Chapter 183: Mercy in defeat

Thump!

Thump!

Thump!

Lucien felt his beating heart getting strained, causing him to spit out a mouthful of blood, leaving him stunned. He expected the time limit for his Azure mode to be short but not this short. It has barely been up to five minutes since he activated this mode yet he is already at his limit!

"Not now!" Lucien cried out weakly.

[Your body has been strained all through today… You started with the Raizen clan, then Raizen, god beast, the Lucardo clan head, and now, here… You should know you are not in a good condition…Pushing yourself any further will have dire consequences… Consequences be damned!] Rakuzen said the last part with a light chuckle and Lucien laughed at it too.

"You know me too well old man…" Lucien loosened his grip on his chest and focused on the figure within the smoke.

[If I asked you to stop, I am sure you wouldn't stop, so why try? We can only push forward now! By the way, if I were your shoes I would do the same] Rakuzen replied casually.

Meanwhile, within the smoke, Derik was lost in thought. Ever since he entered this world he realized the flaws of his abilities and slowly he had already begun to accept it. He realized his world could be considered as a narrow path in a forest while this world is like the whole forest given to the inhabitants to explore. There is more to this world and that's why he has been enduring humiliating defeats after another! Something he has never experienced all his life. 

The laws of this world are strict and even the injured gods cannot interfere now and for him, he will never be able to leave this world since it is constantly suppressing his power down to the level of mortals. As the god of death, Lucien has already sensed his death closing in but he wasn't worried. Death cannot hold a powerful being like him, all he wished to understand is what his next plans are. What if he decides to start afresh here, with his death element but using the laws of cultivation to better understand his abilities?

"That wouldn't be too bad…" Derik said with a sad look on his face. He has lived for so long and had oppressed many, leading him to delude himself into thinking that he is the absolute but today he has been reduced to this state by a child barely up to fifteen years of age. Whether he has the backing of a powerful celestial being or not is not an excuse to him.

As he once claimed to be the absolute, he had lost the right to make excuses!

Whoosh!

With a new resolve, Derik approached Lucien casually with a more peaceful look on his face. His eyes lacked any form of emotion but he didn't seem troubled any more by everything that has happened.

"You are tried… So am I… I have to accomplish my part of the bargain for those who brought me here and end the life of your emperor… So I think we should put an end to the senseless fight with our next move!" Derik said

Hearing this, Lucien frowned. Even though Derik seemed different he hated his words. It was clear he was going to kill the emperor before leaving and he couldn't allow that.

"I agree!" Lucien said as his aura exploded 

Seeing this Derik sighed and snapped his fingers, causing his death scythe to vanish. He leaned forward and his aura exploded as well. His previous life flashed before his eyes and only then did he yank his eyes open and say.

"You will not be the one to take my life kid… You are not strong enough" Derik said causally!

"Let us see about that! Azure dragon style: Dragon claw!" Lucien roared as he punched forward and the massive claws of the Azure blue dragon appeared, shooting towards Derik!

Seeing this, Derik laughed lightly as he pressed both hands forward and spoke gently.

"Nice technique, But I will be going a bit basic for you now!" Derik said as his death aura vanished and was replaced with a more ferocious aura belonging to his werewolf side. The aura expanded as it took the shape of a massive darkish green werewolf without the lower half visible!

"You did good kid… I look forward to our next battle! Secret combat technique: Lycan roar!" Derik growled and the massive werewolf charged forward shooting towards the dragon claw while letting out a vicious roar! 

BOOM!

"Aaaaarrggggh!" Lucien let out a painful cry as his body shot back and blood poured out of a deep wound on his chest! A blue beam of light shot out of his body at that moment, taking the form of a long blue-haired man with numerous tattoos of his body, wearing a blue kimono!

Rakuzen caught Lucien's unconscious body and gazed at his disciple with a prideful look on his face. 

"Train him well… Next time I come for you… I won't hold back against him!" Derik said while gazing at Rakuzen.

"I know what you want to do… I know why you are doing all of this and I have to say something! I did the same… I became the first celestial being this god vein has created but I couldn't protect this realm alone… I failed and now I am training someone who will succeed me… Sometimes you can do everything alone… You need to have people around you… There is strength in numbers!" Rakuzen said

"Numbers is for the weak! The path I have walked all my life is a lonely one, a burden no one else can bear! This world needs someone like me… This realm needs people like us to keep it safe, if not everyone we love will die miserably!" Derik answered with a frown!

"Hahaha! I use to think like that but do you know what I thought before I die? What if I had my best friend by my side… Maybe we would have won this battle together… I didn't regret carrying the burden alone… I only regretted not sharing it with those who cared about me" Rakuzen said before leaving the battlefield with Lucien in his hands.