It started in a Realm under Kami’s control.

An unexpected turn of events since everyone expected the Lord of Shadows to either attack the Land Above All or a Realm home to one of the Celestial Beasts.

Baoshi, Qingyu, and Old Gu appeared out of nowhere. Following them were 5 Empyreans, all clad in black, hiding their features.

While Old Gu watched, the others began to dismantle the structures of those dominant powers that Kami supported.

Their presence in the Realm was instantly realized by the Heavenly Emperor.

The Virtues from their side made an appearance just as quickly, but they were half a minute late. Two of the Empyreans on their side were already dead.

For the first time ever, all the Heavenly Virtues were present in a single Realm, fighting each other.

It was Zihao, Lan Duo, and Tanlan against Baoshi, Qingyu, and Old Gu.

To deal with their 5 Empyreans, Kami had sent the elite of the Royal Guards.

The collective weight of these powerhouses left pure destruction in its wake. Wherever the battle shifted, death followed.

Before the whole continent sank, however, the Heavenly Emperor ordered Kami to step in as well.

With his presence, the balance was broken. But the Lord of Shadows refused to make an appearance.

They continued fighting, and just as Old Gu noticed one of their Empyreans about to lose her life, he narrowly avoided an attack from Tanlan and stepped in to protect her.

Quickly opening spatial rifts, the 5 Empyreans began to retreat under the confused and enraged eyes of Kami.

"Cowards!" He spat with frustration.

Baoshi and Qingyu didn’t blame Old Gu for dropping all the pressure on them while he ensured the safe retreat of the Empyreans; the Lord of Shadows was more than clear that losing even a single Empyrean was unacceptable.

Kami eyed Old Gu, "You think you can win with such tactics?! You’re asking for death!"

He sneered before resuming his assault, thinking that at least the Virtues wouldn’t run away with tails tucked behind their back.

Yet, the three Heavenly Virtues paid his words no heed. They, too, created a safe distance before narrowly stepping into the spatial rifts they had veiled earlier.

Kami and the other three didn’t give up. Seeing it as an opportunity rather than a loss, they formulated a plan. They weren’t going to follow the pace of the Lord of Shadows.

Instead of returning, they opened a spatial rift to move to the Realm home of the Celestial Tortoise. Even before Old Gu and others had attacked, Kami wanted to target this Realm.

Before help arrived, the four ganged up on the Celestial Tortoise, who was in a deep slumber.

Fortunately or not, the Celestial Tortoise survived, albeit with deep wounds which might even take a few months to fully heal.

The Lord of Shadows was a tad bit late in sending reinforcements. They were able to push Kami’s group into retreat, but with one Empyrean casualty.

Their intense confrontation left the two Realms in a pitiful state. The loss of casual lives piled up, yet no one paid it a heed, or at least none mentioned it among the big players.

The tensions were sky high. Battles between multiple Virtues continued to take place over the following month.

Kami’s move to target the Celestial Tortoise, however, would later prove to be a reckless one.

Even the Lord of Shadows was stunned at the news, having previously believed that the Heavenly Emperor was smart enough not to target the beasts.

’So the child is really out of control...’ He smirked, realizing the gift he was given by his enemies.

. . .

Luckily for Ozul, the skirmishes hadn’t spilled to the Realm of Abezan during the time they were getting used to the surge in their raw strength.

Rai was the last to have gone through that painful experience, but he recovered quickly.

As the six of them sat patiently in the room, Ozul walked in with the black feline who strode behind like everyone in the room was in her debt.

"What now?" Vesta asked impatiently.

Gone was her contempt for the Humans beneath her. She was unrecognizable from the sleeping Sovereign that struck terror in the hearts of all with her mere gaze.

Having seen Ozul subjugate the Heavenly Virtue so easily before, she had given up on challenging him. The presence of the Purity also seemed to influence her behavior toward him.

Still, her rough personality remained. She was annoyed that they were all kept in the dark about why he was really going against God himself.

"We find every opportunity to reduce the Emperor’s forces as much as possible," Ozul replied after taking a seat.

He didn’t want to take his chances with the supposed God before having a rough estimation of what he was up against.

If he just added enough pressure against them in the ongoing war, the Heavenly Emperor would be forced to finally show himself. He hoped the Lord of Shadows was strong enough to weaken the Emperor at the very least.

"After the Celestial Tortoise suffered the injuries, the other Celestial Beasts all expressed their rage," Raven informed the others, her spy network was now working in all major Realms.

"And why is that important?" The chair shifted. It was Vesta.

"Because among the three, the Celestial Tiger had the most extreme reaction. It even left its lair to pay the Tortoise a visit..."

Although it surprised everyone, Ember was the most taken aback. Despite being the oldest, she never knew all 4 Celestial Beasts had such goodwill among each other, much less care so much about the others.

Only Ozul nodded in understanding. They were siblings after all. It made sense that they were concerned for each other’s well-being.

"Keep an eye on both sides. The minute anyone from the Emperor’s side makes a move, I want to be there..." Ozul ordered, not caring that half the people in the room were not used to taking orders.

He also needed to know what the Lord of Shadows was planning, but it was anyone’s guess.

Taking a deep breath, the gears in his mind began to turn.

Although he found it a bit troublesome, it seemed that having a meeting with the famed ’villain’ was the best course of action currently.

If he could take even a glimpse at his intentions, it might help him plan further.

Heading straight to the Land Above All to directly confront the Emperor wasn’t even a thought in his mind. Unless he knew there were possibilities of winning, he wouldn’t march blindly.

With that final thought, he stood up.

"All of you keep an eye on the situation, and always move in groups of 2 minimum. I need to see why he is called the Lord of Shadows..."

. . .

In the Land Above All, the great hall of the grand palace was utterly quiet.

The air seemed still as the royal guards, the 3 Virtues, and even Kami stood silent under the Emperor’s scrutiny.

"I," the God began, "do not recall passing a decree..."

His words hung above the royal guards, who gulped in evident fear. They had committed blasphemy. They assumed wrongly that Prince Kami’s commands were from the Heavenly Emperor.

"Father, it was me-"

"I know it was you, and I am disappointed that you made such a foolish choice."

Kami’s fists clenched in frustration.

His evident vexation didn’t go unnoticed in the great hall. But no one corrected his behavior, no one told him that he was in the presence of the most supreme being.

"Why?! They were retreating, and we took the opportunity to take command of the war! If you think those Celestial Beasts are innocent, then you should know-"

The air chilled for the first time since forever in that grand palace.

The Heavenly Emperor’s presence was what kept all the Realm warm, but now, that very being was the cause of that bone-freezing cold.

"Do not teach me." The voice spilled out of the palace.

Despite everything, the Heavenly Emperor’s expressions remained calm and serene. He wasn’t angry; he was only disappointed.

"Those very Beasts are the reason that I could mend you."

Only the Heavenly Virtues and Kami understood what he was talking about. The reason for their strength being greater than any Empyrean was the blessing granted by him.

The fact that the Celestial Beasts were involved was news to them.

Kami recovered quickly from the revelation, countering, "But they have chosen sides now! They chose that Demon! Those beasts do not deserve that title now!"

But the Emperor shook his head slowly, "Did you never notice, after hundreds of years, that those ’beasts’ refrained from leaving their Realm to attack you?" 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

The three Virtues glanced at each other, realization settling down just now.

"That..." Kami wanted to retort, but was at a loss for words.

"The Celestial Beasts always protected their lairs. Whenever they fought, they did so to shield their home."

For a few seconds, the hall was silent.

The Emperor let his words settle down.

Most of them in the hall now understood why Kami’s attack on the Tortoise was a bad move. All of them were just recently informed that for the first time ever, a Celestial Beast had left its Realm to move to another.

"If they were so neutral, then why side with that Demon in those Realms?!" Kami couldn’t accept it. His voice was rising. Humiliation was something he had felt rarely, if ever, in his long life.

"You call them mere mindless beasts. If you had ever shown proper respect, I wouldn’t have to answer that... question."

The tone of his voice stung.

Yet, the consequences of his actions stung more.

What hurt the most was that none of them were able to perceive that the Celestial Beasts were not doing the Demonic Emperor’s bidding, even after more than a century of war.

Now? They might have just pushed for it to actually happen.