Chapter 414 - The Strings Of Fate

While a massive event was happening in the world of Erudinia, specifically on the Maerr-viki Continent, an entity was watching this event unfold with great expectation…if not for the fact that she was currently engrossed in comprehending a greater portion of the law she had control over, wanting to become more powerful for the event that about to befall her and everyone else.

Celestial Plane, inside Kurohana's plane.

At the moment, two women that looked exactly like each other had their eyes closed as they sat cross-legged on the pure white floor of the place. Facing each other, strands of gray, black, and white energy would move around the two of them from time to time as they absorbed some of it, increasing the intensity of the aura they emitted.

One of these women exuded a level of aura that had the capability of flattening a planet, while the other one was exuding an aura capable of flattening a kingdom. These two women were none other than Kurohana, the latter, and Shirohana, the former.

Whoosh!

While the two of them were fully engrossed in comprehending more things regarding the Greater Law of Reincarnation, an orb at the center of the plane shot out a strand of energy that headed towards Kurohana, prompting her to frown as she opened her eyes, seemingly regretful that she was forced to return to reality.

Standing up after a long period of comprehension, she stretched her body as she noticed that the aura she and her clone was exuding could be said to be more refined and compressed than ever before. However, in terms of sheer power, it could be said that she and her clones fused together as one entity again and did the same attack she used back then, it wouldn't be surprising if she could destroy 8 or 9 galaxies without breaking a sweat.

"Speaking of which, I wonder how Haihana is doing," Kurohana muttered to herself before changing her senses to that of Haihana's. Fortunately, thanks to the suggestion Kurohana gave Shirohana while they were comprehending the laws, Haihana had gained more than enough strength to venture beyond the first planet she stepped foot on, having traversed more than ten planets in total just as Kurohana had been alerted by the system.

Nodding inwardly in satisfaction with the rate of progress she was achieving, she then focused her vision on the orb that had sent her a strand of energy, making her wonder to herself as to why the orb would alert her even though she was in the midst of her comprehension. Fortunately, all of her doubts had been answered as she took a look at the image on the orb, hastily conjuring up a chair as she could not help but be surprised at how things turned right.

"Sure, I may have become the impetus for this, but this has definitely gone beyond my expectations," she could not help but mutter before letting out a light chuckle as she stared at the being at the center of the orb. On it was a being covered from head to toe in blood, radiating an aura that seemed to be on par or perhaps beyond that of the being it was fighting against. Naturally, this being was none other than Aurus, being controlled by his primal instinct as he fought against Dalton.

Of course, to Kurohana, it was plain as day as to what the primal instinct truly was. To her, it was a type of artificial intelligence she had created with the various laws she had control over in the past when she wanted to speed things up. Compared to back then, Aurus had indeed improved in strength by leaps and bounds. In fact, to Kurohana, if she didn't limit Aurus's strength, it was possible for him to fight against middle-ranked to high-ranked Transcendents with ease. However, that would be detrimental for the masterwork weapon she wanted to create.

Looking through the various things Aurus had done to get to the level of strength he currently was, she could not help but let out a sigh as she thought to herself, 'Although it's quite regretful that I had to make him slaughter so many innocent lives in order to hasten the process, I'm not certain as to when the war would break out. Perhaps it could break out soon, perhaps it could break out in the future. In any case, time waits for no one."

"Then again, with so much innocent lives slaughtered, that trait would be awakened and enhanced, which could prove beneficial for the fight against the demons," she said before taking a look at Shirohana, who was still fully engrossed in comprehending the Greater Law of Reincarnation. Pondering as to whether she should head back to comprehend or wait until the event finishes, she eventually decided for the latter, scratching her head as she tried to find more things to do while waiting.

After some time, she had taken note of the presence of Aurus's clone, even going so far as to listen in on the words he had muttered. Going silent for a bit, she then let out a light yet malevolent chuckle as she told herself, "You want a miracle to happen?"

Whoosh! Whoosh!

With that, she sent a few strands of her energy, combined with the laws she now had control over. After that, she focused the orb on Argentum for a bit, muttering to herself with a grin, "Alright, I'll give you a miracle. However, don't come complaining if the miracle doesn't go your way."

And with all of that done, she focused the orb back on Aurus, knowing very well that having the orb focused on him would affect the end of this event.

…

Maerr-viki Continent, Seraph Kingdom.

With everyone oblivious as to what was going on beyond the world of Erudinia, Dalton looked at Aurus's fleeting silhouette for a few seconds before deciding to cast a debuff on Aurus, instantly decreasing his movement speed by 50%. Making sure that Aurus was unaware of a debuff being cast on him, Dalton then created a spatial rift before passing through it as he muttered to himself, "Hopefully, that would give most of the people some time to evacuate before they get mauled by this being."

Swoosh!

Appearing on the other side of the rift, Dalton appeared behind King Zeldrion, who had noticed his arrival a few seconds beforehand as the latter looked at the former with a hint of suspicion. After a few seconds, King Zeldrion let out a light sigh as he asked him, "You didn't go all out, did you?"

"Take a guess." In response to King Zeldrion's question, Dalton merely smiled, prompting the former to let out a deeper yet longer sigh. Deciding to place the question at the back of his head for now, he then looked back at the mirror in front of him, allowing him to take note of Aurus's position at all times as he asked Dalton, "So, what did you find out after fighting him?"

"Well, there's the fact that he could fight," Dalton replied, to which King Zeldrion immediately responded with a great amount of killing intent. Telling King Zeldrion to calm down, he then continued with his reply, albeit taking it a bit more seriously this time. "Jokes aside, it is as I suspected. At the very least, the being's power is at Rank 9, perhaps even at the peak. Then again, I'm certain that he's still hiding a great portion of it."

Taking in a deep breath, he continued, "Once he goes all out, it's not unsurprising for him to reach the combat level of a Pseudo-Transcendent. In fact, there's even a possibility that he could fight against…"

Noticing that Dalton trailed off, King Zeldrion urged him to continue his words, only for him to soon shudder at it.

"…there's a possibility that he could fight against a true Transcendent toe-to-toe," Dalton concluded. Hearing how the enemy had the combat power of a Transcendent, King Zeldrion could not help but ask him for the specifics. "By true Transcendent, what rank exactly?"

"Definitely Rank 1 at the very least, the beginning of Rank 2 at the very most," Dalton replied, allowing King Zeldrion to let out a sigh of relief as he muttered, "There's still a chance for us to fight back."

"Rather than focusing on fighting back, how about you focus on your citizens for now?" Dalton could not help but say in response, prompting King Zeldrion to look at the mirror. At the moment, he could see that Aurus was only about ten to twenty kilometers away from reaching the insides of the kingdom.

With that, he hastily commanded the kingdom's military commander to coordinate with all of the Royal Seraphim Forces as they made sure to evacuate all of the people along the path Aurus was taking. After obtaining confirmation from the commander regarding the move a few seconds later, King Zeldrion then looked at Dalton, prompting the latter to let out a sigh as he told him, "I better get some magic spells from that old fogey behind you in exchange for this."

Snap!

Not even a second later, a large barrier consisting of many layers appeared near the path where Aurus was moving, being conjured just in time for Aurus to be inside it. Naturally, Aurus decided to land a few hits against it so he could kill some people along the way to bolster his strength. Unfortunately, the barrier was too sturdy, even with him increasing his power momentarily.

Seeing as to how Aurus was trapped in that area, King Zeldrion looked at Dalton for a bit before nodding. "Alright, I'll tell that old man to give you a few of his spells after we're done with this. After all, I still have get his help in order to stop this calamity."

"As long as you abide by your promise," Dalton said in response with a light smile. "Now, go out there and show the world once more as to why you're called the Sole Sword Emperor."

"Pfft. Ever since I was given that title, I really hated it," King Zeldrion could not help but laugh at Dalton's words before taking on a solemn expression. "In any case, I'll be back."

Whoosh!

With Dalton conjuring a spatial rift to make it easier for King Zeldrion, the latter then stepped into the spatial rift appearing on the other side of the rift a few moments later.

…

With a barrier being conjured around him just as he had entered the kingdom proper, Aurus could not help but become slightly furious. But of course, it was the primal instinct that was furious. Nevertheless, Aurus knew very well that he would have lower and lower chances of success if he did not kill more people to bolster his strength, which the barrier denied him of that chance.

And so, allocating a great portion of his strength towards [Dark Universal Blade], Aurus conjured a claw made out of a million blades, sending it towards the barrier that had more or less blocked him from greater power.

"[Spellsword of Ruination: Ultimate Lost Art]."

"[Million Sword Embodiment]."

"[Otherworldly Summoning: True Lucifer Claw]."

Bang!

As the claw and barrier collided against one another, the barrier instantly warped and distorted into various shapes, seemingly breaking under the force behind the claw Aurus sent out. However, just as it was about to shatter, an invisible force seemingly put pressure on it as the barrier gradually returned to its original form a few seconds later.

Slightly surprised that the barrier was able to maintain its shape under such an attack, Aurus could not help but remember the annoying man he fought against before he actually entered the kingdom. However, he could only think of this for just a few seconds as a spatial rift appeared near the end of the barrier as a man exuding magnanimity amidst ferociousness showed itself in front of Aurus.

Looking at Aurus, the man said with a light smile, "Welcome to the Seraph Kingdom, the so-called The Great Calamity. My name is Zeldrion Seraph, the king of Seraph Kingdom. And you…"

Whoosh!

"…are going to regret coming here in the first place."