The Desolate Era (Web Novel)

“Here they come,” Emperor Waveshift suddenly said.

Ji Ning also saw how a series of ripples began to appear at the margins of the Great Dark. Moments later an enormous spacetime tear appeared within the darkness, followed by a realmship flying out of it.

“Hmph!” An angered snort rang out from within the realmship as an aura of tremendous might swept outwards, causing Ning, Azurefiend, and Whitethaw to turn slightly pale. Emperor Waveshift and the Flamewing God remained as composed as ever.

Emperor Waveshift wasn’t all that powerful, but he had experienced many, many things. He had met some truly terrifying figures and had been to many mysterious places, far more than even the Lonely King or Realmslord Windgrace. He truly was the embodiment of the term ‘highly experienced’; naturally, he was able to maintain his equanimity when encountering a single Golden Emperor.

As for Flamewing? Most likely, only Sithe Exalts or the Autarchs were capable of inspiring dread in him.

“How bold. You actually dare to appear before me.” A series of figures began to fly out of the realmship, with a humanoid figure that glittered like gold at their head. Behind him was a total of nine black humanoids, each of whom had auras of transcendent power.

A single Golden Emperor was equivalent to an Otherverse Lord in power! Nine Black Emperors fighting in concert were also a match for an Otherverse Lord! The amount of pressure they brought to their foes was truly incredible.

“Waveshift?” The Golden Emperor, Lord Wulf, turned to look at Emperor Waveshift. A hint of astonishment flashed past his eyes. He snorted coldly, “No wonder Daolord Darknorth just so happened to be waiting for us right here. So he has you standing behind him, Emperor Waveshift! I’ve heard of you long ago, but today is the first time we’ve met. Are you here to stop me?”

Emperor Waveshift laughed. “If I asked you to leave, would you actually leave?”

“Of course not.” Lord Wulf had a more baleful and more dominating aura than anyone Ning had ever encountered, and he held Emperor Waveshift in no regard at all. “Those who like you, Emperor Waveshift, will flatter you… but to those who don’t like you, you aren’t worth half a damn!”

Lord Wulf was an incredibly proud figure. There was nothing he wanted from Emperor Waveshift, and this was actually the very first time the two had met despite both having lived for countless years. He naturally felt no respect for Waveshift, an Emperor who didn’t even have the combat power of a Hegemon.

“Yes, I’m quite weak; my talents lie in Numerancy and Numerancy alone. My friends flatter me, but to those who have no need of my talents I truly am worth very little.” Emperor Waveshift remained quite calm and composed.

Lord Wulf’s face was a mask of icy arrogance, but many thoughts flitted through his mind. “Emperor Waveshift is actually here… can this be a scheme of some kind? But as a Golden Emperor, I’m even better at staying alive than actual Otherverse Lords. Given my power and the power of the nine Black Emperors who serve me, the only person in this area who would pose a threat to me should be Realmslord Windgrace! Even if Emperor Waveshift is plotting against me, he won’t be able to do anything to me at all.”

“I’ll overwhelm them with raw power. In front of absolute power, all schemes are nothing more than jokes.” Lord Wulf was extremely confident in his abilities.

“Daolord Darknorth.” Lord Wulf stared at the distant white-robed youth who bore that black sheath on his back. Ning was looking at him as well, and their gazes met in the air.

“General Wulf,” Ning responded.

“You are an impressive Daolord. Truly, you are incredible,” Lord Wulf said. “I’ve been alive for a very long time, but you are the only Daolord I have any respect for.”

“You praise me too much, General,” Ning said.

“Don’t be modest. A Daolord who can reach Hegemonic levels of power and even command a Hegemon retainer truly is incredible.” Lord Wulf glanced sideways at Azurefiend, who was by Ning’s side. “However… your retainer is a bit too cowardly. I would’ve committed suicide long ago.”

Cold light flickered through Azurefiend’s eyes.

“My contempt is reserved for those who commit suicide,” Ning said.

“Hm?” Lord Wulf frowned as he looked at the white-robed youth, then said coldly, “You really don’t know what’s good for you. No wonder you dared to make an enemy out of our Icepeak Army! Daolord Darknorth, as a Daolord you shall merely live for 108,000 chaos cycles. This is an incredibly short period of time! Once your lifespan comes to an end, you shall perish and your realmship will fall into the hands of others. In fact, there might even be a great battle over it. Emperors like myself who possess limitless lifespans can use it to wander the many realmverses and see more things… but for you to hold a realmship is an absolute waste! I urge you to hand it over. That way, you’ll at least remain alive,” Lord Wulf said.

He had been planning to attack immediately, but when he saw Emperor Waveshift… he still felt extremely confident in his chances, but he chose to be just a bit more cautious than he otherwise would have been.

“Hand it over?” Ning shook his head. “Why should I just hand my treasures over to you?”

“Are you sure you are going to refuse me?” The baleful aura surrounding Lord Wulf began to froth and churn. The hint of caution he had felt upon seeing Emperor Waveshift was beginning to dissipate, and his innate brutal disposition was beginning to reveal itself once more.

“I refuse.” Ning shook his head.

“You are courting death.” Lord Wulf’s gaze turned cold. He pointed angrily at Ning as his voice echoed throughout the surrounding area: “Kill them all, and exterminate Vastheaven Palace! Let everyone know what happens when they make enemies out of our Icepeak Army!”

“Acknowledged,” the nine onyx humanoids simultaneous said respectfully. “Kill them all!”

“Kill!” Murderous looks appeared on the faces of the nine Black Emperors, and their auras began to flare with awesome power. They were like nine streaks of black light that split apart the void as they shot forward. They had long ago grown accustomed to warfare and conquest! They had completely uprooted and destroyed quite a few powerful organizations; to them, an organization that was merely headed by a Daolord was nothing worth mentioning at all.

“Flamewing, kill them all!” Ning pointed towards his foes and issued an order as well.

“I’ve been waiting for you to say that.” Flamewing had been standing restlessly by Ning’s side. Upon hearing the order, he wagged his big butt excitedly, then let out an excited roar. This ordinary-looking fatty suddenly transformed into a dazzling ball of blazing fire which had a strange creature inside of it, a creature that looked like a fiery-winged bear.

The nine attacking Black Emperors all revealed looks of nervousness and puzzlement. They could sense incredible danger, but they had no idea what it was they were looking at.

“Eh?” The distant Lord Wulf suddenly turned pale.

“GWAAAAR!” Flamewing let out a shocking roar, and as he did so he belched forth a torrent of dark-red flames from his mouth. It almost instantly covered the surrounding void, including the nine Black Emperors who were charging in their direction.

“What’s that?!”

“ARGH! Not good, those flames are too powerful. Quick, run!”

The nine Black Emperors felt tremendous pain as soon as those dark-red flames touched them. Even their black skin began to slowly melt away! Although they were a bit more powerful than Whitethaw, they were still just Black Emperors; in other words, they were living beings who had used the Ritual Sacrificium to inherit a certain level of power. In contrast, Whitethaw was a ‘pure’ golem who was designed for defense; his survival abilities were far superior to theirs.

“What terrifying flames. These flames are far more powerful than even a Hegemon’s flames,” Waveshift said with an amazed sigh.

“Ordinary Hegemons would be burned to death by those flames,” the nearby Azurefiend said. “These Black Emperors have incredibly tough bodies; they are just melting slightly from the heat.”

Whoosh. As Flamewing belched out those terrifying dark-red flames, his wings fluttered and sent him streaking forwards like a bolt of terrifying light.

“That’s fast!” Ning was shocked. Flamewing was flying far faster than even a realmship!

“That creature is far too fast!” Hegemon Thunderstar, hiding off in the distance within his own realmship, was shocked by this as well. He had become a Hegemon via the Dao of Thunder and could be described as having reached the very apex of speed amongst cultivators, but he still felt astonishment. “He’s far, far faster than me. How can he be this fast?!”

Why was Flamewing known as the Flamewing God? It was precisely because of how incredibly fast he flew. This was why many classified him as a bird, as his prowess lay in his flight speed. Attacking techniques were of secondary importance.

Riiiip. Flamewing transformed into a streak of light and almost instantly shot towards a Black Emperor. He reached out with one of his chubby paws and swiped at the Black Emperor with it, causing the Black Emperor’s arm to twist unnaturally. A large wound appeared on the Black Emperor’s chest as well, so deep as to expose the countless stone passageways located within his chest. One of the planets inside his body completely exploded. This was a lethal blow for the Black Emperor, who instantly lost his life as a result.

Slash! Yet another paw-strike, this time aimed at the head of a Black Emperor. Although Black Emperors had incredibly sturdy heads, it was still possible for one to shatter those heads with enough power. As a result, this second Black Emperor died as well.

“Retreat, quick!” Lord Wulf could do nothing but watch as this all happened, his eyes threatening to leave their sockets. As soon as he had seen those dark-red flames, he knew something was wrong and so he immediately charged forwards to rescue his subordinate… but compared to Flamewing, his flying speed was far, far slower. They were on completely different levels.