good son", making the second prince t.i.tus increasingly fearful.
"No, yo...your majesty. We c-can explain." The former scholarly appearance of Duke Abil was gone. His average face became wretched with his tears and snot. Even Duke Maynard who looked awe-inspiring just a few moments ago did not look any better than him.
"Explain? If I wasn"t healed, you dogs would have been the reason for my Celestial Sword Empire"s destruction! What explain?! Utter bulls.h.i.+t!" The emperor roared like an enraged lion, scaring the traitors s.h.i.+tless.
The expressions of both the hall master of the Rising Sun Supreme Hall and the holy lord of the Blue Jade Holy Land looked very grim. They did not even dare breathe, afraid that the emperor would take notice of their presence.
"Do you think that I have gone blind that I won"t be able to see you two dogfarts?! Today, none of you will escape alive! To dare humiliate my Celestial Sword Empire, you should have prepared your old lives to be sent to h.e.l.l!" The emperor slowly hovered towards the two old men with an icy expression on his pale face.
"You Aventus b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Do you think I-" The hall master of the Rising Sun Supreme Hall clutched his neck as he gurgled in his own blood. A deep line of cut can be seen on his neck, blood flowed unceasingly, making everyone hold their breaths in dread.
They were not even able to see when the emperor took out a seemingly ordinary sword. No drops of blood can be seen on the sword"s blade as if it disdained the blood of the Rising Sun Supreme Hall"s hall master. The blade remained spotlessly clean.
"Is that his majesty"s Divine Soul Harvester War Blade?"
"Right, it has been very long since I last saw him wield that blade..."
The generals who were standing atop the capital city"s walls stared fanatically at the emperor"s majestic silhouette.
They recalled the past when the emperor was still in his younger years, slaying his enemies with an ordinary-looking sword in hand as if they were chickens waiting to be slaughtered.
The veneration in their gazes thickened when his former self superimposed with his current visage. This was their emperor! The emperor that paved the Celestial Sword Empire"s path with blood!
A late stage Immortal-Cla.s.s level figure and also a hall master of the Rising Sun Supreme Hall died just like that. His corpse descended like a bird who had lost its wings, creating a ma.s.sive crater as it dropped on the ground with a loud bang.
"Baanng!"
The sound of a human flesh dropping from that height was truly not pleasant to the ears, but everyone did not even bother glancing at the dead old man.
Their gazes were firmly glued on that silhouette who was holding an ordinary-looking sword.
Only after a few seconds had pa.s.sed by until everyone regained their senses.
"Long live the mighty emperor!"
"Long live the Celestial Sword Empire!"
No one knows who started the chant, but everyone followed suit as if they were injected with stimulants.
"Long live the mighty emperor!"
"Long live the Celestial Sword Empire!"
"Long live the mighty emperor!"
"Long live the Celestial Sword Empire!"
Their chants resonated all throughout the whole of Sword City. Even the citizens who were fearful of their future were stunned at that loud chanting. But as if it contained a sort of illusion and charm, the citizens opened their mouths and chanted along with the empire"s soldiers.
As if the chanting affected the sky, the cloud parted ways, showing the glaring sun, making the crown prince and his subordinates sweat profusely.
The empire"s soldiers regained their former vigor and savageness, scaring the opposing army. Even the second prince regretted his actions.
The latter laughed like a deranged madman, causing everyone to look at him with pity. The number one genius of the empire, the second prince, t.i.tus, everyone knows that he won"t escape his father"s wrath.
The holy lord of the Blue Jade Holy Land turned around to flee, but before he could even fly, his body was cut in half by the emperor"s casual sword slash.
The two halves of his body dropped on the ground with a dull thud.
A top-level figure in the world of Shura, another late stage Immortal-Cla.s.s level expert died tragically with his body cut in half.
"An Immortal level sword... How could this kind of weapon be here?" Asteria"s quivering voice resounded inside Cale"s head silently, but the latter"s focus was completely on the unparalleled figure of the man that he had just healed.
Behind Cale were two other people who were similarly looking at the emperor. Their eyes filled with intense admiration. Even the cold and arrogant Seira was full of admiration.
The emperor glanced at the second prince who was still laughing crazily. There was no pity or anger in his eyes, only profound calmness.
"I will give you the chance to kill yourself." Emperor Aventus" emotionless voice traveled in everyone"s ears. They felt their scalp tingle after hearing his cruel words.
The second prince"s laughter halted. He then glanced at the emperor with a distorted smile on his face. The former handsome and arrogant appearance became distorted, making everyone lament.
"Your future would have not been any lesser than the emperor, but you trekked the wrong road, sealing your own path of retreat." Everyone thought to themselves as they gazed at the trembling body of the second prince.
t.i.tus Doomblade pointed the tip of his sword towards his heart without blinking his eyes. He was still gazing at the emperor with a distorted smile on his face.
"I don"t regret everything I did, but I regret being too weak. Looks like I, t.i.tus Doomblade, am destined to be the most foolish genius in the history of the Celestial Sword Empire. Father, farewell..." The distorted smile turned gentle and the former handsome second prince resurfaced, but before the emperor could speak, the second prince had already thrust the sword in his heart.
"Puchi!"
The emperor arrived beside the second prince and prevented him from falling. He held his son tightly in his embrace while looking at his bloodstained body with a complicated expression.
He looked calm on the surface, but how could he remain unmoved after seeing his own son dying in front of him? No matter what wicked deeds he had done, he was, after all, his son.
"Ffather... third bro...brother...he-" The second prince"s eyes turned lifeless before he could finish his words.
The emperor"s gaze turned solemn, but he did not know what t.i.tus wanted to say. He sighed weakly and his countenance looked as if it had aged considerably.
He then slowly descended on top of the capital city"s walls with the lifeless body of t.i.tus in his hands.
Everybody remained silent and just quietly watched the emperor"s fragile back as he walked slowly towards the imperial palace with the second prince"s breathless body in his arms.
This was the last time he would walk with t.i.tus in his life.
A four-elemental Saint, a young Immortal-Cla.s.s level genius died...