Lord of the Truth

1081  Howl to the sun

”....!!”

It didnʼt matter whether they belonged to the Demon Army or the Great Serpentʼs Empire. It didnʼt matter if they were martial emperors or warlords. Every pair of eyes turned toward the scene unfolding in the city.

Aside from the soul creatures that had yet to receive orders and continued to obliterate their opponents, the rest stood in stunned silence, mouths agape, staring at what remained of Pythorʼs massive form…

Even Caesar and Amon couldnʼt comprehend what they were seeing.

Had Holak just slain the planetary emperor, Pythor? All by his own? And in his new form?!

Had the battle ended just like that?

BOOOOM

Holak unleashed another blast of air to halt his momentum before descending to the ground, creating a small dust storm upon impact. Then, he raised what was left of both arms and began striding toward Pythorʼs corpse with absolute confidence, reveling in the fact that he had become the center of attention.

”Donʼt look so shocked, all of you! Fools are abundant, and Pythor was the biggest fool of them all!”

His deep, powerful voice echoed through the battlefield.

”He thought transforming his body into that state would make it harder to reach his energy core, but look at him now! I erased his entire head!”

Reaching Pythorʼs remains, Holak turned his back to them and continued shouting, his words booming in everyoneʼs ears. ”I, the great Holak, may not have an army— but thatʼs because I donʼt need one! Everyone, Look at your rulers! One was broken, hiding somewhere underground, and the other was slain by my hand. I am the strongest here!!”

Then, he pointed his uninjured hand toward Caesar.

”Use your heads, followers of Robin Burton! Think carefully, loyalists of the late Pythor! I am your best choice as a ruler! With me in power, you will fear no one!”

”....”

Caesar and the others kept their gazes on him for a few seconds.

Then, their eyes slowly began to rise.

The looks those beasts gave him werenʼt of reverence or fear— but pity!

And secondly, why were they looking up in the first place?!

At that moment, the light from the purple sun was suddenly blocked from reaching Holakʼs body.

”...?” A strange, uneasy feeling crept into his chest.

There was nothing tall enough to cast such a shadow over him—unless…

Slowly, Holak turned around.

And, like the others, he looked up.

Pythor was staring at him.

Swish Swish

Streams of purple acid rained down from the north, merging back into his body.

In an instant, his head was whole again.

His core was restored.

Even his three horns had returned to their rightful places.

Holak gazed up at Pythor, then tilted his head, ”...Dude, Are you for real?”

With a mocking smile, Pythor parted his maw. ”Did you truly believe that the gift of a planet as vast as Poison Rock— a planet attuned to the Path of Destruction— the gift that transformed my body entirely and elevated me beyond the realm of mere living beings… would be defeated in a single strike from you?”

Holak scratched his head. ”That was the plan, yeah.”

SWOOOOSH

Pythorʼs tail shot forward with blinding speedو ”Let me show you a real attack.”

”Nah, that thingʼs never touching me again!” The memory of his arm being trapped in Pythorʼs core earlier flashed through Holakʼs mind. His eyes flew open in alarm.

Anticipating the real danger before him, he raised his hand and prepared another strike.

This time, he struck downward.

BOOOOM

A barrier of shattered space and compressed air erupted between them.

Pythorʼs tail dissolved into mist once more but reformed almost instantly.

Even though he had avoided a direct hit, the acid mist had touched nearly every inch of his body before he was sent hurtling backward like a cannonball.

Silence.

The sight of Pythor in his current form, standing alone in the city, was overwhelmingly oppressive. His towering figure, wreathed in a dark aura of destruction, sent shivers down the spines of all who beheld him. His mere presence was suffocating, like an unstoppable force that had descended upon the battlefield to remind everyone of their insignificance.

”L— Long live the Empire of the Great Serpent!”

”Long live His Majesty Pythor!”

”His Majesty is invincible!!”

The air itself seemed to tremble with the resounding cheers of his warriors. The battlefield, which had been on the brink of collapse mere moments ago, was now alive with newfound determination. The soldiers of the Great Serpent Empire, fueled by their rulerʼs apparent immortality, surged forward like an unrelenting tidal wave.

The battles reignited with newfound fury. This time, however, the tides had turned under the crushing weight of Pythorʼs overwhelming presence. His army, their morale reaching the heavens, fought with reckless abandon, driven by a fanatic belief in their rulerʼs invincibility.

BAM BAM

Amon, who had barely managed to reconstruct his shattered leg, suddenly found himself overwhelmed by a renewed wave of assaults. Each strike pushed him further back, his balance teetering on the edge.

Meanwhile, Caesar, once an unstoppable force, now faced an uncharacteristic defiance from the emperors of the Great Serpent. Fearlessly, they pushed forward against his flames.

The Demon Army, which had just started gaining ground, now suffered devastating losses at an alarming rate. The momentum they had built through Amonʼs advance was completely overshadowed by the resurgence of their enemies.

Meanwhile, the battle between the martial emperors of the Great Serpent and the demon emperors had escalated to an unprecedented level. The Great Serpentʼs martial emperors abandoned all caution, throwing themselves into the fray without hesitation. Their sheer numbers alone made it seem as though they could drown their enemies in an endless wave of bodies.

The demon emperors, despite their strength, were unable to hold their ground. One after another, they fell like autumn leaves in a storm, their defenses shattered under the relentless assault. Even the mighty warlords, once feared for their brutality, found themselves retreating step by step.

The high-ranking emperors and generals along with 300 martial emperors, locked in battle against the 102 soul creatures, were also swept up in the chaos. Fueled by a desperate need to prove their worth, they fought with a newfound intensity, as though possessed by demons. Their greatest fear was no longer the enemy before them but rather the gaze of Pythor himself. None dared to show weakness, lest they draw the ire of their godlike ruler.

But the soul creatures…

They did not falter.

They did not waver.

They did not know fear, nor did they understand the concept of morale.

They fought with the same merciless efficiency, cutting down anything in their path without hesitation.

Yet something had changed.

Despite their relentless nature, they were beginning to fall. Five generals had already perished in the blood-soaked battlefield. But the most alarming discovery was yet to come—

The injured soul creatures were no longer regenerating.

The realization struck like a bolt of lightning. Their once unstoppable foes were now vulnerable.

The seventy-seventh prince, who had been observing from a distance, saw his opportunity. His eyes gleamed with cruel determination as he signaled his forces forward.

”The soul master reached his limit at last! Finish them off!!”

”....”

Pythorʼs burning gaze slowly swept across the battlefield. Every front had shifted in his favor. Victory was within his grasp.

And yet…

His expression was not one of satisfaction.

It was fury.

A deep, smoldering rage burned within him, more intense than ever before. His voice, when he finally spoke, was filled with venom.

He had issued a direct command. His seventh son had been ordered to bring the full might of the empireʼs forces to this battlefield. Yet not a single warship had arrived.

Had they truly been besieged to such a degree?

That didnʼt matter.

The seventh son had defied a direct order. Unforgivable.

Pythorʼs massive form rose even higher, his immense body exuding an aura of raw destruction. His glowing purple eyes deepened in intensity, casting an eerie light upon the battlefield.

The very fabric of space rippled around him.

The ground beneath him trembled violently, as if the world itself feared his wrath.

Then, with a monstrous roar, he opened his maw and unleashed a thunderous cry toward the heavens—toward the purple sun.

”...KAAAAAAHHHH---!!!”

For a brief moment, the purple sun itself seemed to shudder, then sent that looked like energy waves in all directions.

-----------------

”Oh, this is bad. This is really bad!”

The seventh prince paced frantically, his normally composed demeanor shattered by sheer panic.

Even here, far in the southern region, he could feel the aftershocks of the battle raging in the City of Hope. The tremors beneath his feet coming from all that distance spoke of unfathomable destruction, ”What the hell is happening over there?!”

”Your Highness, we must go! Thereʼs still time!”

One of his closest aides, a loyal companion who had stood by his side for years, was practically pleading with him. His face was pale with terror as he gestured wildly toward the communications device that had been relaying Pythorʼs messages.

”You are openly defying His Majestyʼs wrath! Not even fleeing to the planetary belt will save you—he will hunt you down!”

The prince clenched his fists.

”Do you think I donʼt know that?!”

He bellowed, his frustration spilling over.

If he went to the battlefield, he risked being ordered to activate the Disaster Seal Cube—a weapon of unimaginable power. If things went poorly, he might be forced to use it. If they won, he would likely be made to hand it over. Either way, disaster awaited him.

Pythor had to die in this war.

He must—

Rumble.

A pulse of energy swept through the air, unseen yet undeniable.

The very space around them shuddered as a massive wave of violet energy passed over them like a silent storm. It surged onward, continuing its path as though it did not even exist.

The prince stood frozen for a moment. His heart pounded in his chest.

Then, in a voice laced with reluctant resignation, he spoke, ”M... No--.. M--Mobilize the entire army. We are going to support His Majesty immediately.”

”...Understood.”