Desolate Era

by RWX

  “Kill!” The Sword Titan delivered a second chop, then a third chop. Every single blow was filled with utterly terrifying power.

  The reason why these two arms were the ‘strongest’ arms was precisely because these were the arms which Ning was in control of. The other six Autarchs worked together to unleash their Daos, while Ning guided the power of their Daos into ‘his’ two arms to unleash the most powerful of attacks. If they were in the ‘first mode’ with fourteen arms, the other Autarchs would individually control the other twelve arms. However, they were unable to make perfect use of their colleagues’ energies. They were only able to mobilize a fraction of it.

  In other words, those twelve arms combined weren’t nearly as strong as the two arms which Ning controlled. Thus, even when the Sword Titan was at ‘peak’ power, more than 90% of its strength came from these two ‘primary’ arms!

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  “Quick, go into lockdown mode!”

  “Completely seal the temple off from outside attacks!” The Sithe Exalts within the temple were panicking like mad. The formations had already been disposed of. Now, their only choice was to try and use the natural sturdiness of the temple itself to defend against these attacks.

  Ning’s Sword Titan did not elect to blink inside the temple. Instead, the sword Titan continued to launched frenzied blows from outside using the Skycleaver stance! Every single strike contained the full power from seven Autarch-class combatants which had been perfectly fused together via the Eternal Omega Sword Dao.

  This was a level of power that far surpassed that of the ‘giant sword’ and the ‘black serpent’ which had fought in the Grassland World, and it was also mightier than the violet-gold chains.

  Boom! Boom! Boom! The temple was even sturdier than Universe weapons, but after nearly a hundred blows it finally began to crumble. Moments later it completely blew apart, with the Sithe Exalts inside being reduced to dust by the leftover power from the final Skycleaver stance. This was as to be expected – even the Autarchs, the creators of the Skycleaver stance, would’ve been destroyed in one blow from this overwhelmingly powerful fusion attack.

  “That felt incredible! Unleashing the full power of the Sword Titan was a wonderful feeling.” The Sword Titan broke apart, revealing the figures of the seven. Autarch Ekong was particularly excited by what they had just done.

  “It’s been a long time since I’ve had that much fun. The Skycleaver stance truly is astonishingly powerful,” Autarch Titanos said with a smile.

  “In my opinion, all the various techniques and trump cards we have accumulated over the aeons should make it so that we are entirely capable of fighting the Grassland World head-on,” Autarch Ekong said. “Last time, we retreated before we really had a chance to test ourselves. That was irritating! I think we were entirely capable of winning if we fought them head-on.”

  Ning shook his head. “Don’t underestimate the Sithe.”

  “Darknorth is right. There’s no need for us to risk ourselves like that. The longer we can delay the final battle, the greater our advantage shall be. We need to slowly bide our time and allow our natural advantage to accumulate into an overwhelming one. You need patience to win a war,” Autarch Titanos said. “We don’t need to be anxious. It is the Sithe, it is Iyerre, who need to be anxious!”

  Both sides were led by wily old bastards who had been alive for unfathomable ages. Both had plenty of patience. Iyerre, for example, had made preparations for all possibilities. Even though he had encountered repeated setbacks, he felt certain that it wouldn’t impact the grand scheme of things. He knew that victory would be his.

  The cultivators, in turn, knew what their own advantages and disadvantages were. If they could make maximum use of their advantages, they’ll gain victory in the end.

  ……

  “Eh?” Iyerre was seated in the lotus position on the grass within the Grassland World, which was hurtling through spacetime. Suddenly, his face tightened. He could sense that the auras of the seven Sithe Exalts he had been planning to rescue had suddenly vanished.

  “Dead?” Iyerre frowned. “Did the cultivators somehow predict that we were going to go rescue them and so moved ahead of us to destroy the temple and kill the Exalts?”

  He began to feel rather suspicious. “Let’s head in another direction.” Iyerre immediately sent the Grassland World to move towards a different temple, the Six Seals Temple.

  Half a month went past. Iyerre had yet to reach the Six Seals Temple, but he could sense that it had also been destroyed. This caused his face to darken.

  After another half-month, the final remaining temple was also destroyed, with the six Sithe Exalts within being slaughtered.

  “Damn. This Chaosverse continues to suppress us, making it so that we cannot warp through spacetime as fast as those weak natives. In fact… are they perhaps following us in secret?” Iyerre was quite irritated, but there was nothing he could do. He was at an environmental disadvantage here. “Fine then. The Exalts didn’t make too much of a difference. We shall still win without them.”

  “Hear my orders.” Iyerre’s voice suddenly echoed throughout the entire Grassland World. His three colleages, the Autarch-class void dwellers, and the Exalts including Bowenya all heard his voice.

  “We are heading to the Annihilation Hive right away! The cultivators must fight us, which means they must engage us in battle. There’s no way for them to avoid this! They’ll have to battle us to the end… which means that this is the last battle. If we win, we’ll have achieved victory and I, Iyerre, promise to give you everything you desire. If we lose, none of you will survive.” Iyerre’s face was cold and calm, and his voice was very peaceful as well, but his subordinates all shivered when they heard it.

  Whoosh! The Grassland World suddenly changed directions once more, moving towards the Annihilation Hive!

  It was possible that the cultivators were secretly following them from behind, but Iyerre didn’t care. He was going to head straight towards his target openly. The cultivators might know what he was doing, but it wouldn’t matter. They would still have to come and fight him!

  ……

  The avatars of Autarch Skyfeeder and Autarch Mogg were charged with following the Grassland World. After following its new trajectory for over half a day, they were able to realize where the Grassland World was now headed.

  “The Annihilation Hive?” The two avatars traded a glance in the darkness. Both of them understood what the Sithe were planning, and they couldn’t help but turn pale.

  Book 45, Chapter 4 - Within the Annihilation Hive

  “The Sithe are heading for the Annihilation Hive?” Ji Ning, Titanos, Mogg, Skyfeeder, Stonerule, Bolin, and Ekong fell silent. They stood there within the Great Dark, staring at each other.

  Titanos said in a low voice, “I imagine you all know what their plan is. They are going to go to the Annihilation Hive and destroy Darknorth’s avatar! That will allow the Annihilation Hive to continue devouring power from our Chaosverse. We have to fight them there. We can’t let it just continue to weaken our Chaosverse unabated. Yes… we have no other options.”

  “We do have another option!” Hard light flashed through Autarch Ekong’s eyes. “We’re faster than them. Let’s get to the Annihilation Hive first and destroy its quintessence core!”

  “Destroy the sphere of annihilation?” The others were all intrigued.

  “Is it possible?” Autarch Titanos looked at Ning. Ning knew more about it than anyone else present.

  “The quintessence of the Annihilation Hive holds the mysteries of a type of destruction which I have named ‘Oblivion’ within it. It is incomparably profound and also tremendously powerful. I’m not even close to being strong enough to destroy it,” Ning said. “However… when we work together, we are also tremendously powerful. Perhaps we might just manage to destroy it after all.”

  “We have to! Once we destroy the sphere of annihilation, they’ll have nothing to threaten us with,” Au
tarch Ekong said eagerly.

  “Destroy the sphere of annihilation.”

  “When we join forces, we are virtually unstoppable. We were able to crush entire temples in head-on attacks. I refuse to believe we can’t crack that thing!” Autarch Bolin’s eyes were filled with malevolence as well.

  None of them wanted to be led around by the nose by their foes!

  However, they all knew that it was uncertain as to whether or not they would be able to damage the ‘sphere of annihilation’. It was a completely foreign object that they knew nothing about… but they had to make the attempt! If they succeeded, they’d celebrate. If they failed, then they would have to go stop the Sithe!

  “I hope this works.” Ning looked at his six comrades, silently praying to himself as he did. His avatar had been analyzing the sphere of annihilation for many years, and the more he understood the more nervous he felt.

  “Come. Let us go to the Annihilation Hive!” They immediately began to speed towards the Annihilation Hive at maximum speed.

  Roughly one month later, they finally reached the Annihilation Hive. Iyerre’s team was still far away; they’d probably need over half a month before they would arrive.

  “The Annihilation Hive.” The seven of them stood shoulder-to-shoulder, staring at the great hive before them. It remained vast beyond measure, but the sucking power from it was now much weaker than when it was at full power. It was still able to destroy the raw darkness in the area around it, but the energies released by the destroyed darkness all returned to the prime essences of the Chaosverse. There was no way to steal them away at all.

  “Let’s try and see if we can destroy the entire thing first,” Autarch Titanos said. “If we can, we don’t need to worry about destroying the sphere of annihilation.”

  The sphere of annihilation, by itself, didn’t have the power to forcibly take energy from an entire Chaosverse. It was all thanks to the formation supporting it that made this possible.

  “Darknorth.” Bolin looked at Ning.

  “Let’s try using the Skycleaver stance with full power,” Ning said. The Skycleaver stance wasn’t necessarily the best technique to use in actual combat, but it was definitely the best for causing destruction.

  Soon, the towering, loincloth-clad Sword Titan once more appeared within the emptiness of space. He strode towards the behemoth hive, glowing with pure sword-intent. Every single movement he made radiated power and destruction, and he quickly reached the surface of the behemoth hive. He then drew an enormous sword with his right hand.

  “Skycleaver stance!” The Sword Titan held the sword in a two-handed grip, lifting it up high over his head. The six Autarchs began to use their various techniques, allowing Ning to guide their different Daos to merge together and unleash the Skycleaver stance! This was actually just one stance of an entire set of sword-arts which Ning had created for them.

  Boom! The divine sword came crashing down, shattering spacetime and splintering the Five Elements. It destroyed all in its path as it came crashing down with absolutely terrifying power towards the surface of the Annihilation Hive.

  Boom! A massive explosion occurred, causing even the enormous behemoth hive to tremble. As for Ning’s Sword Titan? A powerful counter-force pushed back against him, sending it stumbling a few steps backwards in space.

  It was simply too powerful. Not even Ning’s Sword Dao was able to completely deflect this counter-force, and so the Sword Titan had to endure much of it.

  “How does it look? Any cracks?”

  “Did we cause any damage to it?” Ning and the others carefully inspected the behemoth hive while asking each other the same question. They were all hoping that the thing had been at least slightly damaged. Even the tiniest of cracks would symbolize that if they continued to hammer away at it, they would be able to completely destroy it in time. Alas, none of them could discover any cracks at all, which was why they were all asking the others if they saw anything.

  “Nothing.”

  “I can’t find any. I don’t see any damage at all.” Their hearts all began to sink.

  “Let’s try a few more attacks and see if that does anything,” Autarch Titanos said.

  “Alright.” Ning and the others nodded. They once more joined forces, having the Sword Titan raise its sword up high for the Skycleaver stance once more.

  Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! The Sword Titan delivered the terrifying Skycleaver stance again and again, furiously smoting the Annihilation Hive and causing it to shudder and even fly backwards.

  ……

  Deep within a three-hundred meter hidden space inside the Annihilation Hive, there was a formation-base with a long-haired man seated in the lotus position atop it. The long-haired man’s hair was half black and half white, and he was nervously keeping track of the hive’s status.

  Boom! Boom! Boom! Every single explosion caused the entire Annihilation Hive to shudder.

  “Who is attacking the Annihilation Hive from outside?” Exalt Anitya was rather startled and nervous. He was only able to see what was happening within the hive; he was unable to see the outside world. “The entire Annihilation Hive is actually trembling. This level of power far surpasses what Emperor Darknorth can accomplish. Can it be that the cultivator leaders have joined forces?”

  Exalt Anitya was rather nervous, but a short while later the attacks came to a halt.

  “They dealt over a thousand strikes, but they weren’t able to even scratch the Annihilation Hive.” Exalt Anitya let out a sigh of relief. The Annihilation Hive was one of the most important Sithe trump cards, and it had been just as expensive to create as the Grassland World. It was far more powerful than the various temples. It wouldn’t be easy to destroy it!

  “Hm. Outsiders have just come inside.” Exalt Anitya stared at the images which appeared before him. They displayed a stream of power that flew inside the hive and towards its core hive. The light and power surrounding the figure was so blinding that Exalt Anitya was unable to see who it was.

  “I have to report this.” Exalt Anitya immediately contacted Iyerre. The formation-base below him slowly began to swivel as a pillar of light appeared. A figure appeared within the pillar of light which solidified into the seated form of Iyerre.

  Exalt Anitya rose and bowed respectfully: “Almighty Iyerre, new invaders have entered the Annihilation Hive. They tried to assault the hive from outside, and they attacked over a thousand times with shocking levels of power. However, they still weren’t able to even scratch the Annihilation Hive!”

  “Mm.” Iyerre’s eyes flashed coldly. “Someone actually dared to assault the Annihilation Hive? It must haver been those cultivator leaders working together.”

  “They are moving closer and closer towards the core. They’ll reach the sphere of annihilation soon. Will they be able to destroy it?” Exalt Anitya was worried.

  “Just keep watching. Don’t take any other action,” Iyerre said.

  “Alright,” Exalt Anitya said respectfully.

  Whoosh. The pillar of light vanished.

  ……

  Within the behemoth hive. Ning and the other Autarchs had already reached the black pyramid located at the center of the vortex of astral clouds, reuniting with Ning’s avatar.

  “So this is the sphere of annihilation?” Autarch Ekong stared at the nearby shadowy black orb, which continued to devour everything surrounding it. It was like an endless hole that swallowed and destroyed all things! It embodied the essence of ‘Oblivion’, causing the Autarchs to feel a sense of trepidation when they looked at it.

  “What type of profound mysteries does this thing hold, for it to be able to destroy all things? It seems as though there is nothing whatsoever which surpasses it,” Autarch Stonerule said softly.

  They had attuned to many different Daos before, but the mysteries embodied by this sphere of annihilation were more profound than any they had ever studied. It eclipsed all Daos they had seen. The so-called ‘Omega Daos’ and ‘Daobirth Essences’… t
hey would all be devoured and destroyed by this power of ‘Oblivion’.

  “My avatar has been meditating here for many years and is able to replicate a bit of Oblivion’s power.” Ning shook his head. “But I still do not understand its true nature.”

  “My Destruction Daobirth Essence is shallow and crude in comparison,” Autarch Ekong sighed.

  “Iyerre might be at the same level of insight as this ‘Oblivion’ Dao,” Autarch Mogg said. “But maybe not. He’s so far above us that we cannot judge him accurately.”

  Omega Autarchs had extremely profound levels of insight, perhaps as profound as the mysteries of Oblivion. Both were far beyond the likes of these seven to comprehend.

  “In the end, it is simply a naturally-occuring quintessence core. It’s unable to fight back against us. The seven of us, when working together, can summon the power of the Chaosverse itself. We should be able to destroy it,” Autarch Ekong said.

  Book 45, Chapter 5 - Laughter

  Ji Ning and the rest of the seven stared at the shadowy black orb. There was utter stillness. Even their auras seemed to have frozen. All of them had experienced countless things as they had ascended the path of cultivation to reach their current heights, but they now felt a sense of tremendous pressure.

  This sphere of annihilation was an inimical threat to their entire Chaosverse. If they could destroy it then things would be much simpler… but if they failed, they would have no choice but to begin the final, deadly battle.

  The seven of them exchanged a glance, nodding silently to each other. They were out of options. They had already tried to destroy both the behemoth hive and the black tower, but they were unable to do so! Now, their last chance lay in attacking the ‘sphere of annihilation’ at the center of the tower.