City of Sin

The Man On The Throne

The man on the throne was also humanoid, wearing black armour and a mask similarly to the axe wielder. He seemed to have no power to speak of at first glance, but as Richard focused on him he felt like he was staring at a terrifyingly large creature who had the earth crushed beneath its feet. His heart skipped a beat, but as he focused further things seemed to revert to a man lazing on a throne. Richard forced himself to calm down, focusing his vision on the laws all around. Now his vision seemed to pass right through,  as though the man didn’t even exist.

It was at this point that the man on the throne moved his head, making it seem like his gaze had landed on Richard. Richard instantly felt like his entire body was seen through, and amidst his shock he completely scattered the surrounding laws with a barrier to prevent the scrying. Up on that illusory peak, the man finally sat up straight, “If you wish to go to the alter world, defeat me first.”

The voice didn’t resound through the air, nor did it resonate in one’s mind. It simply rang out naturally, as though distance didn’t influence at all. Richard shivered as he realised that the feeling of being seen through wasn’t a mistake; this man had ascertained both his power and his thoughts! He couldn’t even figure out how the voice was ringing so close!

He took a deep breath, decades of experience bubbling to the top of his mind and calming his emotions. Before proceeding further, he turned around to look at the battle between Nasia and the axe wielder, who were fighting soundlessly without much energy rippling out from their clash. Their movements seemed like a level 10 rogue and warrior fighting, but he could see the true danger within.

Both sides had different combat styles. The black warrior preferred large actions as he hacked continuously, his movements looking simple or even clumsy at times, while Nasia’s swords were dancing around sometimes without even being aimed at the opponent. However, one strike from the axe could cleave mountains while the dancing of the swords was anticipation; underestimating either would lead to death.

The two were clearly a perfect match for each other, their commonality lying in their condensed power. Neither wasted any strength at all, which was why things seemed so dull. Every movement was powered by a different law, and both beings that were stronger than most archlords weren’t going to come to a conclusion just yet.

Knowing that Nasia was alright, Richard relaxed and dashed towards that illusory peak, gradually leaving the ground as he stepped on a non-existent road to the top. The throned man finally stood up; although his face was covered by the mask, Richard felt like he was laughing soundlessly. All the mountains nearby trembled, the huge vortex in the void slowing down. The passage towards the alter world had been stopped with a single action!

Richard suddenly felt an abnormal sense of dryness in his throat; everything here exceeded his knowledge. He was now an epic being who was the most powerful of Norland’s humans, but he couldn’t begin to imagine just how any being could shake the mountains of Arbidis by standing up alone. This was the deepest point of the Eternal Battlefield, a plane that could withstand the tyranny of countless archlords! Such strength in Norland could tear rifts into the mainland, while Faelor of the Forest Plane would collapse!

He felt like he had seen a true deity; not the ones that relied on the laws of their plane and worshippers, but a ruler of all that controlled the life and death of everything. He stopped by instinct as his perception shifted once more to an enormous being that towered thousands of kilometres into the sky, even if his sight told him that this was a man no more than a couple metres tall. The Field of Truth didn’t work, unable to tell him what was reality and what was illusion. The strangest thing was that Richard hadn’t seen the man use any laws until now. The laws of the abyss seemed to pass right through him, as though he didn’t even exist.

Subconsciously stroking the destiny crystal still hidden in his pocket, Richard gritted his teeth and forced himself forward. No matter how scary the existence in front of him was, he still had to go. He simply wouldn’t be able to stomach not even trying to find Sharon.

The man on the peak snorted, an enormous will descending from the void and pouring into his body. His aura immediately skyrocketed, filling the sky as he picked up a pitch-black sword from beside his throne and pointed it at Richard. The sword’s surface was full of rust and stains, and there were multiple nicks on the edge, but what seemed like scrap metal leaning against the throne suddenly started radiating the bloodlust of a primordial beast. In an instant, the fiery heat of the abyss seemed to dissolve into a chilling winter.

Every move of this man seemed to control this entire plane! As the enormous will descended upon him, his unknown gaze seemed to turn cold and piercing as he stared at Richard and lifted his sword. Even kilometres away, Richard felt like a natural predator had locked on to him, his soul’s power crumbling as his body froze in place. He gathered all of his energy to form a giant tetrahedron behind him, but this power only gave him the ability to move. By that point, the man had already sent out a slash.

Black fog rose from the sword and snaked towards Richard, the Field of Truth unable to identify just what it was. Space cracked in the fog’s wake, paving a path for the blade to press down on Richard like a black tide. Richard suddenly felt like all of Arbidis had come to life, pressing down on him from all sides. He quickly realised that this wasn’t an illusion, as the man’s blade had absorbed all the laws within thousands of kilometres and condensed them into the slash. This was equivalent to hurling a sector of Arbidis right at him!

Richard instantly knew that he wouldn’t be able to block this blade, or even obstruct it in the slightest. A hundred archlords would be ground to fine dust in its wake, and it could shatter Norland itself. Time seemed to slow down as he watched the countless spatial cracks appearing and vanishing in quick succession, their destructive power softening right at the last moment as the sword darted gracefully from crack to crack. At that moment, he only had one thought in his mind— How could such a person exist? How could such a strike exist?

Time had slowed so much that Richard took what felt like forever to react to another spatial crack opening right before him, this one showing countless fragmented scenes in the void. He felt the same as when he had seen into possible futures long ago; if he could so much as touch these scenes, something miraculous could happen. However, his body didn’t move as countless golden beams of light showered down from within, wriggling around and converging on his body to twist into a giant glowing cocoon. The light then pulled him into an enormous portal that appeared out of nowhere, behind it a dark expanse of nothingness.

When Richard disappeared behind the void into the darkness, the big door closed gently. The flow of time seemed to regain its normalcy, while the throned man’s sword rolled past to strike at the portal that had yet to disappear. Carving it in two, the attack then dug a hundred-kilometre-long scar into the Eternal Battlefield, disintegrating everything in its path.

“The dragon again!” the man snorted coldly, but he seemed to have no intent to chase as he simply sat back down and returned to his languid pose. A moment later, he and the peak disappeared from sight, possessing no vitality at all.

The sudden change stumped Nasia as well. Glancing at the vanishing peak, she looked back at her fierce opponent before sheathing her blades and jumping out of the fight.

“Not fighting anymore?” the axe wielder was stunned.

“Richard’s gone, what’s the point of this farce?” she asked as she turned around to leave.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m waiting for him to return.”

“What point is there?” the warrior snorted.

“Hard to say,” she didn’t stop nor turn her head, only waving as she vanished into the Eternal Battlefield.