Desolate Era

by RWX

  During the past two months, he had been searching for the Autarchs in a manner that was reminiscent of looking for a needle in a haystack. Thankfully, he was able to warp through spacetime just as fast as the Autarchs were, while his scanning treasure completely surpassed Autarch-level capabilities! During the past two months, he had managed to discover Autarch Stonerule’s avatar… but to reveal himself in exchange for just an avatar? There was no way Iyerre would make that type of trade!

  “I’ve finally found one of the actual Autarchs. Hm… this aura seems familiar. I encountered it countless times over the aeons. Isn’t this Autarch Mogg, who stood guard over our ‘sealed’ lands for all those years?” Iyerre revealed a smile. “Perfect. Autarch Mogg… I’ll use your life and your blood to anoint my war-banner.”

  ……

  A mountain peak which was floating in space. There were some ordinary-looking log cabins at the top of this mountain, and a tall, skinny, black-robed figure was seated in the lotus position within one of those cabins. His face was covered with scales, and his eyes were shut.

  The temples were all quite troublesome to deal with, and so the Autarchs had chosen to draw back all of their true bodies and only permitted their avatars to roam the outside world.

  This mountain peak might look ordinary, but it had been personally fashioned by Autarch Mogg for him to cultivate in. Without his permission, not even the other Autarchs would be able to approach without him noticing.

  But… right at this moment a barefoot and gray-robed figure suddenly appeared before the mountain peak. This figure had a benevolent, sympathetic smile on his face.

  It was Iyerre!

  Book 44, Chapter 17 - Iyerre vs Mogg

  Iyerre stood there in empty space, staring at the floating mountain before him and the clearly visible log cabin at the very top. Given his abilities, he was able to sense that within the log cabin sat Autarch Mogg.

  Generally speaking, for someone like Autarch Mogg, it was impossible for him not to notice when someone was staring at him. However, Iyerre was able to do so without him noticing anything at all.

  “Autarch Mogg of the cultivators. He really spent quite a bit of effort putting this mountain together. It is filled with all sorts of seals and scanners.” Iyerre smiled as he continued to inspect the place. Autarch Mogg’s various warning systems and barriers were perhaps quite troublesome for other major powers on his level, but they were nothing more than parlor tricks to someone like Iyerre.

  Iyerre was able to see immediately through the many flaws of these defenses. This was due to the far superior level of insight he possessed! He had been able to create things like the Annihilation Hive and the formation temples, all of which had stunned Ji Ning and Titanos. Everyone had been certain that only a Lord of Chaos could’ve created such incredible edifices.

  Ning and the others certainly weren’t able to create such things, but finding a few weak spots and exploiting them was much easier. Even so, only Autarch Titanos had been able to devise the reverse-vortex formation, while Ning had spent many days before managing to overcome the Eight Revolutions Spacetime Temple.

  This was a testament to the difference in insight between them!

  When the Autarchs had set down those many layers of seals around the heart of the Sithelands, they have felt that the Sithe would be unable to escape… but in truth, those seals had been an utter joke to Iyerre, who was able to bypass them with ease. The only reason he pretended his forces were sealed away was to ensure that the cultivators would lessen their vigilance against him. In truth, he had long ago sent his countless Hegemons and Emperors to the various secret dimensions.

  “This mountain might be able to stop the Autarchs, but it cannot bar my path.” Iyerre smiled as he walked closer towards it.

  Whoosh. His entire body became vaguely incorporeal and semi-translucent. He slowly strolled forwards, moving towards the mountain peak and then climbing up it.

  The many barriers atop the mountain were completely incapable of barring his path. Autarch Mogg was highly skilled in the Dao of Space, and his various seals and barriers were all dimensional in nature. However, Iyerre was using an even more profound application of the mysteries of space to become part of ordinary space itself, making the barriers completely ineffective against him.

  After walking for ten seconds, Iyerre came to a sudden halt. He frowned slightly as he stared at the distant log cabin. “A Dao Domain field?” This was a bit more troubling. Dao Domains were also known as Essence Domains. Ning had his Sword Dao Domain, while Autarch Mogg had his Space Daobirth Essence Domain.

  This was a time of war. Although Autarch Mogg’s true body was not taking part in combat right now, he still vigilantly kept his domain up at all times. He didn’t put too much effort into it, but it was still enough to cover half of the mountain. Any enemies who penetrated this mountain would be instantly discovered by his domain.

  “The power of his domain comes from the Chaosverse itself; it represents a domain formed by the power of the prime essences. I can avoid the prime essences and make it impossible for them to detect me, but I’d be discovered as soon as I entered the reach of his domain.” Iyerre pondered this question. “Suppressed by this Chaosverse, I’m unable to use any of the Dao’s power at all. I’m stronger than these native Autarchs, but not by that much. I don’t have the overwhelming advantage that I should.”

  This was why he had brought three mighty helpers when he had gone off to fight Ning. Now that he knew Ning had escaped, Iyerre had parted ways from the three. They were each responsible for killing one Autarch… but now that they had separated, Iyerre ‘only’ had a 80% chance of killing Autarch Mogg, who was even weaker than Ning.

  “I’m hidden in the darkness. He has no idea how strong I am. I’ll definitely be able to kill him in this battle.”

  “Time to attack.” Iyerre began to make his move. He reached out with his ivory-skinned right hand, penetrating the Space Daobirth Essence Domain and sending a series of gentle, comfortable ripples straight into the mind of Autarch Mogg, who was still seated in the log cabin.

  “Hrm?” Autarch Mogg suddenly felt very comfortable and at peace. This gentle feeling caused a hint of a smile to naturally appear around his lips. Freedom… release… the glorious joy brought by the light filled his every thought, banishing all his worries and concerns.

  Whoosh! The alabaster hand shot out with incredible speed, piercing through the various spatial barriers and the impediment of the Essence Domain to strike towards the log cabin.

  His domain had clearly been intruded upon… but right now, Autarch Mogg only felt a sense of relief and release, as though he had never been as free and relaxed as he was right now. “It’s all in the past now. All my worries and concerns are over… wait. No. The war against the Sithe just started. We’re in the middle of a war! How could I possibly be truly relaxed and carefree?” Autarch Mogg quickly came back to his senses, and when he did he immediately ‘saw’ that hand pierce through his domain. By now, it had already reached the log cabin.

  The alabaster hand passed straight through the cabin itself, not damaging it in the slightest. A tremendous sense of danger filled Autarch Mogg’s mind, terrorizing him.

  “How could I have ignored it when it passed through my domain? How could I have been drawn into a state of complete relaxation without even realizing it?” Autarch Mogg was utterly terrified by the implications of this. Being trapped in an illusion was one thing, but this had been no illusion! His spirit and his thoughts had been manipulated without him even realizing it, even though he was an Autarch! He had only come back to his senses after sensing the obvious contradiction of him being at ‘peace’ during a time of war.

  “Who? Who did this?!” Autarch Mogg had no time to analyze things. He immediately manifested six arms, clasping a saber in each hand and using them to launch a marvelous coordinated attack against that alabaster hand. His saber-light flashed like dimensional edges, moving with inscrutable speed.
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  The alabaster hand ‘danced’ towards him in such a gentle, beautiful, and graceful manner that Autarch Mogg’s spirit was shaken once more. Flick! The fingers of that hand gently brushed against the saber-light, causing it to be dispersed and redirected elsewhere. Flick! Flick! Two of Mogg’s other sabers were pushed aside as well. The alabaster hand had used almost no power to defend, but none of Autarch Mogg’s attacks were able to land on it.

  Mogg’s three remaining sabers spun in concert to form a tight defense around him out of saber-light that was linked together with space itself. It was as though an independent dimension was standing in front of him, helping him block.

  Riiiip! The giant hand suddenly became bright and sharp, tearing past two of the sabers. Mogg’s defensive saber-arts were his pride and joy, but they were completely unable to defend against this giant hand. As for the dimensional barrier he had erected before him, it was instantly pierced through as the giant hand stabbed at Autarch Mogg’s chest.

  “Run!” Autarch Mogg was truly stunned and terrified. The seven Autarchs had often sparred against each other and held Dao debates with each other, but not even the most powerful (Ji Ning) had been able to gain such a major advantage over him in their fights.

  “This person is significantly more powerful than even Darknorth!” Autarch Mogg exclaimed to himself in amazement.

  As he retreated, the light from the giant hand had already reached out to stab him in his chest. Autarch Mogg could sense a sharp, penetrative force dig deep into his body, causing him to vomit out a mouthful of blood. He hurriedly summoned the mana in his body to resist this attack, but the invading energy was extremely difficult to deal with. In the end, Autarch Mogg was only able to cancel out the invading energy with his mana by throwing an enormous amount of energy at it. This had actually cost him more than 30% of his total power.

  A single clash had quickly resulted in him being badly wounded!

  Boom! Autarch Mogg was sent flying into the walls of the log cabin from this blow. The log cabin instantly blew apart, and even the barriers surrounding the area began to tremble. The surrounding area collapsed, transforming into a dark region of primordial chaos… and from within the darkness emerged a gray-robed, barefoot man who strode through the collapsing dimension with ease, completely unaffected.

  “Who are you?!” Autarch Mogg shouted frantically. In all his battles against the Sithe, he had never once encountered any individual who held such a terrifying advantage in power over him.

  “My name is Iyerre. I’m here to kill you.” Iyerre smiled, but he moved incredibly fast. He gave Autarch Mogg no reprieve at all, charging towards him right away.

  “Flee.” Autarch Mogg knew that he had just run into a terrifyingly strong foe. If this battle continued, he’d probably end up dying here. Without hesitation, he chose to immediately flee!

  When Iyerre saw that Autarch Mogg was trying to warp through spacetime to escape, he tapped his foot downwards. “Freeze.” An invisible ripple sprang out, completely sealing off spacetime in the area around them, making it impossible to warp away!

  “He’s actually even more formidable than I am when it comes to the Dao of Space?!” Autarch Mogg could quickly sense how spacetime had been locked away. He himself was also capable of suppressing spacetime, but he wouldn’t be able to do it this easily or to this effect. He couldn’t help but feel amazed as he transformed into a streak of light and began to physically flee.

  Iyerre frowned as he watched Autarch Mogg flee: “These native Autarchs are able to use the boundless power of the Dao. In my homeland, I could exterminate these creatures with the wave of a hand… but in their own Chaosverse, killing them is really quite difficult.”

  Book 44, Chapter 18 - Golden Bridge of Freedom

  An ordinary chaos planet. A white-robed Ji Ning was seated in the lotus position atop a boulder, surrounded by a 100x temporal acceleration field. He was trying to deconstruct and solve the formations protecting the temple which had been sealed away by Autarch Stonerule! It remained a source of potential trouble and Ning felt that it was best to get rid of it.

  “Eh?” Ning’s face suddenly tightened. He could sense that a new, terrifying danger had just appeared far in the distance. This danger was so great that Ning could sense his heart clenching. It was every bit as dangerous as the Annihilation Hive.

  “What’s going on?” Ning was puzzled by this, as were the other Autarchs. Everyone could sense this terrifying new threat.

  As soon as Iyerre had attacked Mogg, the prime essences of the Chaosverse had immediately detected and locked onto him. This was their first time ‘finding’ him and realizing what a terrifying threat he posed.

  Perhaps he wasn’t an immediate a threat as the Annihilation Hive had been, but he was an expert who had reached incredible levels of insight. So long as he was alive, he would cause endless troubles for this Chaosverse. He could even create new Annihilation Hives! Strictly speaking, he was more dangerous than anything else around.

  Suddenly, Ning could sense a message coming from Autarch Mogg: “I just suffered an attack from a Sithe expert. He attacked me by himself, and he was able to completely bypass all of the formations and seals I set down around myself. He even managed to invade my domain while influencing me so that I didn’t notice in the slightest. Thankfully I was able to recover in time, but even so he was able to deal me a heavy injury in our first head-on clash. He’s too strong, far stronger than me and significantly stronger than even Darknorth. If I had to fight him head-on, I’d probably die after just a few rounds of battle.”

  “What?!” Ning was shocked, as were the other Autarchs who were receiving this information at the same time.

  Since when had the Sithe become so powerful as to be able to overwhelm an Autarch in sole combat? In all these years, it was an ironclad rule that Autarchs were completely invincible in sole combat.

  “What type of treasures did he use?” Ning immediately asked. Autarch Titanos and the others were asking the exact same question as well.

  “Nothing. He didn’t use any treasures at all. He didn’t even use a weapon. His hand alone dealt me a grave wound! And… he said his name is ‘Iyerre’!” Autarch Mogg said.

  “He didn’t even use a weapon, but was still able to heavily injure Mogg in just one clash?” Ning was stunned. “I can’t believe such a powerful figure managed to remain hidden for so long. He must have been biding his time for aeons… and now that he’s revealed himself, he’s definitely going to launch an all-out attack. Why doesn’t he use a weapon? Is it perhaps because weapons are essentially meaningless to him? Or is it perhaps that his hands ARE his weapons? Either way, he’s relying on his own power!”

  The information which Autarch Mogg had sent over caused many different thoughts to flicker through Ning’s mind.

  “The Sithe are suppressed by our Chaosverse and unable to use any of the power of the Dao at all! For him to be this powerful while suppressed, how powerful would he be if he could use the Dao?” Ning mused to himself, “There’s no way he’s an ordinary Autarch, nor can he be merely an Omega Emperor! It is highly likely that he is actually an Autarch of an Omega Dao!”

  An Omega Autarch! This was the only possibility Ning could come up with which could explain this person’s strength. Ning wasn’t the only one to come to this conclusion; the other Autarchs did as well.

  In truth, they had suspected this possibility long ago. They had long postulated the possibility that the real instigator of the Sithe incursion was an Omega Autarch, but all of them had believed that someone who had reached such an invincible level as the Sithe Lord of Chaos wouldn’t have taken the risk of entering a ‘foreign’ Chaosverse. Once he came in, he would lose his connection to his own Chaosverse and be suppressed by the ‘foreign’ Chaosverse, resulting in him being so dramatically weakened that he could very well perish.

  In the outside world, a Lord of Chaos was completely invincible. Why take the risk? But now, a Sithe named Iyerre had appeared.
Could it be that he was a second Omega Autarch of the Sithe Chaosverse?

  “This person named Iyerre,” Autarch Mogg continued, “Is overwhelmingly powerful. I’m absolutely certain that he is an Omega Autarch. I can think of no other possibilities! He’s reached incredible levels of insight and is able to suppress spacetime with ease, and he’s even better at it than me. My insights into the mysteries of space are like a joke to him. They are completely ineffective. He’s definitely surpassed me in the Dao of Space!”

  “An Omega Autarch!” Ning and the others instantly were certain of this. This ‘Iyerre’ had a higher level of insight than the Autarchs and was superior to Mogg in the Dao of Space, which was Mogg’s specialty. He had to be an Omega Autarch!

  “Be careful, Mogg,” Ning sent back. There was nothing they could do to help, because they were all too far away. It would all be up to Autarch Mogg himself.

  ……

  Autarch Mogg was continuing to flee through space.

  “Autarch Mogg!” the pursuing Iyerre suddenly roared from behind.

  Boom! An invisible wave of force instantly surged into Autarcoh Mogg’s body. Autarch Mogg felt as though the world around him had changed, transforming into a dazzlingly beautiful ocean while he himself had become a seagull soaring through the skies above it.

  “Break!” Autarch Mogg had a perfect Dao-heart and a powerful truesoul. This mighty shout allowed his tremendous willpower to instantly tear the illusion to shreds.

  The casting of the illusion and the breaking of the illusion had happened almost instantaneously. “Your illusions are a bit tougher than Stonerule’s, but they still don’t amount to much,” Autarch Mogg replied, his voice echoing in the emptiness of space.

  “Damn.” Iyerre frowned when he saw this. In a foreign Chaosverse, he was unable to use the power of the Dao and was suppressed as well, but in at least one area he remained at peak power – illusions! This was because illusions were aimed directly at the soul and truesoul. The greater your insights into the art of illusions were, the more powerful your illusions would become. The Dao had little to do with it. Alas, Iyerre was an Omega Autarch but had not reached Autarchy through the Dao of Illusions.