Chapter 202 Aftermath (1/2)

CHAPTER 202

AFTERMATH

The sun stood lonesome atop the dimly blue sky, its radiance spanning the vast world beneath. That itself would not be strange if not for the fact that it was the far North of the Central Continent, the region most famous for short-lived summers and cripplingly long winters, Emperor Rex mused.

Perhaps even more worrying to him -- and several others who came with him -- was the landscape, or rather lack thereof. Mountains were gone, gorges were filled, the whole spans flattened into destroyed valleys. Piles of shattered rocks lay mounted on top of one another creating a bizarre sort of a labyrinth spanning for literal thousands of miles onward. And perhaps most-importantly, there were four bodies scattered about without a breath of life in them, and the signs of the fifth one.

Emperor Rex, the Patriarch Chen, both Guardians, and the Sky-bearing Monk stood in line, all observing the completely terraformed north with peculiar expressions. There was a tinge of awe, a hint of respect, a sliver of confusion and most-dominantly a glimmer of terror within their gazes. In part it had to do with the fact that at the very least five high-ranking Devils had met their doom here, and in part with the sheer scale of the battle whispering that it wasn't merely a battle between just Sin-Devils and a few Titulars.

They all knew who was solely responsible for the North, and they all expected for the Northern Front to merely turn into a fabrication of the battle -- they thoroughly believed that the Devil Army had no intention of instigating conflict against a Descender. Yet, the very landscape they were seeing proved them otherwise... and it also proved that the Devils had made a huge mistake.

”... well, this front was short-lived, eh?” Patriarch Chen tried to ease the atmosphere awkwardly.

”Conflict of this scale,” Unholy Guardian chimed in. ”Shouldn't be allowed on this Continent. Rather, the land itself or the world around it isn't fit to sustain it.”

”How long do you think it will take for the North to recover?” Emperor Rex asked.

”Without external influence... several tens of thousands of years.” Guardian Jean replied with a strange glint in his eyes.

”... haaah.” the Emperor sighed; after all, North as it was existed as such for a reason.

”Isn't nobody going to bring up the fact that the Seventy-Second Descender managed to fight off at least four Sin-Devils all on his own?” the Sky-bearing Monk joined in.

”Why bring it up?” Patriarch Chen said. ”I believe, on one level or another, we were all aware that no ordinary person can ever join them. Whether they be low or high in number, they aren't the sort that we can dare to challenge. If anything, this may have dissuaded some of us from having any delusions.”

”Are you insinuating something?” the Emperor turned toward the Patriarch and glared.

”I get it,” Patriarch Chen shrugged, meeting the glare squarely. ”You've ruled with iron fist, unchallenged, for so long. Yet, all of a sudden a random kid pops out of nowhere and destroys whatever image you were fashioning yourself into. I'd be pissed off too, if I'm being honest. That is, if I was as vain as you are.”

”A kid? You really believe this was the work of a kid?” the Emperor scoffed.

”He's no older than thirty,” the Unholy Guardian spoke out instead. ”There are a lot of ways to hide the age, but he wasn't using any. Rather, it's better to say that the sheer quantity of Vitality in him would be nigh impossible to hide in the first place.”

”A Body Cultivator?” the Sky-bearing Monk exclaimed softly. ”That's rare...”

”None of this really matters,” Jean suddenly interrupted. ”The Northern Front will close and this will most-likely force all current battles to stop as Devils withdraw temporarily and regroup. No matter how strong the Descender may be, he will have not escaped the battle unscathed meaning we won't be seeing him for some time. All the while we'll have to conjure up our own strategy and prepare for a most-likely full-blown invasion that will follow.”

”What makes you think he's incapacitated?” the Monk asked.