"... Would you consider an alliance?" Ozul offered calmly.

Yasashii, who had been pouring his heart out after what seemed like centuries, stopped once again to eye him. He smiled ruefully before sighing.

"Not once has anyone dared to offer their alliance, only their loyalty."

Just then, Ozul finally felt an emotion he could recognize, budding in the depths of that man’s chest.

’So it has come to this...’ he sighed, preparing for a fight that he hadn’t expected.

The emotion he had felt from Yasashii was similar to Blaze or Vesta’s fighting spirit. It seemed that he had hit a nerve simply by offering an alliance.

"My people will not attack yours. I offer no more," Yasashii suddenly accepted.

Although he didn’t show it, it caught Ozul off guard. He could still feel that emotion in that man, yet his actions were contradictory.

But since things were going his way, he didn’t have a reason to mull over it.

Nodding, he replied, "That much is enough. My people shall not harm yours either. Unless someone gets in the way."

Yasashii smirked internally. He was amused by the young man’s words, considering that he only had a few Empyrean followers.

"What about your grudge with Gu?" He asked, testing that young man’s mindset.

Ozul calmly shook his head, "I gain little to hold a grudge against that old man. But if he tries that again..."

Even without uttering those words, the weight was felt in the room. It further fed Yasashii’s curiosity, unable to gauge what the young man was capable of.

After he left, the room quietened again. A dark gloom spread everywhere, hiding the noticeable smirk on the Lord of Shadow’s face.

Unbeknownst to Ozul, Yasashii had recognized him as the wild card of his planned game. The emotion he felt was genuine, but it wasn’t for physically fighting him, but beating him at defeating the Heavenly Emperor!

Yasashii could feel the prophecy pressing against the back of his head, but he wouldn’t bend. He was determined to be the darkness that would consume the light.

. . .

Back in City of Refuge, Ozul went over his entire conversation once again.

His ineffectiveness in measuring the other party’s emotions was alarming. It served to strengthen his idea of waiting until he had an accurate estimate of the Emperor’s strength.

The thing that interested him the most, however, was the idea of a ’strongest element’ to pursue in one’s cultivation journey.

He had previously assumed that all the elements held their own strengths and weaknesses, though he was the most comfortable with darkness.

But now, the Demonic Emperor himself seemed to disagree. According to him, there was a hierarchy, and Light wasn’t the one at the top!

Unfortunately, he didn’t have much room to test it.

The only Darkness element cultivator he knew was Raven, and she was just as strong as Blaze, only losing about six out of ten times they sparred. If she were anything to go by, the Darkness element wasn’t that outstanding.

As he watched her across the table, giving strict instructions to her second-in-command, something clicked in his mind.

’No... It makes sense.’ He realized he was missing something.

Despite having no special talent, neither a constitution nor an inheritance like the Ice Monarch, she could compete with Blaze.

Not only that, her skillset wasn’t focused on brute force and overwhelming strength. The Spiritual Arts she had learned were mostly suited to support her allies.

With these conditions, she could still almost match Blaze, who was not only a genius but had also received an inheritance upon birth.

If he thought about it from that perspective, it suddenly started to make sense. Maybe the Darkness really was the most potent of the elemental paths that a cultivator could pursue.

Other questions were raised as well, starting with why the Emperor would want his disciples to pursue the opposite element instead. And why he, as the strongest being, was also on that path.

Though all of those questions were mere curiosities, it mattered little since all his companions had already come a long way into their cultivation journey.

Turning back and starting from the very beginning was out of the question. He was even surprised someone like the Lord of Shadows had done this. That title seemed well-deserved now.

As the subordinates left the room, only Raven and Blaze were left to accompany him.

"Is going against the Emperor really the best option?" Raven suggested that maybe antagonizing him wasn’t their best option. That he may just answer their questions if they were to meet.

The idea had emerged after he was able to meet with the Lord of Shadows and come back unharmed.

But Ozul shook his head. He had considered it before, but it didn’t seem like a great idea to just barge into the Land Above All and ask for his audience.

There were multiple aspects to it.

First of all, as far as he was concerned, it was due to the Emperor that he was sealed in the prison.

Second, if the Lord of Shadows considered him the ’Eternal Darkness’, then it was safe to assume the Heavenly Emperor thought the same. And if he did, then a simple audience with him might not be possible at all.

Lastly, his sixth sense had a strong repulsion at the idea. It felt as if meeting the Emperor was akin to seeking death. This gnawing feeling of his had never been wrong, and he wasn’t keen on trying to prove otherwise.

But explaining all of that to the others was such a hassle, he didn’t even bother.

Raven didn’t pursue it, and Blaze didn’t care.

Just then, Zier entered, followed by the rest.

"So, how was he?" Vesta asked, her tone laced with curiosity and a deep hunger to throw hands at the man.

Ember and Rai both leaned in, also curious about the mystery man.

But they were mistaken if they thought they could get him to talk.

"Strong." That is all he said before shifting the topic, "We don’t attack them, they won’t attack us. That’s the agreement."

Vesta clicked her tongue, followed by Blaze and Raven.

The former wanted to throw hands at everyone, while the latter two were frustrated that they couldn’t drag Old Gu through the mud.

But their frustrations were ignored.

Turning towards Rai, he asked, "Any movements?"

"None. Both sides seem to be recovering..."

Inwardly, everyone was disappointed that Ozul had gone alone to talk with the Lord of Shadows.

Except for Vesta, they all knew how little he spoke. If someone else had gone along, they might have bothered to ask the man when he was planning to attack next.

After some discussion, Ozul inspected all of their bodies one by one to look for any issues. Fortunately, it seemed like their bodies had fully accepted the procedure.

The thing he worried about the most was that the Purity might start feasting on their Spiritual Essence. His impeccable control over it had certainly helped to prevent that.

. . .

A few days passed with relative peace.

The Heavenly Emperor did not show any signs of starting a conflict. Meanwhile, the Lord of Shadows took this opportunity to help the Celestial Tortoise recover.

The Realms waited with bated breath until the dam broke again.

In the same Realm that they had attacked last time, powerhouses began to pour out of the spatial rifts.

Beginning with the giant charcoal-black tortoise with black fumes leaving its shell, the three Virtues followed.

Behind them, larger rifts opened, and in poured an army of cultivators all loyal to one man only.

The sheer density of the Spiritual Essence, all concentrated at one spot, made the continent rumble in discomfort.

An earthquake followed as Old Gu led the charge, aiming for the ruling Empyreans who had submitted to the Heavenly Emperor.

He had tried to persuade Yasashii from sending in the army, but his efforts bore no fruit.

Now, he only hoped to end the massacre by quickly getting rid of the leadership.

To counter his efforts, rifts opened once again as Kami and the rest of the Virtues made their appearance as well.

They were prepared this time and reacted just as quickly as the Heavenly Emperor informed them.

Old Gu grimaced, thinking, ’While they delay us, that army will leave destruction everywhere!’

Only he wasn’t aware that the Lord of Shadows wanted exactly that. Only an unreasonable amount of death and blood would force the Emperor’s hands.

This time, the battle between the Virtues was more balanced.

If anything, the numbers were definitely in favor of Old Gu’s side.

Not only did they have an army of cultivators ranging from peak Origin Realms to Sages, but even the humongous Tortoise was helping them this time.

Each time the ancient beast stomped its feet, the earth rumbled and shook before splitting to form ravines hundreds of meters long.

It was a war unlike any other.

The Realm Ego could still hold on, but if the battle continued to rage, it might not be long before order quickly crumbled.

Kami thought himself superior to others and directly went to confront the Celestial Tortoise, leaving each Virtue to fend off against another one.

As for the countless people dying due to the chaotic army on the ground, he couldn’t care less.

Soon, the fight erupted into a brawl that shook the heavens and earth alike.

Despite being injured, the Tortoise was able to push back Kami. It was a bitter reality for Kami, who considered them mere beasts.

As the destruction spread, as if the Spiritual Essence was poisoned, the climate dissolved into itself. Dark clouds covered the starlight, leaving the common folk even more hopeless.

If there was ever any, this was the Holy War. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

And the demons seemed to be devouring everything.

There was no stopping this...