"I've heard about the Heaven's Cage case. It is home to a dangerous existence. Should it break free, it'll pose a great danger to Faeast. Lord Nox returned to ensure that this particular existence remained imprisoned. "Unfortunately, I received a call from the Defender Lord of the North and was informed that Lord Nox is most probably dead."Douglas had a limited understanding of these things. So, he thought that Nox was dead. The Mousses detonated a weapon of mass destruction at Nox's location, and with Atlas bringing the news… It was probably true.Dylan was thunderstruck, and he could barely come up with a response. A long while later, he raised his head, shedding tears. "Do the heavens wish to see Faeast fall as well? Lord Northguard is nowhere to be found, and his men were all killed. The emperor is entangled with the underground chamber, and even Lord Nox is dead…"At Dylan's age, he no longer cared about his death. He'd lived his life on the battlefield. So, he didn't wis
'The Sword Sect?' Douglas' heart trembled. He knew that the Sword Sect was facing a mountain of problems as well. Yet, they were the only ones who sent their members off to war, off to certain death."Six sects. Six biggest sects, and only one cares about the nation. The others want nothing but to split it up so they can rule separately." Douglas sighed. Soon after, his expression turned grim. There was murder on his face. "Did anyone find out how the Mousses got their hands on the forbidden item?"That's the only thing Faeast had against Mystia. It's thanks to that item's development that Mystia decided not to push us around. Yet, it's now in the Mousses' grasp. I see we'll have to clean up the military soon."Imperia was awaiting the news of Vertolt's fall. They would then fire the forbidden item at it. Right before the battle, the Sword Sect's members finally arrived."General Strohm, I am Shaun Naga of the Sword Sect. By orders of our leader, I and three hundred of my brethre
Casualties were piling up. Yet, none of Vertolt's soldiers retreated despite the brutality of this battle. They willingly became the vanguard as soon as a spot opened up, sacrificing themselves for the nation. They were ready to die.Even though the soldiers kept replacing each other as vanguards, Winterosch's berserkers focused all their strength on one spot. Soon, there was a crack in their formation as part of the defense line was broken, affecting the whole defense line.Thirty thousand was too small an army. They couldn't stop Winterosch's soldiers from coming in like waves. Half an hour later, most of Vertolt had fallen into enemy hands. As things were getting out of control, Dylan immediately contacted the soldiers back in the encampment."Tell Imperia's command center that I have failed. Vertolt will fall soon. They must fire the forbidden item now."The major quickly contacted Imperia's command center. "Vertolt will fall soon. Fire the forbidden item now!"The people in I
That was an order from Nox!Nox was still alive!Douglas could hardly believe it. Before he even realized it, he was already in tears.The Command Office erupted into thunderous cheers.Meanwhile, at Vertolt, the gate was about to fall, yet no orders came from the capital."General, there is still no reply from the capital. They claim the general guarding the weapons refused to carry out their orders!" The messenger informed Dylan of the news."Every second is urgent when it comes to warfare. There can't be any delay. If the thieves of Winterosch invade Northstate, there will be dire consequences!"When that happened, Dylan would have turned into a criminal in Faeast.Half of Vertolt had fallen, and the berserkers from Winterosch kept charging in for the kill. The only thing Dylan could do was fight to his death.At that critical moment, the gloomy sky was suddenly chased away by beams of golden rays.One of the rays pierced through the stormy clouds and shone down on Vertolt
The mental and spiritual boost caused morale among the guards to skyrocket, prompting all of them to charge into battle with blood rushing through their veins in excitement.Black Tortoise descended from the skies and defended the gate all by himself. Despite the millions of invading soldiers from Winterosch, no one was able to get past Black Tortoise.The berserkers of Winterosch ended up completely surrounded by Vertolt's guards after leading the charge.As the commander of Winterosch saw the berserkers, his greatest elites, get surrounded, he had no choice but to order his troops to do all they could to save the berserkers, even giving up the strategy of pushing past the gate with mere weapons. Instead, he ordered the great siege cannons to aim and fire at Vertolt.The thunderous claps of cannons echoed through the air, but every shot was blocked by the Sacred Beast Formation.Winterosch's commander had no choice but to fully arm his troops with siege weapons so that they could
The 100,000 soldiers led by Atlas slaughtered a million soldiers from Winterosch.With such a comparison of strength, the Winterosch soldiers immediately turned into a disorganized mob.The 100,000 soldiers were elites with hundreds of battles and the battle of Heaven's Cage under their belt. Every one of them was a highly skilled martial artist who could stand strong against a hundred men all by themselves.In contrast, the only soldiers in the Winterosch army who could stand strong when outnumbered were the berserkers. However, they had led the charge and were already massacred. Thus, when it came to a clash of blades, Winterosch was no match for Black Tortoise's troops.At the sight of the tables being turned against them, Winterosch's commander ordered his troops to abandon their hostages and camp for a full withdrawal. He was afraid the remaining 300,000 of his men would be culled as well. Moreover, morale was at an all-time low, with many of the soldiers breaking down in fear
"Valhalla? Even if it exists, those are just evil spirits not even fit to be called an evil god.""What? How dare you insult my gods? You scoundrel!""Insult? You're right. During my reign of terror in Mystia, I've killed thousands of evil spirits in Assad Temple and Valhalla. Why else do you think those priests are so afraid of me?" Nox scoffed.Winterosch's commander froze. After a brief moment of hesitation, he hefted his ax higher and continued his charge."You are a man much stronger than those fake gods. Still, you shouldn't have angered Faeast." With a flick of his fingers, Nox shattered the giant ax along with the commander's arms.Agony shot through the commander. Before the shriek of pain could even leave his throat, a figure flashed across the field while his vision spun. The last thing the commander saw was his headless body.With one strike, Nox had decapitated the commander. He walked toward the Winterosch army with his head in hand.The soldiers had already broken
"Don't cry. I'm back now, aren't I? Certain people will be disappointed by that."Nox summoned water out of thin air through condensation and used the water to clean Nineve's face. He then turned to look at the one member of the Mousses who was present.That one glance scared the man halfway to death."Lord Nox, I had nothing to do with this! I was only acting on orders. There is no way I would dare to disobey Ms. Aphrodite's orders!" the man howled on his knees."Don't tell me that. Your life is not in my hands. That depends on the law," Nox replied with a huff.The army of 100,000 marched over to subdue the remnants of the Winterosch army. If not for Atlas' roar, they might have instantly rushed in to execute every soldier who was about to surrender."To destroy is easier than to create. Every country has good and evil men. If you don't stop the killing, the cycle of hate will never stop. It's more important to kill and subdue those in power," Atlas declared.As someone who ha
Their targets were the relics around the altars. The moment the whirlpool showed up, the black energy conjured black walls and kept Brundela on lockdown, cutting off all communications.Possessed by evil spirits, gods from ancient civilizations came back to life. In the underground graveyard, the dead came bursting out of their coffins, and skeletons with phantom flames flickering around them charged at the holy knights and James' secret agents.Nothing more needed to be said. The holy knights' leader led the charge. The other knights resolved to fight to the death as they battled the skeleton gods.James and his secret agents fired off at the enemies, but the bullets did nothing to the skeletons. All they managed was to light a big spark. Only grenades and howitzers could deal damage to them, and even then, the damage was light.The battle was fierce. Though the knights did not fear death, they were still weaker than the prehistoric gods. These skeletons were nigh invincible, and
Nox was hovering higher than the Ice Temple Lord, and he got everyone's attention."Who's that?""It's a Faeastian!""My God, it's the Nine-State Lord!" Nox was known throughout Faeast and the world. Brundela's council members had recognized him the moment he showed up. They had nothing but fear for gods, yet Nox was the strongest man in the Mortal World, so they respected him.The clouds in Brundela's skies were hanging heavily over the ground, and the icy aura they radiated was making everyone shiver. Winter seemed to have come early for Brundela. The temperature was dipping fast.Back in the control center, intelligence agents were watching the surveillance footage closely, and they noticed the altar. The Twilight Order and Ice Temple cultivators were there, strengthening the altars' seal the best they could. There were soldiers guarding the altar as well.For some reason, the secret agents had a feeling something bad was going to happen. Murphy's Law, as they said.Suddenly,
A sliver of energy flew out of the puppet and gathered natural energy around it. Then, the temperature rose at a blistering rate. Fortunately, Bard's reminder came just in time, and Vermilion Bird was prepared for this. She led her team away from the spot.A pillar of fire engulfed the building, and heat waves shot off in every direction, lethal and deadly. The light eventually faded, and all buildings in a few hundred yards were razed to the ground.If Vermilion Bird had killed the puppet without thinking just now, she would have lost all her men and suffered serious injuries. "That bitch! I'm going to make her into a human swine one day! I'll give her hell!" she cursed.Bard gasped. 'Yeah, women can be really terrifying.' Not one General was a normal person.This incident didn't escape Nox, of course. He saw it through his divine sense. "Heh, you can't fight the flow of history? You say that, Aphrodite, but you've done the same thing more than once. Schemes and plots when your ey
Aphrodite was a master manipulator. She knew the weaknesses of Nox's underlings, and she praised Bard, "At least you know where you stand, Bard. You never overreach. Though we failed to make you one of us, I still thought it'd be a shame to kill you."Bard smiled. "Oh, you're such an actor, Ms. Mousse. You know why we don't like you? Queenie is a genuine lady, just like our lord. You're far inferior to her. And don't flatter yourself. Of course, I know where I stand. I can't even reach the pinnacle of martial arts, let alone cultivation."No matter how smart I am, my lack of talents holds me back. I can never be made an important leader." He was only spared because he couldn't become a threat to the Mousses.Nox didn't use schemes because he didn't need them. Absolute power could trump any plot.Vermilion Bird clenched her teeth. "What is the meaning of this? The lord knows that the bitch is here?"Bard shook his head. Vermilion Bird was a smart woman, but Aphrodite made her lose
Aphrodite felt nothing but sorrow, and Vermilion Bird burst into laughter. "I expected nothing less from these people. Your men are just like their employers. Hey, knights, you guys want to find out more about Faeast martial arts? See those Mousse guys? They're masters. Deal with them."Vermilion Bird gave her orders. She knew these people would escape the moment she showed up. The knights flew off, going after the escaped Mousses. The Mousses were a family of warriors, while these knights were cultivators, to an extent. They wore mystical artifacts, and the Mousses' guys didn't have something like that.The battle was fierce but short. The Mousses' powerhouses were taken out, and the rest were dealt with by the Shadow Division."And now only you're left. Interesting, isn't it? Karma always bites you in the ass. You betrayed my lord, and now your men betray you. You deserve this," Vermilion Bird cursed."Yes, I deserve this, but as long as he wants to be the Nine-State Lord, then w
'The beating heart of this land?' The woman's underlings looked grim. They were supposed to be the master tacticians here. Yet, Nox played them like a cheap kazoo. 'He's a far better tactician than we expected!'Nox began his counterattack not long after the Ocean of Death incident. This woman was none other than Aphrodite, Nox's old flame. When she saw Brundela's fate stabilizing, she knew right then that things had gotten out of her hands."Tell the Mousses in Eropa to retreat right away. There is no need to stay here any longer. He's not attacking us because he's waiting for us to do the same. The moment our men try to start anything, he'll swoop in and take them all out. "No one can beat him if he decides to go all the way. Not even me," said Aphrodite.Suddenly, the Mousses' powerhouse noticed something. "I sense bloodlust. Who goes there? Show yourself!" The powerhouses unsheathed their weapons and stood around Aphrodite, protecting her.A group of black silhouettes appeare
Now they had one, and it was Elizabeth. Her speech awakened the bravery and courage lying within the people of Brundela. An overwhelming majority of the council members stood up and chanted, "Long live the queen! Long live Brundela!""Good." Nox noticed something. The fate of Brundela stopped its downward shift and was stabilizing."The Mortal World and mortals. The Realm of the Gods has been here for millennia, and still, I can't figure out how mortals work." The Ice Temple Lord was confused. These mortals were prone to deception and scams. They were weak and frail. Yet, they had the potential to unleash strength that could shock even the gods."It's solidarity. You guys wouldn't get it. You call yourselves gods and lock yourselves up in the Realm of the Gods. You try to enslave the world despite being so out of touch with it."Do you know why I call you false gods? True gods are omnipotent. Their word is law. They can change the rules that govern this world just by saying it, b
Ice Temple's Lord didn't even look at Dickson. The man was so crushed that there wasn't even a hint of arrogance left in his soul. The Ice Temple's Lord's technique locked his spirit. So, it was not severely weakened. Thus, He would die very soon, even without the Ice Temple's Lord attacking him."Please, leader of gods. You are the only true god. I swear my undying loyalty to you. Spare me, please!" Dickson begged for his life.Dickson finally met his match. The arrogant would-be king couldn't even do anything against the Ice Temple's Lord."Oh, I can save you, but what makes you think you're worth it? You're lower than scum, and you think you have the right to ask for my favor? Repent and pray, then I might make it quick for you. Refuse, and only unending hell awaits."That threat scared Dickson. He cried and begged for mercy. He cursed his own soul and put his faith in a god stronger than his master."And you think you deserve the gift of life, maggot? Open your eyes, mortals
Two cultivators were fighting in mid-air, while the other Ice Temple cultivators made an invisible barrier to keep them in, or the council hall would be destroyed from the impact of the fight.The battle was awe-inspiring, and Dickson became smug. So what if his enemy was a leader of gods? Perhaps he was no match for one, but the Assad gods could easily destroy him if a slave could fight him for a prolonged period.Ice Temple's Lord realized that Dickson couldn't feel pain as the essence had nearly devoured his spirit. He was nothing if not feral, and he did not fear death at all. A brilliant idea appeared in his mind. He could create an army of fearless gods if he could get his hands on this technique.Nox said telepathically, "How much longer are you going to take? He's just a useless tribute. Do you honestly want to keep this up until he burns himself away?"Ice Temple's Lord's pupils contracted, and he looked at Nox. Nox looked up from his book. The Ice Temple Lord thought th