Chapter 87: Chapter 87 - Ashen Emperor (1/2)

CHAPTER 87

ASHEN EMPEROR

Dark skies trembled slightly as a palm-sized vortexes spun ceaselessly beneath them. They appeared to be devouring the light the sun cast, spitting it out on the other side in the form of obsidian fog which covered the entirety of a ma.s.sive basin.

Towers made entirely out of obsidian stone rose around these vortexes, woven into the large-scale city of crisscrossing roads and absolute darkness. The atmosphere was well beyond being simply eerie and desolate, and was more akin to absolute suffocation of life. Were an ordinary mortal even to gaze upon the sight, there's no doubt their soul would immediately be plundered.

Though appearing random, the tall towers were built in a pre-planned manner, forming a ma.s.sive formation that encompa.s.sed the entire city. If one looked at it from far above, a shape of three inverse triangles connected to the central point. In-between ran a cross, which then further split at the edges, connecting to the edges of triangles.

At the central point, where all of the formation converged, was the tallest tower which, much like vortexes above, ceaselessly spat out black gas from its openings. There wasn't even an ounce of light anywhere near or inside of it, and it appeared to be bereft of life. However, it was not so.

Deep within the tower, around its midway point, was a grand hall embroiled with skeletal statues of hundreds of different beasts, and purely obsidian statues of various devils. The statues were formed in a half-circle, all pointing toward a singular point of the hall - the throne.

The throne was stacked with bones, yet its seating and splat were made out of rough, meteorite stone. The bones around the throne stacked outwardly, as though mimicking a birth of a world-ending shockwave. They protruded like glaciers and icicles, yet their dark, silvery hue hardly matched the former's beauty.

Atop the throne sat a pale-looking youth, appearing to be no older than twenty-five. Though pale, he seemed rather handsome, and the pair of blue eyes were like stark gems in the world of darkness, sparkling with radiance beyond reason. He was entirely cloaked in shadows from neck down to his toes to the point that one was unable to discern his body.

His hair had turned into withering white and it fell softly over his shoulders as a crown made out of h.e.l.lfire rested atop of his head, burning eternally in black haze. The youth's expression was that of indifference and distance as he observed four Demons kneeling before him.

All four Demons were actually Great Demons and they were already at the pinnacle of Purity Realm, yet they felt neither shame nor unwillingness when bowing before the strange youth.

”Interesting,” the youth suddenly mumbled, his voice echoing through the hall. ”I was not wrong. He's still here.” the four Demons dared not speak and merely listened in silence. ”Which means that she's here as well. Interesting indeed.” his thin lips suddenly curled up in a sudden smile as his entire body vanished from the spot. The four Demons still remained kneeling, though, as though awaiting his return.

The youth was none other than Prince Yox of Umbra Kingdom who had since sold his soul entirely to the Devils. None of his human disposition remained, and if one were to peer beneath his flesh, they'd see nothing but ever-rotating darkness.

Souls of humans and devils were starkly different; rather, souls of all races were different, as they were borne of different ideas and concepts. Devils were born directly of Devil Qi, which was the complete opposite of Gaia Qi; though not inherently 'evil' in any way, shape or form, due to the precedent that Gaia was Light, Devils themselves, in opposition, chose the sigil of Darkness and bore it with pride.

Prince Yox - now known as Ashen Emperor - clipped through the void and appeared on the topmost floor of the central tower. There, unlike his own hall, the room was far simpler; save for a few bookshelves, chairs and tables, there were no statues and no throne. However, the pressure exuded by this simple room was perhaps tens of thousands of time grander than that of his own hall.

Yox could do nothing but immediately fall on on knee and bow his head as he stared at the figure across from him. It was a two-horned Devil with scaled skin and bulging muscles across his body. His face was extruded akin to horse's, while his two eyes lacked pupils and were entirely black.

”Grandmaster.” Yox spoke humbly.

”Hm? Ashen Emperor, why have you come here?” though the voice appeared calm and indifferent, it bore directly into Yox's soul, shaking him from within.

”I implore a favor from Your Majesty.”

”You wish to lead the expedition against Man?” the Devil asked.

”Yes.”

”... I cannot permit that.”

”...” Yox held back from shouting, choosing his words carefully. ”May I ask why?”

”Your hatred,” the Devil replied. ”It will bear you death.”

”My hatred?”