Desolate Era

by RWX

  The dragon turtle followed him obediently, and the two quickly warped away.

  ……

  Ning, Mogg, and the white-robed Titanos continued to fly downwards, moving closer and closer to the heart of the astral vortex. The astral clouds had been dramatically weakened, but progress was still quite difficult.

  “You two stay here. I’ll try it out alone,” Ning said. “The astral vortex is still active, which means I need to keep the reverse-vortex formation active as well. If brought to a halt, the hive will once more begin to swallow energy away from our Chaosverse. In other words, my avatar needs to stay here until we can come up with a way to destroy that energy wellspring permanently. Only then can we destroy the hive, at which point I’ll be free to go.”

  “Agreed.” Mogg and Titanos halted their advance. Titanos was here in the form of a newly-created avatar, while Mogg was significantly weaker than Ning.

  “Break!” Ning continued to advance while following a path formed by the sword-light generated by his reverse-vortex formation. Although the destructive power of the astral vortex was great, the broken bits of sword-light continuously reformed around Ning, making passage for him slightly easier.

  He continued to advance in three-headed, six-armed form, striking out with all six swords to help carve a path outwards. The deeper he went, the harder it became. In the end, Ning had to use all his power while following the path of sword-light in order to reach the black tower at the very center of the vortex.

  Riiiip! The terrifying crushing power here continuously destroyed the surrounding sword-light, but more grains of sword-light rose in their stead. As for Ning, he also maintained his three-headed, six-armed form to fight back.

  “This is the energy wellspring of the entire hive.” Ning stared at the countless runes covering the black tower. The runes were profound beyond all imagination. After analyzing them for a while, Ning suddenly leapt forward to ram against the black tower. Right as he hit the tower, he used a blinking technique and followed his senses to teleport inside the tower.

  Book 43, Chapter 25 - The War Begins

  Castles, planets, towers… Ji Ning was able to penetrate any purely physical barrier, no matter how indestructible it was, with ease.

  After blinking into the black tower, Ning could still sense the outside world beyond it. Even his mana was able to easily pass through the tower and continue to maintain the reverse-vortex formation outside.

  “Who would’ve thought the insides of the tower would look like this?” Ning rose into the air, staring at the area before him.

  The black tower merely covered an area of ten thousand kilometers. At the very center of this area was a shadowy black globe that was covered with a veneer of light. It was furiously gobbling up everything being sent to it. The energy that was circulating towards and through the black tower wasn’t impeded by the tower itself at all, and when the energy was absorbed by the shadowy black orb it caused the orb to slowly grow more powerful.

  Time ticked on, minute after minute. Eventually, the shadowy globe finished devouring the remaining vestiges of power which the Annihilation Hive had swallowed, at which point it had nothing to feed upon.

  “So this is the energy wellspring of the Annihilation Hive?” Ning nodded slowly. He could sense a strange Dao infused into the black orb, one which was contrary to the Dao of their Chaosverse.

  “It emanates a terrifying aura of destruction. There’s no way this destructive power came from our Chaosverse. It must have come from the Infinite Void outside.” Ning was extremely certain of this.

  “Break!” Ning was in his three-headed, six-armed form and wielded all six Northmoon swords. Sword-light flashed in a dazzling manner, as though six rainbows suddenly had shot out and simultaneously chopped down upon the black tower. It was the black tower which was allowing this engine of destruction to manifest the great vortex in the outside world. If Ning could destroy the tower, the whirlpool itself would instantly disintegrate!

  BOOM! A series of loud explosions rang out. Ning’s sword-light was powerful and dominating, but it only managed to cause the tower to tremble. No actual damage was done.

  Ning switched from one sword-art to another, trying them all. He tested a soft and corrosive style, a blazing and concentrated style, and a mixture of many other styles as well. None of his many sword-arts, however, were able to do a thing to the black tower.

  “Eh? The black tower is absolutely invulnerable. That means I’ll have to turn my attention to the energy wellspring.” Ning frowned as he turned to look at the sphere of annihilation.

  It was a dark, shadowy, illusory thing that continued to strive to devour the outside world. Ning had the feeling that the destructive Dao it contained was extremely odd, and he had the feeling that breaking it would be extremely difficult.

  “I’ll give it a shot.” Once more, Ning struck out with his swords. Whoosh! The Northmoon swords expanded to become over a thousand meters long as they furiously chopped down towards the shadowy black orb.

  Bam! When the swords chopped down on the black orb, they instantly sensed a power pushing back against them. The surface of the shadowy black orb trembled and changed slightly, but once Ning withdrew his swords it quickly went back to normal.

  “Break! Break! BREAK!” Ning tried out multiple sword-arts, sending countless streams of sword-light crashing down upon the shadowy black orb. Each time it shuddered and distorted in shape, but every time it quickly regenerated and once more appeared completely undamaged.

  “I’m not strong enough. This sphere of annihilation is completely capable of enduring the force of my sword-arts. I can’t truly damage it at all! I can only make it collapse once my attacks surpass its limits.” Ning shook his head. “The Sithe Lord of Chaos truly is incredible. He’s able to manipulate this sphere of annihilation as though it was a mere bauble and even figured out how to teleport it into our Chaosverse. I, however, am not able to budge it in the slightest, much less damage it.”

  If he wasn’t able to break the sphere of annihilation, the only thing he could do was keep his avatar here and maintain the reverse-vortex formation indefinitely.

  “The Dao within this sphere of annihilation is truly inscrutable.” Ning glanced at the shadowy black sphere, seemingly capable of devouring all things, then once more reached out with his senses to try and understand the laws it contained.

  “This Dao is completely different from the Daos of our Chaosverse. Perhaps… perhaps I’ll be able to study its Dao and create a brand new Sword Dao from it!” Ning suddenly was inspired by it. He had once created an Annihilation Sword Dao during his six million chaos cycles in training! That Dao was a purely destructive Dao, but this ‘sphere of annihilation’ was different; instead of simply destroying, it devoured everything around it.

  The Five Elements, Yin and Yang, darkness and light… it could swallow literally everything the Chaosverse held, then use it to strengthen itself! This was a strange yet terrifyingly powerful Dao! Ning had the feeling that if he could figure out how to infuse it into his own Sword Dao, it would probably produce an extremely powerful Sword Dao that would be of great benefit to him.

  The black tower was impregnable, while the sphere of annihilation was similarly invulnerable. The Autarchs had no ideas either, and so Ning was forced to leave his avatar here! It was better for them to keep an Autarch-class combatant tied up here than to allow the Annihilation Hive to continue its devouring rampage.

  Ning’s avatar spent all of its time staring at the sphere of annihilation, attuning to the powerful destructive forces within it.

  ……

  In a dark part of the Chaosverse. Autarch Titanos and the dragon turtle suddenly appeared out of nowhere and appeared here.

  “All the various different spacetime continuums are interlaced together here. We have reached the farthest reaches of our Chaosverse,” Autarch Titanos said. Nothing was beyond this place save for endless darkness. If one continued to fly, one still wouldn’t see a
true ‘barrier’ signifying the end of the Chaosverse.

  The borders of the Chaosverse could not be seen with the naked eye or sensed directly. It was simply a place where many different spacetime continuums were jumbled together. Only someone of Autarch Titanos’ caliber would be able to verify where it all came together. There were actually countless nexus points like this, and all of them together formed the vast, impregnable ‘line’ which separated the Chaosverse from the Infinite Void!

  “I’ll send you out,” Autarch Titanos said.

  “Thank you, Autarch.” The dragon turtle was very delighted and chose to express it through great modesty.

  Autarch Titanos waved a single finger. Slash! He tore through the darkness before him as though it was parchment, revealing a dazzling scene ‘outside’…

  This was the beautiful and stunning Infinite Void, a place filled with countless colors. It was truly vast without end and filled with countless celestial bodies, with the Chaosverses merely being the largest and most mysterious of those bodies. It was composed of countless different intersecting spacetime continuums. Anyone could quickly become lost when traversing them.

  “The Infinite Void.” The dragon turtle grew excited. Finally. It was finally going home!

  “Go. Hide in a distant place and don’t let the Sithe catch you again,” Autarch Titanos said.

  The dragon turtle gave Autarch Titanos a grateful nod, then sent its massive bulk hurtling through the great rift within the darkness and into the vast Infinite Void outside. This was its true home, the place it loved. It was vast beyond measure and filled with infinite possibilities and marvels.

  When Autarch Titanos glanced at the dazzling lights and sights of the Infinite Void, he couldn’t help but feel a hint of desire as well. He very much wanted to go out and do some adventuring, but his Chaosverse was in grave danger. Their Chaosverse didn’t even have a Lord of Chaos to defend it. How could he be so selfish as to go out exploring at a time like this?

  ……

  Within a vast palace of light. Almighty Iyerre was seated on a throne up high, barefoot as always. He was dressed in gray robes which covered his muscular frame, and his eyes were filled with warmth as he stared downwards at his subjects. Before him was a teeming mass of servants, all of them Exalts.

  “The Annihilation Hive has already been solved by the cultivators,” Iyerre said slowly as he gazed at his servants.

  Instantly, there was a commotion amongst the many Sithe Exalts.

  “I underestimated those cultivators.” Iyerre smiled. “I had thought that I might be able to gain victory through the Annihilation Hive alone! Now, it seems that taking control over this Chaosverse won’t be as easy as I had hoped. Very well then. Since the simplest method has failed… let us go to war! Let the final war begin.”

  All of the Exalts raised their heads to stare at the almighty Iyerre. They felt nervousness, anticipation, excitement, and fear.

  Had it finally begun? The final war?

  “Last time was just a trial run! This time, we’ll fight for real! The local cultivators have managed to produce a complete Eternal Omega Sword Dao, which means they are going to become increasingly powerful. Eventually, they’ll give birth to Omega Emperors! The longer we wait, the slimmer our chances shall become.”

  “There’s no way out. Let the final battle begin! If we win, you shall all gain your freedom and receive countless gifts from me for having aided me,” Iyerre said. “If we fail, all of you shall fall.”

  By now, Iyerre’s smile had vanished. A terrifying, shocking light began to emit from his eyes. All of the Exalts below him could sense his terrifying will and resolve. “Now go! The final war starts now!” Iyerre commanded.

  “Understood!” Frenzied looks appeared in the eyes of all the Exalts. Fear was meaningless at a time like this. All they could do was prepare to fight! If they won, they would have everything they could ever dream of… and in fact, the new Chaoslord Iyerre would give them more than they could even imagine!

  All of the Exalts departed, leaving Iyerre seated by himself atop his throne within the palace of light.

  Iyerre was smiling again. He murmured softly to himself, “Cultivators, I already know every trick you possess! You, however, have no idea what I am capable of. The war starts today. I wonder, cultivators… how long will you be able to hold out for?”

  Book 44, Chapter 1 - Grand Army, Mobilize!

  A peaceful, beautiful, and vast world where Hegemons and Emperors resided.

  “Come, try this new dish I came up with.” Three Hegemons and five weaker Emperors were seated next to each other. A curly red-haired man walked out from a nearby hall, a smile on his face as he called out to them. He then waved his hand, causing the platters before him to fly towards his eight friends. Each platter was filled with red strips of meat covered by some sort of sauce.

  “We absolutely must try brother Bluefive’s delicacies.”

  “Whoah, not bad. It’s quite crispy. The flavor goes all the way down to my toes! I feel absolutely wonderful. Unnngh… in fact, I almost feel a bit tipsy…”

  “It’s delicious, absolutely delicious.”

  “Bluefive, bring out some more. We’re almost finished!”

  The Hegemons all praised the food and asked for more.

  “Calm down! This is something I just finished concocting. If you like it, I’ll make some more in a bit,” the red-haired man chortled. He felt quite delighted and proud that his friends loved his food.

  Right at this moment…

  “All Sithe warriors, prepare to receive the orders of almighty Iyerre!” a voice suddenly thundered. The words echoed throughout the world, reverberating throughout every inch of it.

  All nine of the Hegemons and Emperors who had been eating and chatting, including Bluefive, instantly turned pale.

  Rumble… a vast, blurry pillar of light suddenly appeared at the highest point in the very center of this world. A humanoid figure slowly began to take form within the pillar of light. It was the balding, barefoot, gray-robed Iyerre. The tall and muscular Iyerre stared downwards upon everyone in the world. This was just a projection, but it was enough to cause all the Hegemons and Emperors to quiver with fear.

  All the Hegemons and Emperors, be it the ones who were training in their estates or the ones who were partying with friends, all came out to bow with incomparable reverence, demonstrating their respect and submission towards this man.

  “Warriors of the Sithe.” Iyerre stared downwards at them, a smile on his face: “You have all come from our homeland to this foreign Chaosverse… and for what?”

  “To fight! To fight a war that will change all of our destinies, both yours and mine! We have to win this war! If we win, all of you will gain absolute freedom for yourselves… and I, Iyerre, shall forever remember you and treat you kindly,” Iyerre said. “Our last war was nothing more than a trial run. This one, however, shall be the final war! There is no way out for any of us. Once we lose this battle, we’ll have no chance of winning in the future.”

  All the Hegemons and Emperors felt their hearts clench. No way out? They had a way out last time; when they saw that things were turning against them, they retreated to this place.

  “An Eternal Omega Dao has arisen within this Chaosverse! If we don’t attack now, the natives of this Chaosverse shall quickly become so powerful that we’ll have no chance of defeating them at all.

  “Thus… this time, we have to win no matter the cost! Those who perform well shall all be rewarded. Even if you die in battle, I’ll reverse spacetime to bring you back. Those cowards who elect to flee, however… even if they manage to survive, I’ll put them all to death!

  “Now, everyone shall mobilize! Follow the plan we prepared long ago and advance to the various realmverses of the native cultivators!”

  The vast airborne image of Iyerre slowly began to dissipate. A sense of pressure quickly began to press down upon all the Hegemons and Emperors within this great world.


  “So the final war is finally beginning.” Hegemon Bluefive, standing amongst his eight friends, murmured softly: “I was lucky enough to survive the last war, then were given so many years of blissful peace in this world. This was more than we had any right to expect!”

  “Some of us came later on, after the first war had already come to an end. But… Bluefive, we already know everything there is to know about these cultivators. We’re going to win this war.”

  “Right. We’ll definitely win.”

  “There’s no way out. Only victory will grant us release.”

  “Fight.”

  “Fight.”

  “Fight!” The Hegemons and Emperors exchanged glances with each other. They could sense the firm resolve and combative auras emanating from their peers. Their destinies had been set down in stone long ago; they had to obey Iyerre’s orders, and Iyerre had ordered them to this Chaosverse. Here, they had quietly waited for the war to begin. Their only hope lay in victory.

  They had all come here for the sake of gaining victory in the final war.

  “Follow the plan which was set down long ago. Board the warships and prepare to mobilize!” a loud voice boomed out, echoing throughout the world.

  “Prepare to mobilize!”

  “Board the warships!”

  “Move faster!” Voices rang out from throughout the world.

  “Let’s get ready to go.” Bluefive and his eight friends transformed into streaks of light that shot off into the distance.

  In just the time needed to boil a kettle of tea, a series of enormous warships began to soar into the skies. Each warship held a total of roughly twenty Hegemons and many more Emperors, as well as many golems and mighty treasures.

  “Activate!”

  Rumble… space began to tremble as the power which had lain dormant for so many years in this mysterious dimension was finally activated. It was like an enormous flower had begun to bloom.

  This particular dimension had been hidden within a part of the Great Dark of the local Chaosverse. It had been buried here for countless years, and the cultivators had never discovered its existence.