Chapter 214: Battle of Emperors (2)

The Scarlet Heart immediately opened with a killing blow. Goncourt sighed as he tossed the skull of the Tattooed Rau into the air. The skull expanded on its own as it flew through the air, opening its maw at the oncoming wave of death. The countless Death Withering Snakes entered the skull’s mouth, which contained a separate isolated void. At this moment, a chaotic mix of green and black Origin Energy began to tangle with each other.

The Scarlet Heart sighed, “You oppose me both in life and in death. I suppose I should allow you to rest.”

A red light shone from the tricolored staff, and a wave of destructive flames surged forth

The Tattooed Rau controlled wood- and earth-type energy, allowing it to counter the Scarlet Heart’s use of water and darkness. The Scarlet Heart had mastered the use of fire in order to defeat it, but before he was able to do so, he found that the Tattooed Rau had died at the hands of the Ravagers.

As such, these flames were the kryptonite of the Tattooed Rau.

The Scarlet Heart had unleashed his most powerful Azure Dragon Flames. These flames did not have any fancy outward manifestations, yet they burned with incredible power. The flames burned so intensely that they melted the mountain rock nearby, and in but a moment a large sea of flames had enveloped their surroundings.

The Tattooed Rau couldn’t withstand this frightening onslaught of energy.

However, Goncourt could.

“Yah!” Goncourt suddenly cried out with a strange inflection.

“Yah!” All of the Ancestors standing behind Goncourt chanted in unison.

In that moment, an ancient chant rose to the sky. As it reverberated through the air, the surging flames actually began to dissipate.

“Hou, An......” More of the chant was uttered, turning into something with actual physical form in the air. This was an incredibly strange sight impossible to describe with words alone. Sound had actually taken on the physical form of a cage, trapping the flames within.

“Sound Prison,” the Scarlet Heart muttered to himself. “But there’s no point in using something like this against me.”

His hand trembled slightly. The very space itself rumbled violently in response.

This was the Dark Blue domain’s influence.

All of the Ancestors caught within this domain immediately felt a vast pressure bear down upon them, greatly hindering them from supporting the chant.

Actually, this secret chanting technique was still related to the application of Origin Energy. It could restrict the flames because of the effect of Origin Energy combating Origin Energy.

As long as the Ancestors were within the Dark Blue Domain, this kind of a situation was bound to happen.

It was fine before the Scarlet Heart had activated the Dark Blue Domain, but once it was activated, all of the Ravagers immediately felt the powerful restrictions it placed on them.

“Hiss!”

The rhythm of the chant started to decrease. This rhythm was related to the power of the chant; when the power of the chant was being suppressed, the rhythm of the chant would begin to slow down.

Bang!

A massive explosion rang out.

The flames had broken through the sound cage.

Flames were made of energy, but this energy seemed like moldable dough in the hands of these two opponents. If they wanted it to be round, it was round; if they wanted it to be flat, it was flat; if they wanted to tear it in half, it was torn in half. If the sound could become a cage, the flames could break out of that cage, turning into a long flaming dragon that charged forwards, its strength not diminished in the slightest.

The Origin Energy in the surroundings was once again depleted, but no turbulent flows of Origin Energy appeared this time. Instead, the Origin Energy was being pulled from a continually expanding radius, pouring into this attack and causing it to become stronger and stronger.

This was the attack of an Emperor-level existence.

The power of his attack could be set, or it could increase through a process of accumulation and evolution.

At the same time, eighteen of the Ancestors simultaneously increased the volume of their chants, which became more intense and frenzied. The hundreds of Ravager Imperial Guards beside them charged out to attack.

As the Emperor’s personal guards, their whole purpose for existence was to challenge powerful individuals.

The special Demon-Defying Totems they possessed allowed them to resist blasts of Origin Energy, and the secret techniques they possessed allowed them to unleash attacks that even Emperor-level experts had to respect at the cost of their own lifeforce.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Three handaxes whistled through the air towards the Scarlet Heart. At the same time, the bodies of three warriors who had thrown the axes began to turn to dust. This was an attack that had been filled with the power of their entire lifeforce. Perhaps these attacks would only slightly wound the Scarlet Heart, or perhaps they might not wound him at all. But at the very least, they posed a threat to him, and that was enough!

This was the fate of an Emperor’s Imperial Guard!

The Scarlet Heart’s left hand, which had remained motionless the entire time, flicked out three fingers. The three handaxes shattered before they could get anywhere close to the Scarlet Heart’s body.

Even more Ravager Imperial Guards charged forwards, however, stirring up a violent wave of energy. Their barbaric anger and rage boiled over as even more flying axes flew through the air, each one threatening to rip open a hole in the fabric of space.

At the same time, Goncourt’s volume began to increase.

A massive black silhouette appeared behind his back. It also wielded a handaxe that it used to hack at the Scarlet Heart. Even though the silhouette was obviously illusory, its attack was filled with a real, peerless strength.

𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

“A Guardian Soul! You’ve got a lot of treasures on you!” the Scarlet Heart said with some astonishment.

The Guardian Soul was refined from the soul that the founder of the Inferno Tribe, Alexander Inferno, had offered after his death. This would allow him to continue protecting the Inferno Tribe even after death.

While he was alive, this person was an unequalled general. After he died, he had become an incredibly powerful spirit.

As the axe descended, the Scarlet Heart felt for the first time like it was impossible for him to dodge this attack.

He sighed.

“Oh well.”

As he sighed, the Dark Blue Domain suddenly erupted, and vibrant blue light scattered everywhere.

Under the intense shining of the blue light, all of the axes became incredibly slow.

At the same time, the Scarlet Heart closed his fist. The dragon made of flames actually flew back into his hands, howling as it circled in the air like a real dragon.

The black stone on the tricolored staff once again shone. This time, however, the target was not the Scarlet Heart’s opponent but the flaming dragon itself.

The flames on the dragon began to darken, and the once vibrant, red flames took on a black luster.

“Go and destroy them!” the Scarlet Heart howled madly.

A scarlet, flaming light once again surged through the sky.

The black lightning mixed with the scarlet blood, turning into a frightening nightmare that began to attack. Anyone who saw it felt a wave of nausea and dizziness come over them that was hard to describe.

A few of the supporting Ancestors were affected, and their chanting became slightly sluggish. The reddish-black wave took advantage of the lapse to enter their bodies.

Boom, boom, boom! Their bodies exploded on the spot, sending chunks of flesh flying.

“Hiss!” An eardrum-piercing hiss boomed in the sky.

The Tattooed Rau furiously attempted to swallow the reddish-black energy, resisting the influence of the Dark Blue Domain. The massive Guardian Spirit also continued to attack with its axe, exuding a mournful, fierce aura.

The Scarlet Heart finally made a move.

This was the first time he moved this entire battle. He faded from view, then reappeared strangely at a different location.

At the same time that he shifted, even more axes came hurtling in his direction.

The Imperial Guards charged forwards with no regard for their own lives. They exchanged their own lifeforce for an opportunity to wound the emperor.

These attacks were the weakest amongst the attacks of the Ancestors and the Guardian Spirit.

That was the reason, however, that these attacks were able to actually hit the Scarlet Heart - because the attacks were so weak, they were allowed to pass because he didn’t want to divert too much of his attention to them.

Pu!

One of the flying axes shattered the Scarlet Heart’s barrier, leaving behind a small thin line of blood on his elbow as blood sprayed from the wound.

The wound was so small that it had virtually no effect, and it closed up almost immediately.

In the next moment, however, even more flying axes came crashing down.

The Scarlet Heart was forced to dodge again. As long as he was within the Dark Blue Domain, he could move as he pleased, but the cost was that the Dark Blue Domain’s restrictive power would weaken, naturally resulting in......

Boom!

When the Scarlet Heart reappeared yet again, a massive black shadow enveloped him almost immediately.

“ROAR!”

The Scarlet Heart howled in pain. The Guardian Spirit’s powerful axe landed right on him. It didn’t chop him in two, but his consciousness felt like it was being torn apart. He would rather have his body be chopped in two, since he could recover from that due to his Demonic Emperor strength. However, this feeling of having his consciousness torn to shreds was difficult for him to endure, and it dealt him a heavy blow.

Another reddish-black wave appeared, crashing into the Guardian Spirit and sending it flying. At the same time, a different black wave appeared. All of the Ancestors caught in the Dark Blue Domain were struck by this wave.

The Scarlet Heart had opened with a killing move, but now after being struck so viciously, he began to use restrictive skills. By relying on the Dark Blue Domain and the Black Wave of Death, he was able to ignore the effects of the chants and envelop everyone within that domain within that wave.

The bodies of the Ancestors began to decay. Even Goncourt was no exception.

He immediately ingested seven or eight medicines to help him deal with the effects of the Black Wave of Death, but all that did was stop the decaying effects for him. The other Ancestors quickly rotted into skeletons. In contrast, the Imperial Guards were able to ignore this attack - after all, they died as soon as they attacked, so even the strongest attack was of no great use against them.

Whoosh!

A vast wave of attacks descended from the sky, seemingly able to split clouds and break rain.

The Imperial Guards charged forwards with a heroic energy one after another, madly unleashing their lifeforce to attack the Scarlet Heart.

Flying axes rained down from the sky!

Bang, bang, bang, bang! The Imperial Guards exploded one after another as they killed themselves.

The Guardian Spirit’s attacks were still descending. Goncourt had taken out twelve additional skulls. As the Head Ancestor of the Divine Shrine, he had quite a few tricks up his sleeves.

The Scarlet Heart was once again faced with a decision, caught between facing one attack or the other.

He could only choose to face the flying axes.

The thunder-infused axes rained down like meteorites on the Scarlet Heart, causing blood to spray everywhere from his body.

“No!” he howled.

The flaming dragon grew longer, sweeping in all directions. In an instant, the flames covered an area a thousand feet in diameter, and thousands of Imperial Guards were burned to a crisp almost instantaneously.

However, the Guardian Spirit managed to hit him yet again, causing his consciousness to feel like it was splitting. The pain almost caused him to go insane. He could only try to avoid yet again. At the same moment that he reappeared, however, the Tattooed Rau’s skull had given up on controlling Origin Energy and flew forth, charging right at the Scarlet Heart. Its two razor-sharp teeth sank into the Scarlet Heart’s body. At the same time, the Tattooed Rau shattered, releasing a powerful burst of energy deep into the Scarlet Heart’s body.

“AH!” The Scarlet Heart tilted its head back and howled bitterly with pain.

“What a pity. There goes the skull of one emperor,” Gucha murmured. “But it’s fine if we get another one, I suppose.”

“I...... will remember you!”

The Scarlet Heart gnashed his teeth as he spoke. The staff in his hand shone radiantly for a brief moment before it shattered.

In that instant, the red, blue, and black lights shone piercingly at the same time, forming a tidal wave of energy that surged in all directions.

“ROAR!” The Guardian Spirit similarly slashed out with its most powerful strike yet as Goncourt similarly attacked with his Universe Upending Finger.

Boom!

Heaven and earth were swallowed up by the colossal waves of energy spreading in all directions.