Covered in black, Ozul clashed with the Heavenly Emperor with full power.

To the eyes of most, there was only a ball of light and a blur of shadow. It didn’t seem like the Lord of Shadows had stopped fighting.

Only those at the level of the Virtues could see that Ozul had replaced that man.

While the Heavenly Emperor slashed, most of his attacks were nullified before they reached him.

Using the Purity, Ozul had achieved such mastery over it that he was continuously absorbing everything that it touched.

Be it lifeforce or scarce essence in the air, everything was sucked in.

If the Lord of Shadows could dissipate the colors of reality itself, it wasn’t a big deal for the Purity to scatter the Spiritual Essence.

The look in the Emperor’s eyes kept itching at his conscience.

There was something foreign and yet familiar. Something he would’ve already grasped if that man had given him more time to think.

But the Heavenly Emperor’s assault was relentless.

The more Ozul dodged, the sharper his next attacks were.

Meanwhile, countless projectiles were thrown at him from all directions. Each one, he easily countered.

The Purity, which could change its shape and form on whim, suddenly seemed to have become a lot more rigid in front of him.

’That light is suppressing the Purity...’ Ozul realized, in shock.

Such a thing had never happened before.

Realizing that he was being pushed back, he had to take control of the flow.

Light particles gathered near the Emperor’s blade.

Acting quickly, the Purity burst into tiny particles of black, covering the area like smoke.

With such a wide area affected by the absorption, the Light particles quickly dispersed. Taking advantage of the situation, from the smoke of black, suddenly a rail of spikes took shape.

The Emperor noticed a similar shape forming under him.

The ’jaw’ of black quickly closed on him!

Raising his sword, he slashed diagonally, slicing through the maw.

However, Ozul was ready. His concentration quickly healed the closing maw and again put force from both directions.

*Boom!*

As the ’jaw’ closed, an explosion rang out.

The force waves uprooted the ground miles away!

Yet, the Emperor had made it out alive. One of the spikes had grazed his left shoulder, drawing only a single line of blood which healed just as quickly as it had appeared.

Ozul didn’t give him time to breathe.

Tendrils of black rose from the ground, slithering until they reached him and tried to latch onto his body.

Each time the Emperor cut the tendrils, they grew back!

Meanwhile, Ozul stood in the distance, part of his attention focused on the blade in front of him.

His focus was all on assimilating as much Purity as he could into a single, small shape.

The density of the Purity kept increasing, and with it, the mental burden of keeping that blade shape contained within itself.

It came to a point that dense waves kept pulsing out of the blade.

It was as if he was creating a point of void so dense that even the space was crying!

The occasional onlookers, who could catch their glimpses, could not help but be shocked.

Even when the Heavenly Emperor was fighting with the Lord of Shadows, the Realm Ego was able to maintain structure.

However, whatever Ozul was doing, it was causing spatial fissures to appear even in the Land Above All!

The blade floated above as exhaustion began to take over his psyche.

Keeping his attention divided between controlling the tendrils and the void blade was too much.

With his focus lost, the Emperor found an opportunity to escape that death trap of the tendrils.

Unfortunately for him, before he could create distance, the void blade was already in front of him!

*ZHMM..*

It tore through space!

One moment, it was in front of Ozul, and disappeared the next.

Those who had stopped to look saw the fabric of space cut in half along the blade’s path!

The Heavenly Emperor made a display of his experience as his body instinctively gathered all the power it could channel before slashing forward.

*ZHH*

It started with a vibration deep enough to shake mountains.

And there it was, black sparks flew everywhere.

The void blade and the golden blade collided, yet there was space in between!

Both sides kept pushing.

The Heavenly Emperor’s face scrunched up. It took all his might to even stop the blade in its tracks.

Yet, he was being pushed back!

It was subtle, but a trained eye could notice the weight shifted against him.

Grunting slightly, the Emperor knew he couldn’t face it head-on. The blade was too dense. Even his Light element couldn’t seem to budge it.

"HA!" He shouted, pulling in the last bit of strength his muscles could produce.

The void blade halted in its place for a split moment only, but it was already enough time for him to move aside.

As he stepped, his body spun, quickly rotating before the void blade zoomed past him!

The space was once again torn open, and a certain coldness was felt over his shoulder as it slowly healed itself back.

The void blade, on the other hand, was thrust with such a force that it was easier to disperse the Purity than to reverse its direction. And that is exactly what Ozul did.

Not giving him time, the Emperor sped forth.

He had realized in this short time that he had to close the distance between them.

His figure blurred, and he appeared right in front of Ozul, his blade creating an arc of gold that threatened his neck.

From up close, Ozul noticed the deepening creases on the Emperor’s face.

However, at such a moment, he couldn’t afford to divert his attention to read why his enemy was so frustrated.

The dispersed Purity from the void blade gathered once again, forming tens of tendrils. Their movement was easier to control, as he let them slither on instinct.

The Heavenly Emperor’s blade shone brighter, splitting through another wave of tendrils.

But even as the black substance scattered, Ozul’s fingers twitched, and the Purity lifted into the sky.

For an instant, it seemed to vanish.

Then it returned; a storm of droplets.

Each bead of darkness fell like rain, yet instead of splashing, they pierced. The first droplet lanced through the ground, leaving a bleached hole where color had been stripped away.

The next aimed to pierce the Emperor’s shoulder, the force too subtle for the eye but heavy enough to drag at his very being.

The rain thickened. A thousand drops hammered down without sound, stabbing with relentless precision. Wherever they landed, essence bled out, sucked into the void until the very air seemed hollow.

The Emperor swung furiously, golden arcs vaporizing the drops around him, yet still, some made it through. For the first time, his body wavered under weightless wounds.

It was brutal.

Wherever they went, life just disappeared.

Neither wanted to kill the innocents, but it was inevitable that lives were lost when each attack of theirs was stronger than natural disasters felt once in centuries.

"Can you listen to me for once?!" Ozul shouted, frustration creeping up his voice.

The attacks he used had enough force to kill the Virtues or any Guardian, yet the Emperor bore through each with gritted teeth.

It wasn’t easy for him either.

Multiple times, the golden blade had reached him. Each time, it cut him shallow, but the wound hurt so much that it made his breathing ragged.

He had also found out that his healing had considerably slowed down when dealing with this man.

But his opponent, the Heavenly Emperor, looked in worse shape than even him.

The man had exhausted himself in his fight with the Lord of Shadows to contain that final attack, and yet was keeping up with his relentless assault.

Both were disheveled, their prior countenance now turned muddy. Long gone was their royal demeanor.

"There-.. Ha.. is nothing to listen!"

"Look around you! Do you want this to continue?!" Ozul shouted again, his voice echoing throughout the barren land they had stopped in.

It was not barren before. They had uprooted the earth, reversed the rivers, and flattened the mountains. Whatever life was there before had long been mixed with dirt.

The Emperor paused, his eyes scanning his surroundings.

Guilt flashed past his eyes, but it was only followed by heated anger once again. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

"All of this could have been avoided..." he muttered unconsciously.

In the distance, a severed hand sticking out of dirt could be seen. It was small. It belonged to a child.

"I thought it could be saved... everything could be saved..."

Ozul felt the storm of emotions pouring out of the man. There was something wrong about this, and he couldn’t put a finger on it.

The Emperor looked down at his hands. The hands that had allowed all of this to happen.

And suddenly, he looked up again—the same odd look shimmering in his eyes.

Something stirred in Ozul’s mind.

What exactly did that look mean? It seemed the image would come to his mind at any moment.

And uncaring of his mental battle, the Heavenly Emperor swayed; his body seemed light.

The golden robes and the pieces of armor fell off one by one, and his grip on the sword tightened.

His long hair had already come undone, and now the golden strands of hair covered his face, his expressions hidden.

"You... you cursed me!"

He took a step, and disappeared.

The next instant, he was in front of Ozul, who was distracted.

The sword was dragged from the back and plunged straight at his chest!

A thick plate of the Purity formed at its tip, avoiding a fatal blow, but the force was still great enough to throw him thousands of miles away!

He had barely avoided being thrust into the ground when the Emperor appeared in front of him again.

That speed was unprecedented!

The Heavenly Emperor was burning away his life essence!

Ozul’s eyes widened; the look on his face finally registered in his mind. Though it only served to puzzle him.

Feeling the thin longsword making an arc towards him, he tried to move.

With his back against a large white pillar, however, it was already too late.

The sword shimmered, inches away from his face...