Divine Emperor of Death

Two female children, appearing to be no more than five years old, remained in a corner of a room, wailing loudly as they cried while holding each other. They had green hair and small wolf tails that quivered between their legs.

*Crack~* *Crack~*

Debris fell from the roof, and the building seemed to be collapsing as everything was ablaze.

Suddenly, a small silhouette similar to them rushed across the burning hallway and appeared behind them, holding them in an embrace as she shielded them.

"Wuwu~ Elder sister, where is father, mother?"

"We're scared~"

"Don't worry. Elder sister is here. I'll get you two out of here!~"

The small silhouette was none other than the two children's elder sister, and she appeared to be a split image of them, not to mention the same age.

She tried to take them out of the building, weaving through various obstacles as she kept them safe. Her emerald eyes shone with a determination that wouldn't be normally seen in a five-year-old, even though her expression was filled with fright.

Quickly, they were near the exit when suddenly, a man who was over six feet tall and had blazing red hair overlooked them with an amused gaze.

"What's this? Were there still survivors here? Boss, we have three lasses who are still- ah! What the fuck!"

Just as the red-haired man turned to look around to report, the eldest sister took a piece of wooden debris on the side that was still ablaze on one end and pounced on him, lighting his crotch with flames.

"Run!"

She screamed as she turned around while the red-haired man hurriedly struck his crotch to make the flames go out.

"Ah-boss! Help! Your flames are deadly!"

The two sisters hurriedly ran as they nimbly rushed around him. The eldest sister was also about to follow when suddenly her green hair was grabbed.

"Fuck! You're dead!"

The red-haired man growled as he somehow managed to disperse the flames and now cast a look at the child with a vicious look.

"Elder sister!"

"No, leave! Quick!"

The two children cried out, but the eldest sister roared at them as she was dragged back into the flames.

*Booom!~*

Abruptly, the other side of the building was entirely blown away, causing heavy winds to blow before two silhouettes could be seen fighting above as they exchanged blades. Undulations spread far and wide, causing suppression to quell the raging hearts of many.

"Dammit! The reinforcements of the Starlight Jade Wolf Clan are back. We must retreat!" Came a resounding cry from one of the men above.

"But boss-! We haven't even robbed them yet!"

The red-haired man shouted and turned to look at the two children who were quivering, refusing to leave. He clenched his teeth, just about to go collect them, but suddenly, two white-robed men appeared before the exit, causing his scalp to turn numb before he escaped in the direction of his retreating boss.

"Zanqua!"

"Panqa! Lanqua!"

The eldest sister reached out her hand towards her sisters but could only see herself gaining more and more distance from them.

"Zanqua…"

"…"

The magnitude of their cries only decreased with each passing second. Before long, it was like she was hearing it from so far that she only felt a resounding silence. She couldn't even feel the presence of the red-haired man who was kidnapped when she suddenly heard her name.

"Zanqua…!"

Her eyes shot wide open, and everything became clear to her at that moment.

Immortal Emperor undulations reverberated in the atmosphere as her green hair lifted ever so lightly. Her black-robed bandit clothes with a cape behind perfectly encased her body. She sat on a throne and had her hand reached out to the side, holding a giant sword by its hilt.

From resting her head using her palm on her cheek, she slowly raised her head, revealing a scarred face and a black eye patch on her left eye. With her clear right eye, she took a look at a black-haired woman with a sleazy expression and half-naked clothes kneeling before her.

"Paleen, did you just call me by name?" Her voice was cold, seething with an intense, inquisitive tone.

"Of course not, Cleaving Wolf Empress."

The woman called Paleen reeled back ever so lightly as she moved her waist and raised her finger and traced over her lips, "I would not dare blaspheme you with my mouth, but I did come to report that we finished torturing the man who came to investigate you and since you were dozing off- I shouted your grand title with the utmost care."

Zanqua suddenly lifted her broadsword, causing Paleen to reel back with fright.

"Go ahead."

However, Zanqua merely polished the broadsword, causing Paleen to heave an inward sigh and state what she found.

"Using mercenaries to finish me off is understandable, but to investigate me using an information network? This is certainly not from our friendly bandits out in the Northern Sphere Bandits~"

Zanqua chuckled, "Interesting~"

She figured out that the enemies she could be facing couldn't be ordinary.

"Paleen, check if one of our girls offended someone big in any one of the highways, mountains, and rivers we occupy. Be quick on it~"

"As my Empress commands."

Paleen bowed her head to the ground before she appeared to stand up and leave. However, she suddenly stopped and appeared to water from her mouth as she turned to look around.

"Uhm… my Empress, the girls are starved. Do you think we can throw that informant to them…?"

"Do as you please…"

"Boss is great!"

Paleen rejoiced and quickly left, while Zanqua didn't seem to pay attention much as her mind wandered off quickly. She looked at the ceiling for a while in her throne room in the mountains, her empire, lost in her thoughts before she touched her left eye, which was covered by a black eye patch, remembering a hateful, chubby woman with a broken nose.

"Oh? What a lovely find. To think that they captured a Starlight Jade Wolf Fey girl... You will fetch a high price anywhere, but- I'll make you a gift to the Northern Sphere Bandit Emperor. It's a pity that you're still wet behind your ears, but there's still time to groom you to his needs, so don't worry. My Cleaving Sword Gang will take care of you."

*Boom~*

She punched out at the empty space, causing air to tremble as it made that hateful image recede. A second later, she just slumped on her throne, appearing to doze off again.

Sometime later, she sighed before shaking her head.

She stood up, appearing to move her bedchambers to the side when she suddenly noticed something strange.

"…"

Turning to look around, she noticed that the atmosphere was eerily silent, making her narrow her eyes.

She sent her soul sense out, only for her eyes to go wide in shock.

Exiting the throne chamber, she saw her guards were collapsed on the ground. Further out, the ones that appeared to be moving around also seemed to have collapsed on the floor. She knelt and checked them, only to see that they were still alive but knocked out.

"Not assassins…?"

She voiced out as though hoping to get a response, but none came. She became highly cautious, confining her soul sense to the space around her to have the fastest reaction time. With her hand on the hilt of her broadsword strapped on her back, she moved around slowly, visiting a few places.

She appeared in the main hall and saw everyone appeared to be out cold. The armory and treasure room were still good, with nothing stolen. Even the den where they kept their captives hadn't been tampered with, but she could see the girls having collapsed naked while Paleen seemed to have been knocked out cold while she was still riding that tortured informant.

"…" She looked like she didn't notice and left.

Then, she checked the kitchen but still saw that everyone was out cold while the cauldron had chilled, which meant this was done quite a while ago.

Heading to the sleeping quarters, she saw many were knocked in their sleep. Some women were even out cold while scissoring each other, making her want to facepalm before she coldly left.

In the end, she reappeared in the main hall, waving her broadsword.

"Alright, mysterious person or people. I can see that you're powerful enough to elude everyone's senses, including mine, to do these things, so what kind of reaction do you hope to get out of me?"

She surveyed the hall, and she pointed the broadsword in a straight line with one hand as she spun around. "Fear?"

"Heh~"

She suddenly stopped in a direction and jumped, lifting her broadsword high up in the sky before it came crashing down like a meteor.

*Bang!~*

Cyan light erupted before the floor caved in, and rubble flew all over the place, sending the out-cold women flying. Even then, they didn't appear to wake up, appearing to have been drugged or in an illusion.

Regardless, Zanqua didn't seem to care as she lifted her sword and turned to look around, gazing at a ghastly silhouette move around. Her pupils dilated, and her right shoulder swelled along with the muscles as she lifted off the broadsword and dashed towards the silhouette with immense speed.

She traversed like a ray of cyan light, striking down with full force.

A ringing sound echoed as she slashed with the sword, the protruding force cutting through everything in its wake.

*Bang!~*

It cleaved the walls of the hideout and struck the nearby mountain, creating a massive crevice before creating another valley at the other end of the mountain. The building and the mountain were like it was made up of tofu in front of her power.

"You're as wild as the rumors say. Do your fellow bandit women mean nothing to you?"

"Heh~ To survive, I have done worse."

Zanqua stood up after unleashing that move. She snickered, but her expression didn't seem to be good as she realized that the other party was playing with her even though he appeared to be only an Immortal King.

"What do you want?"

Unable to garner this sudden intruder's intentions, she asked with a growl.

"Well, let's just say you offended someone you shouldn't have. However, they say you're a woman, so the young master wants to play with you."

"Oh? Bring your young master here. I'll personally entertain him on the bed."

Zanqua's gaze flashed with a predatory gaze, but a laughing voice resounded out from the shadows.

"If you say that with that kind of bloodlust, wouldn't you think my young master's thing will shrivel in fright? What would he do if you raised that dangerous broadsword against him? Cleave him into two?"

"If you understand, then scram!"

"That won't do. I must fulfill my young master's wishes. Otherwise, my head would be lopped off."

"Seems like we're in a bind then." Zanqua smirked, "I wouldn't have pursued this matter if you had left, but you just had to court death."

She was about to flick her hand when that same nonchalant voice fell.

"Don't bother activating the killing formation here. I know its weakness enough to get out unharmed."

"…!"