Ruthren was still breathing, but his face looked like he was too shocked to believe what he was going through right now.
The physical pain his body was going through didn't seem to be his greatest concern but what he lost, especially as he lifelessly looked down at his own chest.
His ethereal core…which he had cultivated strenuously for his entire life…gone! His ambitions, his goals, and his dreams…all gone! His power, his status, and his pride as an emperor…all gone!
He was shaking his head and mumbling to himself like a mad man while his voice cracked and became weak.
All this settled in his mind as he mechanically and slowly turned his head towards Damien with trembling eyes, "You…You have no idea…how…how doomed you all are…You are doomed to lose it all just like me, Damien..." Ruthren mumbled weakly, making Damien frown as he turned around, only to have his brows furrow even more upon seeing a large black storm slowly charging in from the horizon.
No…it wasn't really just a black storm but something more terrifying…an army of millions! Not only on the ground, but there were even thousands of flying ethereal beasts being ridden by soldiers.
Not only Damien but the others also had their jaws slack upon seeing a wide black storm heading towards their way at speeds no ordinary army can rush.
But what bothered them all the most was that this army of millions didn't look like an ordinary army, but all of them seemed weird and strange. Their eyes had a strange black light, and their skin seemed to be a bit ash-white. Their expressions were wild and frightening, and all they expressed was killing intent and a lust for blood.
It was like they had lost all shred of humanity and what was left were simply wild instincts. Still, they weren't dead and seemed to have enough consciousness to know what they were doing.
Suddenly, a powerful dark blue jet of water shot through the skies, though it didn't seem to be aimed at Damien or the ones standing behind him.
Still, even more, ethereal attacks shot up into the sky as Damien quickly took out the artifact Marvin had given him when he first left the Rong Empire…the ethereal barrier that even Profound Ethereal Realm cultivators can't break through instantly.
However, right before he could activate it, the very first of the ethereal attacks from the army struck the ethereal formation that led back to the island. But Damien didn't mind it since that island was already a death zone, and going back inside would only seal their fates, especially since nobody could communicate with the people outside.
"What the fuck did you do, Ruthren?" Damien asked with gritted teeth without shifting his gaze as he saw the barrier taking the brunt of all the ethereal attacks smashing down on it. There were already cracks appearing.
However, Ruthren's empty expression seemed as if his mind was too broken to answer Damien's question.
Damien could recognize the insignia of the Xeton Empire on their armor and realized that this was the true strength of Ruthren's imperial army.
But the problem was that Ruthren seemed to have done something to his own army beforehand. All of them were reeking with nethereal energy, carrying with them the stench of death.
All of their cultivations also seemed higher than what they should normally be. Damien remembered how Ruthren had revealed his eldest son, who turned out to be a genius with the highest cultivation under 30 years of age. But only he knew that his son's cultivation was forcibly increased through some experiment that involved nethereal energy.
"Quick! Try and contact everyone you can, especially our friends at the other empires, to bring their army here. We won't be able to take on all of them on our own. I will contact the Gale Empire," Damien frantically instructed as he took out his talisman to get in touch with Kale.
"Kale! This is an emergency. You have to bring your army and help us deal with Ruthren's army. If we won't do this—"
"Godnim, wait! There is a lot going on here, and based on what you are saying, it seems you have no idea," Kale's anxious voice came out from the other side, making Damien feel a bit confused as he asked, "What do you mean? What happened?"
"Right now, everybody is panicking here and running around here and there while I am trying to maintain peace to sort out the situation. It seems like some sort of plague is spreading through the lands, killing any animal or person in its way. And now it is almost at our empire's doorsteps, and my army is busy trying to stop it from spreading while evacuating my subjects. I am sorry, Godnim, but my hands are full. But I really do wish I could have helped you," Kale sincerely said while Damien put down the talisman with a blank expression and turned around to the others to see if they had any luck.
However, Lily shook her head with a sad look as she said, "They…They said that some sort of plague was slowly killing everything in my empire even though it hadn't spread fully. My people are too busy trying to flee or survive while the elders are trying to stop the plague from spreading."
"The same thing…I can't believe this…I thought we had time, but he—" Yuria turned her head around to curse Ruthren, but he was nowhere to be seen, making her eyes widen, realizing that she was too distracted to notice it.
"It's fine. We have bigger things to worry about," Damien said with a grave look as the cracks on the barrier had almost spread over the entire barrier.
Everyone were about to say that letting Ruthren go was a big mistake but they heard Damien's voice in their heads and relaxed, no longer being bothered about Ruthren.
Getting help from the Gale Empire or the Krisen Kingdom, or even the Rong Empire was Damien's hope. But now, it was just them. The Forsaken experts were either dead or heavily injured, healing in a different place.
Damien was also not in his best state and almost had exhausted his reserves fighting Ruthren and the army he had brought before. He couldn't see a way out of this. No matter how talented he was, how could he and just six more cultivators take on a 1,500,000-strong army?
But suddenly, he felt three soft hands holding his arm as they said with soft smiles, "We fight, we live and we die together…remember?"
Ruthren was still breathing, but his face looked like he was too shocked to believe what he was going through right now.
The physical pain his body was going through didn't seem to be his greatest concern but what he lost, especially as he lifelessly looked down at his own chest.
His ethereal core…which he had cultivated strenuously for his entire life…gone! His ambitions, his goals, and his dreams…all gone! His power, his status, and his pride as an emperor…all gone!
He was shaking his head and mumbling to himself like a mad man while his voice cracked and became weak.
All this settled in his mind as he mechanically and slowly turned his head towards Damien with trembling eyes, "You…You have no idea…how…how doomed you all are…You are doomed to lose it all just like me, Damien..." Ruthren mumbled weakly, making Damien frown as he turned around, only to have his brows furrow even more upon seeing a large black storm slowly charging in from the horizon.
No…it wasn't really just a black storm but something more terrifying…an army of millions! Not only on the ground, but there were even thousands of flying ethereal beasts being ridden by soldiers.
Not only Damien but the others also had their jaws slack upon seeing a wide black storm heading towards their way at speeds no ordinary army can rush.
But what bothered them all the most was that this army of millions didn't look like an ordinary army, but all of them seemed weird and strange. Their eyes had a strange black light, and their skin seemed to be a bit ash-white. Their expressions were wild and frightening, and all they expressed was killing intent and a lust for blood.
It was like they had lost all shred of humanity and what was left were simply wild instincts. Still, they weren't dead and seemed to have enough consciousness to know what they were doing.
Suddenly, a powerful dark blue jet of water shot through the skies, though it didn't seem to be aimed at Damien or the ones standing behind him.
Still, even more, ethereal attacks shot up into the sky as Damien quickly took out the artifact Marvin had given him when he first left the Rong Empire…the ethereal barrier that even Profound Ethereal Realm cultivators can't break through instantly.
However, right before he could activate it, the very first of the ethereal attacks from the army struck the ethereal formation that led back to the island. But Damien didn't mind it since that island was already a death zone, and going back inside would only seal their fates, especially since nobody could communicate with the people outside.
"What the fuck did you do, Ruthren?" Damien asked with gritted teeth without shifting his gaze as he saw the barrier taking the brunt of all the ethereal attacks smashing down on it. There were already cracks appearing.
However, Ruthren's empty expression seemed as if his mind was too broken to answer Damien's question.
Damien could recognize the insignia of the Xeton Empire on their armor and realized that this was the true strength of Ruthren's imperial army.
But the problem was that Ruthren seemed to have done something to his own army beforehand. All of them were reeking with nethereal energy, carrying with them the stench of death.
All of their cultivations also seemed higher than what they should normally be. Damien remembered how Ruthren had revealed his eldest son, who turned out to be a genius with the highest cultivation under 30 years of age. But only he knew that his son's cultivation was forcibly increased through some experiment that involved nethereal energy.
"Quick! Try and contact everyone you can, especially our friends at the other empires, to bring their army here. We won't be able to take on all of them on our own. I will contact the Gale Empire," Damien frantically instructed as he took out his talisman to get in touch with Kale.
"Kale! This is an emergency. You have to bring your army and help us deal with Ruthren's army. If we won't do this—"
"Godnim, wait! There is a lot going on here, and based on what you are saying, it seems you have no idea," Kale's anxious voice came out from the other side, making Damien feel a bit confused as he asked, "What do you mean? What happened?"
"Right now, everybody is panicking here and running around here and there while I am trying to maintain peace to sort out the situation. It seems like some sort of plague is spreading through the lands, killing any animal or person in its way. And now it is almost at our empire's doorsteps, and my army is busy trying to stop it from spreading while evacuating my subjects. I am sorry, Godnim, but my hands are full. But I really do wish I could have helped you," Kale sincerely said while Damien put down the talisman with a blank expression and turned around to the others to see if they had any luck.
However, Lily shook her head with a sad look as she said, "They…They said that some sort of plague was slowly killing everything in my empire even though it hadn't spread fully. My people are too busy trying to flee or survive while the elders are trying to stop the plague from spreading."
"The same thing…I can't believe this…I thought we had time, but he—" Yuria turned her head around to curse Ruthren, but he was nowhere to be seen, making her eyes widen, realizing that she was too distracted to notice it.
"It's fine. We have bigger things to worry about," Damien said with a grave look as the cracks on the barrier had almost spread over the entire barrier.
Everyone were about to say that letting Ruthren go was a big mistake but they heard Damien's voice in their heads and relaxed, no longer being bothered about Ruthren.
Getting help from the Gale Empire or the Krisen Kingdom, or even the Rong Empire was Damien's hope. But now, it was just them. The Forsaken experts were either dead or heavily injured, healing in a different place.
Damien was also not in his best state and almost had exhausted his reserves fighting Ruthren and the army he had brought before. He couldn't see a way out of this. No matter how talented he was, how could he and just six more cultivators take on a 1,500,000-strong army?
But suddenly, he felt three soft hands holding his arm as they said with soft smiles, "We fight, we live and we die together…remember?"
