Chapter 481 - 481: Battle of the century

"Hehehehe!" Derik's dry laughs instilled fear into the hearts of all those around him and the creaking sound of his skeleton body echoed across the room. The hollow space in his eye socket was replaced with a faint green light and his blood that filled the entire room burst into green flames!

"This is evil…" Diana muttered in fear.

A good part of her life as a mortal was dedicated to watching Derik battle his enemies and even though she found it terrifying then, this was the first time she is able to witness Derik in his most horrifying form.

Wooosh!

An orange and darkish purple light shot across the room, shooting towards the skeleton.

Peng!

Upon collision, a powerful shockwave occurred and the ground beneath the Skeleton's boney feet shattered. It was Kaido and Blake brandishing their weapons at the skeleton but the skeleton easily blocked their attacks with its boney hands.

"At least we have a few bold men in this room!" The skeleton laughed wildly as it continued deflecting the attacks thrown at it.

"Dumb F.u.c.ks! Help!" Blake roared as he spat out a mouthful of red blood the moment he got struck by the skeleton.

Puff!

"Do you think you can kill me with this level of strength? Impossible!" The skeleton roared the moment it saw everyone in the room shooting towards it.

It felt like time has paused for Derik as he gazed at so many enemies through the eyes of the skeleton and he felt something he hasn't been able to feel in a long time!

Blood l.u.s.t!

His bloodthirst was at its peak, giving him an ecstatic feeling which even s.e.x may not be able to provide. For the first time in a long while, he laughed out loud in the middle of the battle and he finally realized why he didn't choose to settle down. He may have feelings for Elsa but his love for a battle far surpasses what he had for her.

"ENTERTAIN ME!" Derik roared as darkish green flames exploded from his skeleton body, throwing all those shooting towards him meters away.

Brrrr!

His body was soon consumed by the green flames as his body rose to the air, leaving behind pearls of laughter for the enemies to listen to!

"THIS IS WHY I LIVE! THIS IS THE REASON I EXIST! CHAOS AND DESTRUCTION ARE WHAT MAKES LIFE INTERESTING!" Derik's voice echoed from the bright green flames and when it dispersed a new Derik appeared.

It was the same skeleton but this time its lower half was replaced with green flames, shaped like that of a serpent. On its skull was a crown made of green flames and every section of its boney body was decorated with green symbols.

"True death magic: Birth of the leech emperor" Derik muttered while throwing his hands open and saying;

"Come…. Kill me if you can!"

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In the empire, Cyrus and the other new gods couldn't help but worry about Derik. Knowing how impulsive Derik was, Cyrus was sure Derik had a hand in the changes happening in this world. The fact that mana had suddenly returned to this world simply shows he must have battled the Beyond and ended up destroying the barrier used to seal it off.

The question now is why hasn't he returned?

The thought of Derik dying in battle is very unusual but also possible. As much as they would love to deny it, Derik is not as invincible as people think. 

Alongside the other new gods, Cyrus retired to the underground chambers under the royal palace of the empire. On their way there, they met Tanatos who wore a grave look on his face, his eyes carried fear and worried, enough to make Cyrus ask.

"What's wrong?" Cyrus began wondering why Tanatos was blocking the entrance to the underground chamber.

"I need you to come alone… it has something to do with the secret mission…" His voice trailed off as he didn't know how to speak further without the other new gods noticing.

Derik and Cyrus weren't willing to let the other new gods know about the power source in the new world, neither did they bother to tell them about the new god vein. This is because in their past life these new gods have never been trustworthy. In the past, they have fought against each other repeatedly for selfish reasons and they only joined hands when the lives of all new gods were at stake! 

"I wish to speak to Tanatos in private… you all should leave… I will have you all gather when the time is right" Cyrus turned and said to the new gods.

Although they wished to ask questions and just refuse outrightly, but they knew they couldn't. Cyrus is just as strong as Derik and sometimes even crazier than the death god. Cyrus hardly gets furious but when he does, it's difficult for even Derik to calm him down.

With no other choice, they left without looking back, and only then did Cyrus and Tanatos dash into the room.

What Cyrus saw left him so shocked he didn't know whether he should be pissed off or terrified. He saw Blink and Clovis, lying on a huge round table, unconscious and barely breathing. Their bodies were covered in blisters and their life force was fading quickly.

"When they got here they were in a worse condition… I had to use my life force as a means of keeping them alive until you got here" Tanatos quickly explained as Cyrus ran over to them and began healing them with his life magic.

As the god of life, healing people a step away from death's doors are not even challenging, but what he couldn't get off his mind were two questions that kept popping up like ads.

"Who is strong enough to beat them down to this condition and what happened to the ten warriors and mages sent to accompany them?"