The Desolate Era

The seven dancing violet-gold chains and the three warbeasts were charging towards them once more. Ji Ning and the other Autarchs had already used up the massive energy they had gained from sacrificing parts of their bodies. Even the power of the World of Liberation had dropped back down to its normal level.

Boom! Bang! The Sword Titan used its sword-arts to defend against the three black warbeasts simultaneously.

“One of the warbeasts is just as strong as it was previously, while the other two still have 80% power.” Ning quickly came to this conclusion after clashing against them once more, and it turned their hearts cold.

Iyerre smiled coldly as he watched from behind, launching attacks towards the weaker Avatar Titan.

“Flee!” Ning and the others didn’t hesitate at all, quickly coming to this decision. Iyerre and the three warbeasts were as one thanks to the formation, and all four were incredibly strong. This was why Ning and the others had been forced to sacrifice parts of their bodies to launch a final desperation attack… but it had failed! If they were truly forced to fight the Avatar Titan would probably be defeated in short order, at which point the Sword Titan wouldn’t be far off from defeat either. As of right now, they had only one chance to survive – escape!

Escape the Grassland World, run far away, and recover! Once they did so, they could come back here to fight again.

Swoosh! Swoosh! The Sword Titan and the Avatar Titan both began to flee.

“Running? After all that’s happened, you still think you can escape?” Iyerre grinned coldly. He was effortlessly dominating the Avatar Titan with the help of the seven violet-gold chains, while the three black warbeasts continued to chase down the Sword Titan. “Stop struggling. Struggling won’t help you.”

Iyerre’s body began to emit tremendous amounts of dazzling light which filled every single passageway. He himself vanished without a trace, hiding within the light while he continued to furiously assault the Avatar Titan. The Avatar Titan was just barely able to hold on, thanks to his defensive sword-arts!

Alas, Iyerre outstripped the Avatar Titan in terms of power, and he had a higher level of insight as well! Given that he also had seven violet-gold chains helping him while he launched sneak attacks from hiding, it only took six seconds before Iyerre managed to land a knife-hand blow on the Avatar Titan, plunging it into the titan’s body and causing the avatars inside to feel a sense of despair.

Riiiiiip! The towering Iyerre used his two hands to physically rip the Avatar Titan in half. Ning and the other avatars shared a glance, then simultaneously made the same decision without any hesitation at all: self-detonation!

Boom! Boom! Boom! All seven avatars exploded simultaneously.

Their worry was that when Iyerre killed them, he would use karma to route the attacks against their true bodies as well! Autarch Bolin and Autarch Titanos were able to completely themselves off from all karmic ties, but what of the others? If Iyerre wasn’t reinforced by this formation his karmic attacks probably wouldn’t be a threat to them, but he was currently strengthened by both the ignited quintessence core and his link to the three warbeasts. Ning and the others didn’t dare to take this risk.

“A clean end.” Iyerre turned to glance upwards. “But it won’t matter. Struggle all you want. You are doomed.”

Whoosh. He took a step forwards, warping through space before appearing in front of the Sword Titan.

……

The Sword Titan was frantically trying to flee, but the three black warbeasts continued to slow him down, preventing him from travelling at maximum speed.

“These warbeasts are indestructible and can warp through spacetime to block us.” Ning and the others felt anxious.

“We’re almost there.” Whoosh. They finally reached the grassy surface once more, at which the Sword Titan blinked out to the clouds above.

“Hahaha!” Iyerre’s loud laughter rang out. The Sword Titan raised his head, the seven all watching as Iyerre emerged out of nowhere and appeared in the skies. Iyerre said with a laugh, “There are nine layers of clouds here. It will take you so very, very long to fly through all these layers that I’m afraid you won’t be able to escape.”

“Damn.” Ning and the others all knew that Iyerre was far more difficult to deal with than those three black warbeasts, because of how high his level of insight was.

“Escaping is our only chance.”

“Let’s give it our all.”

“Do everything we can to escape.” Titanos, Mogg, Ning, Bolin, Ekong, Stonerule, and Skyfeeder all knew that they had to get out of here.

Boom! Twin swords in hand, the Sword Titan began to soar toward the clouds.

“Do you really think you can escape?” Iyerre charged downwards, surrounded by seven violet-gold chains that stretched out a million kilometers. Space rippled behind him, followed by the three black warbeasts appearing.

Swoosh! The Sword Titan immediately arced sideways in a bid to avoid them, but the seemingly-omnipresent violet-gold chains still managed to appear in front of them, as did Iyerre and the three warbeasts.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Boom!

The Sword Titan used its sword-arts to battle against Iyerre and the three black warbeasts while continuing to soar towards the clouds in the skies. Although the three black warbeasts were extremely strong, they didn’t pose too much of a threat because they were merely on par with Ning and the others in terms of insight. Ning was able to use his self-created fusion sword-arts to block all three of them… but Iyerre was much more dangerous! Iyerre’s attacks caught Ning flat-footed time and time again. Blocking his attacks was a much more difficult proposition.

Iyerre didn’t even need to fear the Sword Titan in solo combat, much less now when he had the three black warbeasts helping to slow the titan down.

“If we just keep defending, we’re going to lose. We have to escape!” Ning and the Autarchs couldn’t see any chance of winning this battle. Their only chance lay in escape. If they got out of here, they just might end up the victors after all!

……

Boom! Boom! Boom! Spacetime was shattered throughout the Grassland World, with the Five Elements thrown into a state of chaos as the Sword Titan continued to charge upwards while being surrounded and bombarded with attacks by the Sithe.

Boom! The power of the World of Liberation, by itself, was enough to tear through the clouds. The Sword Titan charged upwards through the opening, but Iyerre and the black warbeasts continued to press the attack against him. Iyerre was like a patient hunter, continuing to harass his prey while searching for the perfect opportunity. Ning and the others felt as though they had daggers pressed against their backs. Every single attack Iyerre launched was incredibly dangerous.

“We have to hold until we get out! We have to.”

“Keep holding!”

Titanos and the rest quietly prayed. It was now up to Ning. Ning was in control of the entire Sword Titan, and he used it to execute his sword-arts. This was an extremely taxing fight! The three black warbeasts had insights on par with his, while Iyerre’s insights were far more profound. It was already impressive for him to maintain an airtight defense, but they really couldn’t afford to let themselves be beaten here. If they lost, it would all be over!

Boom! The Sword Titan charged past the second layer of clouds, continuing its upwards ascent.

“Not good.” Ning paled as Iyerre managed to snake a palm past the Sword Titan’s defensive sword-stances. Ning didn’t hesitate, immediately discarding the Northbow sword in his left hand and using his hand instead to launch a sword-art. Boom! He managed to block Iyerre’s palm.

“He actually blocked it?” Iyerre had thought he was about to win. He couldn’t help but feel slightly startled.

As the Sword Titan was knocked flying backwards, yet another Northbow sword appeared in his left hand. Ning had a total of six Northbow swords, after all! As for the one he had discarded, it had flown back to below the Golden Bridges of Freedom.

Boom! The Sword Titan burst through the third layer of clouds. However, as it did so a ghostly and gigantic palm once more burst past Ning’s defenses. This time, Ning was completely unable to react. The palm slammed into the left side of the Sword Titan’s waist, with the Sword Titan unable to block even with his hands.

“NO!!!!” Ning, Titanos, Bolin, and the others all watched in shock. Time itself seemed to have slowed down.

Bang! The alabaster fingers pierced deep into the Sword Titan’s flank, stabbing straight through it. Then, as though it could sense the Autarchs, it reached out towards the nearest person inside – Autarch Mogg.

Autarch Mogg wanted to block… but how could he?

“No. We can’t lose!” Tears appeared in Autarch Mogg’s face. Bang! The giant alabaster hand stabbed into him, filling every inch of his body with a burst of such overwhelming power that every last speck of mana within it began to crumble from the force of the strike.

BOOM! He was completely obliterated. Not even a scrap of his truesoul fragments was able to return to this Chaosverse. Everything had been devoured.

Riiiiip. With Mogg’s death, the entire Sword Titan began to destabilize. Iyerre tore at the insides of the Sword Titan with his alabaster hand, ripping a gaping wound through the Sword Titan’s chest and to its shoulders, nearly cleaving the titan in half.

“Kill them!” Iyerre’s voice was filled with intoxicated glee as well as a boundless desire for his foes to die.

“Kill!” The three black warbeasts grew excited as well. They were about to win! They all pounced down towards the already-crumbling Sword Titan, while Iyerre himself began to launch an attack as well.

“We can’t lose.” Ning desperately tried to make the Sword Titan wield the Northbow sword and block, but without Mogg the power of their sword-arts dropped dramatically. There was no way for him to stop Iyerre, whose attack once more dug deep into the Sword Titan’s body. This time, he managed to latch onto Autarch Skyfeeder. Light glowed around his palm, and Autarch Skyfeeder was similarly unable to defend against him. The end result was destruction.

“Damn it all!” Autarch Skyfeeder stared into the skies, filled with despair and resentment.

BOOM! Upon her death, the Sword Titan’s body crumbled apart as well. Now that they had lost two Autarchs, the Sword Titan was no longer able to stay intact. Ning, Titanos, and the others began to instinctively flee despite their despair.

“Hahaha!” A black warbeast pounced forwards, clawing at Autarch Stonerule’s back. Autarch Stonerule was absolutely agonized. “Why? Why? WHY!” BOOM! Autarch Stonerule was annihilated as well, his truesoul fragments completely devoured.

Ning continued to flee, his heart feeling as though it was being cut apart by countless knives. All he could do was watch as one of his friends after another was killed.

“I can’t lose. We really can’t lose!” Countless figures flashed through Ning’s mind. This Chaosverse was filled with innumerable living beings. Ning’s friends… his disciples… his family members… the hard-working cultivators he knew… there were countless people in this Chaosverse, part of whom he knew and part of whom he didn’t.

They had lost. Their entire civilization was about to be overthrown.

“I’m sorry.” Autarch Titanos didn’t struggle. He simply shut his eyes, two streams of tears cascading down his face as he transformed himself into a plume of light. However, the black warbeast’s sharp claws reached out, still managing to capture and devour all the truesoul fragments and prevent them from returning to the Quintessence.

“Wipe them all out!” Iyerre roared with laughter. “Kill them all! Drown their entire civilization with blood! This Chaosverse is MINE! IYERRE’S! AHAHAHA!”

But then… the entire Grassland World seemed to have fallen silent. All other auras were completely suppressed, while Iyerre’s laughter became frozen as well. He suddenly turned to stare at the sword-bearing white-robed youth. Two streams of tears were cascading down the youth’s face.

A ripple of pure ‘blackness’ swept out from Ning’s body. That utterly black rippled contained an utterly terrifying will of destruction. This was true destruction, a will which would obliterate any and all things. Nothing and no one could withstand this type of oblivion.

The white-robed youth opened his eyes, and within those eyes they could see the annihilation of an entire Chaosverse.