Chapter 851: Hunt in the Phantom Lands

Chapter 851: Chapter 851: Hunt in the Phantom Lands

The spatial rift of the portal tore open above the skies of the Radiant Sun Empire, one of the two enemy nations alongside the Eternal Night Empire that had conspired to dismantle the Golden Dragon alliance. Ethan emerged from the spatial tunnel in silence, hovering kilometers in the air while the remaining vessels of his armada assembled at his back like specters.

Beneath his feet lay no peaceful cities; the border domain was fortified with ramparts and war encampments packed with Radiant Sun forces.

Ethan exhaled a cold breath. The amethyst energy coating his skin like armor pulsed, vibrating in harmony with the Black Chaos Sword in his hand.

"Crul," spoke Ethan, his eyes glowing with a crimson glare. "What is the status of their defenses?"

[Scanning enemy territory...], Crul’s voice echoed in his mind, casting a tactical map of the province. [Master, neither the Radiant Sun Empire nor the Eternal Night Empire have received news of the Divine Wind Empire’s collapse. The border garrisons are at medium alert, but remain oblivious to our arrival. Their emperors and leaders are still weakened following their clash with Emperor Aurelius.]

"Perfect," whispered Ethan, tightening his grip on his sword. "We won’t give them time to process their own downfall."

Behind his frame, the gargantuan Void nightmare began to expand, stretching its shadow across leagues. The amethyst black hole within its maw started to spin, warping starlight and generating a gravitational suction that made the ground groan.

Ethan raised the Black Chaos Sword toward the heavens.

"No survivors, no witnesses," commanded Ethan in a voice from beyond the grave. "Commence the hunt."

The remaining transport ships threw open their belly hatches, raining down a tide of undead upon the fortresses, while Ethan dived headlong like a comet, prepared to lay waste and devour the vital energy of the two remaining empires.

The butchery that erupted across the border ramparts surpassed any concept of warfare.

Ethan turned into a vortex of extermination. His hybrid Amethyst Void form cleaved through space like a specter, slicing the runic haze into sparks. There was no military formation capable of checking his advance; he was a shredder fueled by rage and abyssal hunger.

CRACK! BOOOOM!

"Hold the line! Raise the divine plasma shields!" roared a captain of the Radiant Sun, brandishing a halberd imbued with sacred flames. "He is but a single cultivator! Concentrate all dreadnought firepower on him!"

The three war vessels hovering above the fortress opened fire in unison, discharging beams of light straight onto Ethan’s frame. The earth detonated in an eruption of molten rock and debris, yet from the heart of the inferno emerged the amethyst silhouette of the nightmare.

Ethan reappeared upon the deck of the enemy flagship, swimming through the fabric of the void.

"Paper fairies facing a storm...", pronounced Ethan in a low voice that echoed within the skulls of everyone present.

With a sweep of the Black Chaos Sword, a crescent moon of abyssal mana sliced through the bridge. Imperial nobles, strategists, and captains were cleaved in two before they could formulate an incantation. The nightmare’s crystalline tail struck forward, piercing the ship’s core and triggering an explosion that brought the vessel crashing down onto the encampment below.

"Fall back! Summon General Tresh! The enemy is a Void demon in the Spiritual Transcendence Realm!" shrieked soldiers in panic, throwing down their weapons as they scrambled toward the citadel gates.

General Tresh, an elder of the Radiant Sun Empire in the Spiritual Transcendence Realm, burst onto the battlefield enveloped in an aura of solar fire. His countenance betrayed a mix of fury and suppressed terror as he beheld the slaughter of his troops.

"Abominable monster!" bellowed Tresh, channeling the essence of his burned core to launch a strike toward Ethan’s chest. "You shall pay for this desecration with your soul!"

Ethan didn’t bother to dodge. The amethyst claw of his left hand caught the general’s flaming blade with a snap, extinguishing the solar flames with the cold of the Void.

"Your cultivation is mediocre... and your king is already dying," whispered Ethan, staring at him with his two amethyst abysses.

Before Treshcould react or pull back his weapon, the black hole maw of the nightmare at Ethan’s back opened wide.

CHOMP!

A scream of agony died in General Tresh’s throat as the shadow decapitated him in a single bite, devouring his head and ripping the energy mass from his body. The golden blood of Spiritual Transcendence splattered across the floor as the corpse hit the stone.

The chaos was absolute. Nobles watching from the defensive towers attempted escape spells, only to be intercepted mid-flight by the claws of Ethan’s undead and devoured in mid-air. The fortress turned into a hell of screams, ship explosions crashing from the sky, and the crunching of bones beneath the march of the abyssal tide.

Ethan strode atop the mountain of corpses, devouring every drop of spiritual essence hovering in the air while the amethyst embedded on his skin flared with intensity.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

A cavernous voice heavy with spiritual pressure echoed from the depths of the imperial palace, shaking the foundations of the realm. The earth fractured, and the runic mist was blown away by a golden aura.

Through the rubble and smoke, a majestic figure emerged with slow steps. He was wrapped in bloodied bandages, his face pale, with divine burns actively eroding his flesh. It was the Emperor of the Radiant Sun Empire himself. He was critically wounded, staggering on the precipice of death following his clash with Aurelius; nevertheless, a dying camel remains larger than a young horse. The majesty of his cultivation base flattened the air around him.

The monarch locked his eyes onto Ethan and let out a laugh:

"You are that brat from the Golden Dragon Empire! Hahaha...! It seems the heavens still smile upon me. I will be able to send the brat the Golden Dragon Emperor cherishes so dearly to his grave before I fall!"

Ethan halted mid-slaughter, resting the Black Chaos Sword casually over his shoulder as the nightmare at his back churned its black hole maw.

"You say the heavens favor you?" replied Ethan with a cold smirk. "I think they are merely mocking you, and you don’t even know it."

"Insolent bastard!" bellowed the emperor, unleashing a tide of flames that brought the surrounding space to a boil. "A brat in the early stage of Spiritual Transcendence! You may be stronger than those fools among my generals, but I stand at the peak of the True Spirit Physique Realm! There is no way in hell you can defeat me!"