Chapter 1326: Great Shen Empire: Confrontation

’How much stronger did he become...?!’

For the first time, Anti Mage felt a trace of fear.

Souta slowly lifted his foot from the sword’s hilt.

The dark blade remained buried in Anti Mage’s chest, pinning him to the ground.

The four spider limbs behind Souta shifted in unison.

Clank!

The sound of metal echoed through the ruined battlefield.

Anti Mage’s body tensed.

Souta didn’t even look at him anymore.

His gaze had already moved beyond him, toward the distant battlefield.

That casual dismissal made Anti Mage’s heart sink even further.

Xi Xing, who had been watching from the sidelines, was equally stunned.

Not everyone knew the Blood Lightning Monster, but most powerful experts had at least heard the name sometime during the past few months.

After all, the monster had created history by defeating a Fifth Stage monster while still being a Fourth Stage monster.

’That’s... the Blood Lightning Monster...?’

Xi Xing muttered inwardly.

He stared at Souta’s back.

For some reason, he felt more nervous now than when he had been fighting Anti Mage.

He didn’t know why Souta had appeared.

He didn’t know what Souta wanted.

But one thing was certain.

The arrival of this monster had completely changed the atmosphere of the battlefield.

Xi Xing glanced at Anti Mage, who struggled with all his might, desperately trying to remove the sword from his chest.

"Argh...!! Why are you even here?!" Anti Mage roared.

"Why wouldn’t I be here? Your group and I have some history, after all. You sent people to destroy my city. A lot of my subjects died because of you." Souta slowly turned his head toward the royal capital in the distance. His crimson eyes narrowed. "So, it’s time I collect the debt."

He paused for a moment before adding, "I guess I have to fill up the stacks of my [Slayer] title."

Ohm!

Crimson lightning flashed through his eyes as darkness seeped from the gaps in his armor. The four spider-like limbs floating behind him vibrated violently, their sharp tips trembling with barely contained power.

Souta raised his hand.

Then he casually waved it forward.

Whoosh!

The four spider limbs shot toward the royal capital at terrifying speed.

They tore through the air like blades, their sharp tips piercing straight through the massive walls surrounding the royal capital.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The walls shattered wherever the limbs struck, sending enormous chunks of stone flying through the air.

Souta’s gaze remained fixed on the royal capital.

Swoosh!!

The four lights slashed through the city, piercing through various structures. They moved at an incomparably fast speed, chasing after the remnants of the Gluttony Army and zigzagging through the city’s infrastructure.

"What is this?!"

"Argh!!"

"Help!!"

"No!! Help me!!"

Screams echoed throughout the city, accompanied by flashes of crimson and darkness as the four spider limbs tore through the streets.

One after another, they cut down the remaining members of the Gluttony Army without sparing a single one.

After a few seconds, the four spider limbs returned to Souta’s back.

Souta lowered his gaze to his palm.

Numerous artifacts floated around him—armor, spears, swords, shields, rings, and various other treasures. Darkness slowly enveloped each of them, swallowing their forms.

"I’ll take all of these. My subordinates need them."

He closed his palm.

White mist suddenly erupted from within the darkness, swallowing the floating artifacts before dissipating into nothingness.

All of the artifacts had been transported to the Dreamscape.

Souta slowly raised his head and stared at the clouds.

More precisely, he was staring at the figures observing everything that was happening in the royal capital.

Their immense energy made it impossible for him to overlook their presence.

They had been watching him from the very beginning.

With the overwhelming energy they were exuding, it felt as though they were deliberately announcing their presence.

’First, there’s Anti Mage, and now... Thousand Earth is here too. Then who’s the other guy? It’s my first time seeing him.’ Souta muttered inwardly. ’Well, it doesn’t matter to me.’

He kicked the sword.

The force sent him soaring into the sky, while Anti Mage, who had been pinned to the ground by the sword, was violently cut in two. An unwilling expression remained frozen on his face as his body was sliced cleanly from head to toe.

Swoosh!!

Souta shot upward.

In the blink of an eye, he arrived just beneath the clouds, directly in front of Kers Time and Thousand Earth.

Xue Yi glanced at him.

"You’re finally here. I’ve been waiting for you for a long time since you said you’d be coming here."

"No. You just arrived." Souta calmly replied. "I felt your presence."

His crimson eyes shifted toward the unfamiliar figure beside Thousand Earth.

"Still, I’m surprised you found your way here."

"Actually, I didn’t know where to go after entering the territory of this empire. Luckily, I felt the energy fluctuations here, and it wasn’t difficult to figure out that something was happening. After all, this entire piece of land is floating a kilometer above the surface."

Xue Yi shrugged before looking toward Kers Time and Thousand Earth.

"So, what now? I took my time coming here. Should we fight these guys or not?"

"Of course."

Souta’s answer came without hesitation.

"The Ninth Head also said that he was coming here, but it seems he got lost."

"Hmm..." Xue Yi narrowed her eyes. "He’s the one who said that he found a suitable person to fill the vacant slot among the Nine Heads, right?"

"That’s why he’s here."

Souta’s gaze hardened.

"If my conjecture is correct, then the person he’s talking about must be related to these guys."

The Gluttony Army.

The words immediately drew a reaction.

Thousand Earth’s eyes narrowed.

Kers Time’s expression remained unchanged, but the flow of energy around his body shifted ever so slightly.

Souta noticed it.

So did Xue Yi.

Neither side made a move.

Souta simply stared at them, his four spider limbs hovering behind him like silent blades. Crimson lightning occasionally crawled across his armor before vanishing into the darkness.

"There is another powerful aura nearby, and it doesn’t seem like anyone is capable of stopping it. I suggest you go and handle it."

"Hmm...? Are you sure about that?" Xue Yi raised an eyebrow, glancing at him from the corner of her eye.

"Yeah. Leave these two to me." Souta nodded, his expression serious. "I think I can handle them on my own."

If this had been before he became a Night Overlord, he wouldn’t have dared to fight these two formidable experts alone. He would have kept Xue Yi by his side and had her hold off either Kers Time or Thousand Earth.

But now, things were different.

The knowledge and experience of the Night Overlord had sunk into his mind and become his own. His understanding of combat had changed, and so had his confidence.

"Fine... Then I’ll handle that other one."

Xue Yi turned her gaze toward another direction, where she could sense another immense energy fluctuation.

She could tell that a fierce battle was taking place in another city. It was probably between another high-level expert from the Gluttony Army and one of the empire’s experts.

However, that wasn’t her target.

There seemed to be another one out there comparable to the aura that Kers Time and Thousand Earth exuded. There’s no one capable of confronting that expert aside from her.

"I’m off."

Xue Yi glanced at Souta one more time before shooting away into the distance.

Kers Time and Thousand Earth raised their eyebrows as they watched her leave, seemingly surprised that she had actually left Souta alone.

Neither of them expected Souta to willingly face the two of them by himself.

Souta, however, simply watched Xue Yi disappear into the distance.

Then he slowly turned his gaze back toward the two experts.

His crimson eyes gleamed.

"Blood Lightning Monster..." Thousand Earth muttered, his brows furrowing.

The monster’s appearance had complicated their situation.

Seeing him alive was already unexpected, but finding him in the middle of their mission was even more troublesome. Everyone familiar with the Blood Lightning Monster knew better than to underestimate him.

Yet what unsettled Thousand Earth wasn’t merely Souta’s survival.

It was the way he stood before them.

He showed no urgency. No hesitation. Even when facing two formidable Ninth Shackle experts, he carried himself as though the outcome had already been decided.

"Are you really that confident?" Kers Time asked, his expression darkening.

Souta’s attitude made it clear that he regarded the two of them as little more than obstacles.

"I simply think my strength is enough to hold the two of you."

Souta smiled faintly.

Crimson lightning flickered across his eyes.

The darkness surrounding his armor stirred, spilling from the gaps like living shadows. Behind him, the four spider limbs slowly unfolded, their razor-sharp tips scraping against the air.

He raised one hand.

The shadows beneath his feet suddenly expanded.

In a fraction of a second, they spread across more than a kilometer, swallowing the space above the royal capital. The darkness rippled violently before countless sharp spikes erupted from its surface.

[Shadow Spike]!!

Swoosh!!

The spikes shot toward the two experts, tearing through the air with enough force to make the surrounding space tremble.

Kers Time and Thousand Earth remained in place.

The dark spikes halted just before Kers Time, stopping abruptly as though they had struck an invisible wall.

At the same time, the ground beneath Thousand Earth erupted. A massive sphere of rock formed around him, shielding him from the incoming attack.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The shadow spikes slammed into the stone sphere, blasting chunks of rock into the air. Yet none of the spikes reached Thousand Earth.

Souta watched the destruction without changing his expression.