Armipotent

Tang Shaoyang summoned twenty spirits, not the oversized ones as it would destroy the building. Avyn and Zara moved behind Guild Master, holding her down on her seat. Bronson the Demonic Slayer, Radiance, Orlean, and Jovrick surrounded Levine the female elf. Galeon the Archdemon, Arkanos the Blade Emperor, Yowe the Spear Saint, and Nikolas the former commander surrounded Lafont the male elf.

Eight spirits stood behind Hemlin and Forlan, and the last two spirits were guarding the door. Forlan’s eyes widened in shock which was soon replaced by fear. He gripped his friend harder, ensuring his friend would not move. He knew what His Majesty was trying to do, and he had to make sure his friend did not do something stupid to make things worse.

“What’s the meaning of this—” the Guild Master was about to stand up, but she was pushed down before she could stand. The grip on her shoulder was strong, very strong, much stronger than her that she could not move even an inch.

“Oh, you better stay still and don’t do anything stupid to make this quick, Guild Master,” Zara whispered to Guild Master’s ears, “Now I understand why he was not interested in you in the slightest despite how gorgeous you are.”

“What is this? This is a reminder of what it means to work for me,” Tang Shaoyang took out the Azure Dragon Blade.

Levine and Lafont tried to break free, but they quickly realized that they were being overpowered. The elf brother and sister struggled but to no avail.

The sword flashed, a gleam of the sword was what The Guild Master, Lafont, and Levine saw. Before they could proceed with what happened, their visions were falling. Their bodies leaned to the side and fell to the ground. Their bodies fell to the floor as a pool of fresh blood formed below their bodies.

Their first reaction was flabbergasted, confused with what happened. Then they saw the spirits were holding their hands and legs. That was right, their hands and legs were cut by Tang Shaoyang. After the realization, tremendous pain followed. The three were about to scream to alert their people, but their mouths clenched instantly as an unrestrained and terrifying aura filled the room.

Hemlin and Forlan could only look at Tang Shaoyang in shock. This reminded them of Tang Shaoyang’s battle against the Gods from their worlds. This reminded them how easy it was for Tang Shaoyang to get rid of the God Ranks from their world, which they somehow forgot after living comfortably and at peace. Different compared to when they were in Aqura, there were no Gods after their lives in the Tang Empire.

The Guild Master was breathing heavily, sweat covered her pretty face. The pain never subsided, and she quickly realized that her wound was not healing, and her flesh didn’t regenerate. She looked up at the culprit, but all the words in her head were gone the moment she met with his gaze. Her mind went blank, did not know what to say as fear slowly gripped her.

This was not the first time she faced a God Rank. She had fought a God Rank multiple times. Even though she never won it always ended with her running or her enemy running away from her. This was her first time getting overwhelmed by a God Rank without being able to put up a fight. This was not her first time being ambushed, but this was her first of her being helpless against an ambush.

The pain in her missing limbs reminded her that she was under this man’s mercy. This showed that the player could kill her anytime if he wanted to. Then she glanced at Hemlin, his eyes shook, showing the man was also in a panic and fear like her. She made a wrong calculation, thinking Hemlin and Forlan were on the same level of authority as their leader.

She thought the two God Ranks were more than a friends to the Emperor, but she was wrong. They were still the Emperor’s subordinates, not someone on equal terms despite being of the same rank. Her plan was to seduce Hemlin to separate from the Tang Empire, creating entirely a new faction from the Tang Empire, a way out of this tower for her and her people.

She realized that she made the wrong choice, overlooking the critical information because she had been living in this place for her entire life. In the tower, all the God Ranks were equally powerful because of the limitations the System put on them. They could not get stronger after reaching a certain point, and it was for the sake of the Dimensional Tower, keeping the balance, ensuring they did not become too strong for the player.

However, it was different outside the tower. A certain God Ranks were more powerful than many, and The Emperor was one of those people.

“Test! It’s test whether the Tang Empire is the reliable place for us to—”

A sword flashed before she finished her words, pierced her stomach, and went through the floor. Her face crunched in pain, but she was holding back her voice from screaming. This was a normal stab, with no skill, or at least she did not detect any skill activation. However, it was more powerful than any wound she had experienced in her life. There was something that made this more painful than usual, and she did not know what it was.

“I am doing this not to hear your excuse. I am showing you what will happen to you if you try to scheme behind me. This is a warning for you and for your people about what it means to work for me. I accept failure, but I will not tolerate a dirty trick that will create chaos within my empire, and I will not accept betrayal against me and the empire!”

Tang Shaoyang twisted his sword slightly, causing even more pain to the Guild Master. She grunted in pain, trying her best to keep her voice down.

“Consider this as a test as well, and it seems like it’s worth the risk if you still want to join the empire,” He reached to her cheek, and forcefully opened her mouth before chugging a vial of regeneration potion, “This will help you to recover your limbs.”

Then he threw one for Levine and Lafont. His spirits caught the vial and fed the elves as well. It took less than thirty seconds for them to get their limbs back. The surprise was coming from Levine despite what she experienced just now, she made an unexpected move. As soon as she recovered her limbs, two short words appeared in her hands. Her figure vanished and reappeared behind Tang Shaoyang.

Tang Shaoyang let out a chuckle and turned his head, smiling at the female elf. She was shocked, but this did not stop her from her attempt to murder Tang Shaoyang. Unfortunately, she was never able to swing her swords as coldness invaded her body. In the next moment, her body froze in ice and fell to the floor with a loud thump.

“It seems like someone doesn’t learn the lesson,” Tang Shaoyang turned toward the lump of ice. Levine’s eyes were moving around even though she was frozen. She was still awake even though she was frozen. Her eyes locked on Tang Shaoyang, before glancing toward the Guild Master. The surprise was there was no fear in Levine’s eyes, just regret that she failed to kill Tang Shaoyang.

“A foolish and yet commendable spirit,” Tang Shaoyang said as he raised his right foot, “But each action has its own consequence.”

“NO!” Lafont broke away from his calm facade and raised his voice while the Guild Master looked at the frozen figure in panic-stricken horror.

No one could stop Tang Shaoyang in time as the ice broke apart, but the big surprise was that Levine’s body was still intact, and did not get destroyed along with the ice.

Levine herself was surprised, surprised that she was not dead after she attempted to kill the emperor. But then she quickly regained her footing, holding her swords, at least, she thought so until she realized her hands were empty. Then she saw Tang Shaoyang was having her sword, inspecting her sword, but he quickly lost interest as if her sword were junk.

“As I said, each action has its own consequences, and you haven’t learned your lesson yet, Levine. I know people like you. You think you have a chance as long as you try, and if I let you leave without teaching you a precious lesson, you might attempt it again for my life,” Tang Shaoyang shook his head, “So, who do want to be a teacher for Levine?”

“ME!” Zara raised her right hand.

Tang Shaoyang tossed her a regeneration potion and also a healing potion, “Don’t kill her, okay?”

The Goddess of Death grinned ear to ear in excitement as she formed a portal and brought Levine with her. Lafont tried to follow his sister, but he could not reach the portal in time as it closed before his face.

“Our business done here, guys,” The spirits returned to the Spirit World except for Avyn. She decided to stay with Tang Shaoyang.

Tang Shaoyang looked toward Hemlin, “I am disappointed in you, Hemlin. I thought you were competent and reliable, but I learned more about you today that you are not reliable, certainly far from being competent to fall for such a trick. Let what happened here freshen your memory of what will happen to you if you put the empire in danger.”

“I don’t really care who you fall in love with, but the moment you put my people at risk. I will not hesitate to get rid of you. We will reevaluate you again later.”

Tang Shaoyang then turned toward the Guild Master who quickly looked away, “I believe in a second chance for a certain case, but there will be no third chance. Let those hands and legs be your reminder before you try to do something stupid against me.”

The Guild Master’s hands and legs were still on the table along with Levine and Lafont’s limbs. The two subconsciously looked at their own limbs for a moment.

After giving his last piece, Tang Shaoyang’s body disappeared along with Avyn, heading toward the thirteenth floor.