When the subordinate Empyrean of the Lord of Shadows reported the incident in its entirety, the long hall-like room decorated with dim, but ancient and old relics, stirred.

Both Old Gu and the Lord of Shadows were shaken, though the letter hid it well.

As they glanced at each other, Qingyu and Baoshi realized something was wrong. A defection of two Empyreans would not rattle these two men.

’Someone who could break out of the Abyssos Prison... Is he really the darkness of the prophecy?’ Yasashii Hito thought solemnly.

’No!’ He decided he would be the one to do it.

"The fake God keeps delaying the inevitable. Tomorrow, we will bring the war to his doorstep."

His loud voice did not remain shackled to the confines of the dark room.

It echoed and reverberated throughout the Realm. It was like a trumpet of war was blown.

Millions of people willing to die for him cheered, a sense of determination burning wild in their hearts.

"To the shadows, we belong!"... "To the shadows, we return!"... "To the..."

As chants echoed back to the castle, Old Gu sat in deep contemplation. For the first time in a very long time, Baoshi noticed a trickle of sweat forming near his temples.

Curious, she asked, "Don’t tell me it weighs on your conscience? To betray the Emperor like that?"

Old Gu shook his head but remained silent.

If even the Lord of Shadows had recognized Ozul from that description, it was given that he had realized as well. The man who convinced Ember to defect and fulfill his revenge was definitely Ozul. And from what he had gathered, the revenge was precisely his old acquaintance, Heavenly Virtue Jidu.

More than a hundred years had passed since he had put Ozul in that prison, and by now, he had forgotten about that incident.

But like a ghost of the past, it was now staring at him in the eyes.

’Did the Emperor already predict this?’ His thoughts wandered unreasonably as he breathed heavily.

’Was that the reason he stayed silent at that time? He knew the kid would get out eventually?’

Sadly for him, there were no answers to his thoughts.

In a more reasoned way, he wondered what gave the kid confidence to go against Jidu.

’Well 6 Empyreans might be able to hold him down,’ he hummed inwardly, realizing that Jidu would also be pinned down because of the Celestial Dragon.

It was a thought he couldn’t have imagined before, but thinking of Ozul, a man who broke through the Abyssos Prison, it suddenly seemed plausible.

He wanted to go there and confirm with his own eyes immediately, but time was critical and his presence was needed elsewhere.

. . .

In the Realm home to the Celestial Dragon, one of the only four Celestial Beasts, winds of fear raced to reach all corners.

Although the battle was not at a large scale, the fight between these giants was a cause of bigger concern.

Nowhere was safe, no place too sturdy to stand in their pressure. Everyone could only pray that the tides of battle didn’t shift in their direction.

The Heavenly Virtue of Humility and 3 Empyreans against the Celestial Dragon. It was a battle that kept shaking the earth.

Jidu could’ve retreated after the initial attempt, but his pride was only overshadowed by the Celestial Dragon’s.

It was a clash of pride.

And between that clash suddenly a rift tore open.

The spatial disturbance caused the powerhouses to pause briefly. All eyes turned.

"Do not let him escape," Ozul addressed the trio. The only way he saw this failing was if Jidu ran away.

Before the confusion cleared, the three of them spread out, creating an effective encirclement. Their eyes fixated on the rough figure of Jidu, near the giant black dragon.

Although Ember’s hatred-filled eyes glared at Jidu, she along with Vesta and Rai focused their attention on the three Empyreans allied with Kami.

The Celestial Dragon was truly a sight to behold.

It was too big. A pure black dragon with wings that seemed to span over a whole city. In front of it, Ember’s true form seemed juvenile if not a failed imitation of a dragon.

"Who are you?!" Jidu shouted arrogantly.

Although he appeared outwardly confident, he had already gleaned from the situation that these 6 Empyreans were not here to help him. And definitely not the man from whom even he couldn’t sense any Spiritual trace.

"You have lived long enough..." Ozul replied but turned his gaze to the giant Celestial Dragon.

In his hands was a black cat.

He brought her close to the Celestial Dragon and calmly placed Jinx on his head.

Meanwhile, everyone watched with stunned gazes as the giant dragon let him do that. It did not utter a word, much less show the usual pride of the dragons by blasting him away.

’All four of them are really her children...’ Ozul confirmed, before shifting his focus back to Jidu.

The Celestial Dragon wouldn’t interfere now that Jinx was conversing with him.

He wanted Jidu all to himself, but the pride of the Celestial Dragon wouldn’t have let him do that. So, he had brought Jinx solely to distract him.

"I asked who are you?!" This time Jidu shouted louder, his voice cracking.

And so it started, Ozul’s figure blurred and vanished. No one, but Jidu was able to track his movements!

Jidu took a few steps back and made a circular motion with one of his hands, creating a push of force that would have seriously wounded an Empyrean.

The force was applied where he precisely predicted Ozul to appear.

Although he was caught off-guard seeing someone move with a speed that rivaled the Heavenly Virtues, Jidu recovered quickly and counter-attacked first before deciding to figure out his identity.

Pushed back, Ozul merely tilted his head.

’So, I am still lacking a little...’, he muttered to himself.

After gaining this boost, he knew he was stronger than an Empyrean, but he couldn’t put an estimate on how he measured against the Virtues until now.

However, it didn’t matter whether his movements were easily seen through or not.

His greatest ability was something that could defeat anyone as long as he was strong enough to scratch them.

The three Empyreans were kept busy by Ember, Rai, and Vesta while the Celestial Dragon was distracted by Jinx.

Amidst that, none but the trio noticed the black substance known as Purity seep out of Ozul’s body until there was a giant cloud of black all around them.

It had grown. His control over it had also leaped to a new height.

But something fundamental had changed in his understanding of the Purity.

He used to think of it as an ability. But his imprisonment in the Abyssos Prison had stripped him of his physical body, leaving behind only the Purity.

It wasn’t an ability, it was an extension of himself.

And so, the cloud of Purity suddenly shone with a metallic luster, baring its sharpness at Jidu who had created a protective barrier around himself.

When no one noticed, Ozul gave Zier a glance, the latter understood what it was for.

Jidu didn’t wait for the black metallic mist to do anything before his aura flared, a field appeared around him, blocking all of it. And then like a mountain, his fist was suddenly descending on Ozul from above.

One moment he was in his place, the other moment he was attacking him.

The Purity quickly materialized above Ozul’s head, blocking the attack, but it sent him thrusting down.

The shockwave, however, was already enough to split apart the earth hundreds of feet below!

The battle of Heavenly Virtues was at a different scale altogether.

Loud deafening sounds reached the ears of even those in the far corners of the continent.

Meanwhile, Ozul recovered quickly and used the Purity to counterattack at the same time he was blocking the attack.

Several hundred blades swirled, and like a snake, they rained down on the Virtue of Humility from all sides.

Realizing that the force behind the blades could breach his defenses, Jidu made the decision to dodge instead.

The thought of dodging an attack from someone who wasn’t a Virtue and neither one of the Celestial Beasts irked his pride.

"Whoever you are, you will pay for this!" He shouted, his aura flaring even more.

Ozul noticed how the Spiritual Essence inside his body suddenly began to rotate differently, in packets, yet in condensed form.

The distraction caused him to miss the moment when Jidu launched, an aura blade extending from his hands and slashing at him from afar.

It was too late to think, but since the Purity was spread everywhere, it was quick to gather and shield him from the aura blade.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t strong enough and it cut through the shield made from the Purity very easily.

"Watch out!" shouted Raven, and Blaze moved to protect him.

However, the blade swung too fast and it slashed cleanly through Ozul’s torso!

Jidu smirked. It seemed like he had overestimated that kid’s abilities.

Ozul’s body was cleaved in half!