Chapter 997: Chaos and Death

In that case, had the death spirit king organized the previous crises just for Nightdemon?

The death spirit king's voice was emotionless. "Do you think you'll be able to stop me this time?"

Nightdemon shook his head. "Your opponent this time isn't me, but rather this man by my side."

The death spirit king frowned. "Are you looking down on me?"

Nightdemon shook his head. "No. It's precisely because I know how strong you are that I'm not facing you. This clone is no match for you—I'll need my original form to take you down. Also, please address me as Nightdemon."

The death spirit king peered at Zhang Lie. "You rate his skills that highly?"

Nightdemon smiled mysteriously. "He's stronger than you can imagine."

The death spirit king frowned as Zhang Lie shrugged. "I'm fine dealing with the death spirit king. Can the two of you handle the flagships?"

Only after coming into contact with the superior worlds did Zhang Lie realize that the pinnacle of the third realm went beyond the level of a mere superior king.

Being at the level of a superior king was merely a threshold. The truly strong existences in the third realm went beyond that, and Zhang Lie was only aware of three such existences: the death spirit king, the king of keys, and the king of chaos.

Wilbow sighed. "It's a bit difficult. It took essentially our combined might to deal with the first flagship, and these two flagships here have ample reserves of energy."

"If you include me, it shouldn't be a problem to deal with the two flagships."

A thin, emaciated man, whose body was ink-black, suddenly appeared in sight.

Even his clothes were the same shade of black, as though he were darkness personified. The moment he appeared, the entire world grew dim. Only his eyes stood out. They shone with a mysterious gleam, like a pair of lustrous cat's eyes in the darkness.

The man who had appeared out of nowhere shocked Zhang Lie and Wilbow. It felt almost as though he had been there all along, though he had gone unnoticed by Zhang Lie and Wilbow until now.

Zhang Lie and Wilbow were immediately wary of the strange existence. Given their strength, it was almost impossible for anyone to creep up on them, so who could this ink-black man be?

Nightdemon waved a hand. "There's no need to worry. This is another clone of the king of chaos, a companion of ours."

"I am your companion," the ink-black man asserted, revealing pearly white teeth and a smile that wasn't particularly friendly.

Nightdemon reminded them, "Do you remember when I said that I had a clone around each superior world?"

Wilbow nodded. "I remember: you're spying on us all, aren't you?"

"This is the clone that was situated around the world of black rain," Nightdemon explained.

Zhang Lie nodded. "As long as he's no enemy."

As the two flagships flew over, Nightdemon and Wilbow rushed forward to stop them. Zhang Lie turned and commanded, "Gold Comet, help Nightdemon and Wilbow!"

The flagships released a huge flood of black spirits, which surged toward them like the tide. Hong Xi and Zhang Hanxiang supported the two commanders from behind as Zhang Lie flew beyond the flagships. He clenched his fists tightly as blue genetic energy gathered around him. Ripples of genetic energy emanated from his arms.

With a twist of his wrist, a frightening aura descended on the world. The skies began to darken, and a fish the size of a whale materialized in the air. A howling gale swept over the battlefield. As more and more genetic energy gathered around Zhang Lie's arms, it looked as though he were at the heart of a whirlpool.

"[Fists of the Silent Sea: Soar]!" A huge wave soared into the air. As Zhang Lie punched forward, the fish slammed its huge tail on the ground and sent a torrent of water surging toward the sky.

Ripples of energy spread out from Zhang Lie, warping the space around him. The towering waves looked like enraged black dragons, flooding the battlefield.

The death spirit king spread his arms wide, manipulating the energy of the superior world to form a barrier against the flood.

A huge rumble shook the heavens, and the entire battlefield quaked. The explosion shattered space and sent waves of force rippling all around it.

The rain clouds in the sky burst, one after another. The explosion of energy was like a ravenous beast that swallowed up all life in its vicinity. Huge boulders were sent flying, and large quantities of the death spirits with them.

The pale blue waves dissipated to reveal the death spirit king still seated coolly on his throne. The sleeve of his ornate robes had been torn off, but the death spirit king wasn't angry. Instead, he was smiling. "Interesting, very interesting. To think that there was an existence like you in the third realm... If I hadn't started this war, I'd never have known."

"[The Boundless Blade: Yawning Wave]!" Zhang Lie extended his pointer finger like a sword, and water-attuned genetic energy gathered around it. As he waved his finger, sword energy erupted like a wave, accompanied by a giant shark.

Sword energy flew toward the death spirit king, who tried to defend with a flurry of black bandages. However, the sword energy cut them all apart.

The superior world's energy that had condensed into a near-solid form over the death spirit king's body activated. He reached out and grabbed the sword energy with his bare hands as a ferocious shark flew toward him. With his other hand, the death spirit king punched the shark and caused it to dematerialize in an explosion of pale blue energy.

He tossed the sword energy back at Zhang Lie, who dodged the attack as black genetic energy surged around him.

"[Ninecarp Transformation]!" A black serpent materialized behind Zhang Lie, by now so large and so developed that it resembled the world-swallowing serpent Jormungandr. It let out a threatening hiss as its scales clicked together.

Dense superior world's energy gathered over the death spirit king's palms. Under his control, the energy grew corrupted and developed the power of annihilation.

The radiant, multicolored energy turned a dull grayish-black. Space crumbled around the death spirit king. He shot the ball of energy forward, destroying all space in its trajectory.

"[Fists of the Silent Sea: Fade]!" Zhang Lie punched forward, and the black serpent behind him shot forth.

The black serpent, which had been able to corrode anything Zhang Lie sent it at, was incapable of handling the corrupted superior world's energy. It was crushed in an instant, obliterated by the might of the death spirit king.

Zhang Lie activated his blood ant and dragonwolf soulshards. A hurricane of blood spawned around him.

The next moment, Zhang Lie vanished from the spot. He dodged the energy of annihilation and appeared behind the death spirit king's back.

The imprint of bloody claws filled the sky. A flurry of claws rained down on the death spirit king, who countered with bandages in equal density. From start to finish, the death spirit king had his back to Zhang Lie...