Chapter 57: The Fall of the Rain Empire and the Arrival of Abaddon

The Fall of the Rain Empire and the Arrival of Abaddon

When the inhabitants of the capital saw the enormous black palm descending from the heavens like a falling meteor, the ordinary humans turned pale, their blood running cold, while cultivators of every level trembled despite their desperate attempts to remain composed.

The palm was so enormous that its edges blotted out the entire sky.

It did not resemble an ordinary technique.

It was as though the hand of a colossal being had reached down from beyond the world itself.

Even the Emperor of the Rain Empire slowly raised his head, his eyes filled with disbelief.

For several breaths, he remained speechless.

Then he roared:

"To every cultivator loyal to the empire! Join forces and stop that palm! If the capital falls, our legacy will be destroyed and our families will perish!"

The Emperor surged into the sky first.

Thousands followed him.

At that moment, something happened that had never occurred since the founding of the Rain Empire.

Cultivators from countless sects, clans, and social ranks stood side by side.

There was no longer an Emperor, nobles, elders, or commoners.

They were all standing beneath the same palm.

An old cultivator shouted:

"Link your energies!"

"Do not let it reach the ground!"

Thousands of auras erupted simultaneously.

Spiritual energy and immortal energy surged into the heavens before merging together, forming an enormous barrier over the capital.

Then—

BOOOOOOOM!

The black palm collided with the barrier.

The heavens shook.

Space itself cracked.

A tremendous shockwave erupted in every direction.

Even cultivators and beasts dozens of kilometers away felt the impact.

"What is happening?!" one of the observers exclaimed.

"I don't know! But this isn't an ordinary battle!"

Then his companion pointed toward the sky.

"Look!"

The enormous black palm hovered above the capital.

Several cultivators gasped.

"Impossible..."

"Who could possibly use a technique of this scale?"

"Could it be a Divine Ascender?"

Another cultivator immediately shook his head.

"If it were a Divine Ascender, none of us would even be able to perceive its movements."

The group exchanged uneasy glances.

One of the elders finally asked:

"Then... who is he?"

No one answered.

Inside the capital, the barrier shook violently.

Cracks spread across its surface.

Then they healed.

More cracks appeared.

Then they healed as well.

Thousands of cultivators screamed as they poured their energy into the barrier.

Several minutes passed, each one feeling like an eternity.

Eventually, the black palm began to fade.

One of the cultivators shouted:

"We did it!"

Cheers erupted throughout the capital.

Some people cried.

Others embraced their families.

Even the Emperor closed his eyes for a moment and breathed a sigh of relief.

But suddenly—

A cultivator screamed:

"Look at the sky!"

Everyone froze.

They raised their heads.

Another palm.

Larger.

More terrifying.

The Emperor whispered:

"...How?"

There was no time to think.

He roared:

"We are the cultivators of the Rain Empire!"

"We will never kneel!"

"To the heavens!"

Thousands surged upward once more.

Countless techniques erupted.

But the palm did not slow down.

When it descended to within fifty meters of them...

The cultivators closest to it began turning into dust.

Their expressions changed completely.

Then—

The palm struck the capital.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

Everything vanished.

Several minutes later...

The dust slowly began to settle.

An enormous crater appeared.

Three kilometers wide.

At its center...

A gigantic palm print.

The capital was gone.

The Rain Empire no longer had a capital.

In distant regions, celestial communication artifacts transmitted the scene.

Cultivators watched.

Clan leaders watched.

Emperors watched.

And the greatest powers of the world watched.

Inside one of the grand halls of the Central Continent, dozens of experts sat around a massive celestial mirror.

Silence filled the hall.

"Has... the Rain Empire fallen?" an elderly man asked.

"The capital has," another man replied.

A third spoke:

"Which means the empire has lost its center."

Then a white-haired man said:

"No."

Everyone turned toward him.

"What do you mean?"

He pointed toward the crater.

"Look at it."

They did.

Then he continued:

"Whoever did this wasn't merely trying to destroy the empire."

"He wanted to erase its symbol."

Silence descended.

"Why?" someone asked.

Before anyone could answer—

Space above the crater began to distort.

Everyone's expressions changed.

"What is that?"

A gigantic spatial portal began to materialize.

But this time...

There was no aura of destruction.

Instead, a strange and oppressive presence emerged.

Heavy.

Ancient.

Majestic.

It felt as though something that had remained hidden beyond the passage of countless years had finally opened its eyes.

An old cultivator whispered:

"That's not an ordinary spatial portal."

Someone beside him asked:

"How can you tell?"

The elder stared at it.

"Because I can feel something behind it."

"What?"

The elder slowly raised his eyes.

"...A city."

Something enormous began to emerge from the portal.

At first, a tower appeared.

Then another.

Then walls.

Then towering spires.

Then an entire city.

Everyone's expressions changed.

The city was black, with deep violet lines running across its surface like veins filled with mysterious energy.

Its walls were not ordinary stone.

They were constructed from an incredibly dark material with a metallic sheen, covered in mysterious engravings that no one could decipher.

Its towers rose so high that some pierced the clouds.

Its streets were immense and meticulously arranged in a manner unlike any human city.

And at its heart stood an enormous structure.

A fortress.

Yet the word fortress seemed far too insignificant to describe it.

It was the Sovereign Citadel.

It towered above the entire city like its very heart.

Its black-violet towers stretched toward the heavens.

At its center stood a colossal tower crowned by a structure resembling a dark crown.

One of the experts stared in disbelief.

"That city..."

He couldn't finish his sentence.

Another elder whispered:

"I have never seen anything like it in my entire life."

A third spoke:

"This isn't an imperial city."

His companion looked at him.

"Then what is it?"

The elder answered quietly:

"...The capital of a civilization."

Abaddon began descending.

Slowly.

Without haste.

Yet every meter it descended caused the earth to tremble.

Then enormous structures resembling spider legs emerged from beneath the city.

They extended outward—

Then plunged deep into the earth.

BOOM!

The continent trembled.

Another descended.

BOOM!

Then another.

Until the entire city appeared to have anchored itself directly into the earth.

One observer whispered:

"It's securing itself."

Another shook his head.

"No... look at the inscriptions."

He leaned closer to the spiritual viewing artifact.

"They're absorbing energy from the earth."

His expression suddenly changed.

"It's... drawing spiritual energy from the surrounding region."

"Is that dangerous?" someone asked.

The man shook his head.

"I don't know."

Then he added quietly:

"And that is the most terrifying part."

Abaddon finally settled into place.

Then the Sovereign Citadel began descending.

When it emerged completely from the portal...

Silence fell.

Even the strongest observers found themselves unable to speak.

The fortress was colossal.

Its black-violet towers rose above the city.

Massive walls surrounded its central structure.

Its enormous gates were large enough for an entire army to pass through simultaneously.

Above the main entrance was a mysterious symbol whose meaning no one could understand.

One Immortal King stared at it.

"That symbol..."

Someone beside him asked:

"What about it?"

The Immortal King remained silent for a long moment.

"I don't know."

Then he fell silent again.

"But I feel as though I've seen it somewhere."

"Where?"

The Immortal King slowly raised his head.

"...In a dream."

No one laughed.

The Sovereign Citadel descended.

DOOOOOOM!

The earth trembled.

The spatial portal slowly began to close.

And the entire world continued staring at the newly arrived city.

Then—

A figure appeared above Abaddon.

Azrael.

He remained concealed, so no one recognized him.

He stood high in the sky, with Abaddon behind him.

Beneath his feet lay the former territory of the Rain Empire.

Azrael looked across the world.

Then he closed his eyes.

In the next instant...

His aura began to move.

The laws of existence trembled.

Energy gathered around his body.

Then he activated—

The Roar of Titans.

He had no intention of letting his voice reach merely one city.

Nor one empire.

He wanted it to reach the entire world.

Azrael unleashed his divinity through the technique.

Then he opened his mouth.

And roared.

"To every living being beneath these heavens..."

His voice spread across the continents.

Across mountains.

Across oceans.

Across forests.

Across cities.

Across sects.

Across empires.

Even in places whose inhabitants had never heard the voice of a foreign ruler for thousands of years, everyone suddenly stopped moving.

Then the voice continued:

"Today..."

"I am Azrael Netherval."

"Sovereign of the Supreme Council Clan."

The heavens trembled.

"Before the heavens and the earth..."

"I hereby announce the return of the Supreme Council Clan to this world."

In the Central Continent, an old man slowly stood.

"The Council..."

Elsewhere, an Emperor closed the book in his hands.

"A clan?"

In another distant region, a queen asked:

"I have never heard of such a name."

Her adviser replied:

"...And that is what frightens me."

Azrael continued:

"The Rain Empire..."

He paused.

Then looked down upon the land that had once belonged to it.

"Is now a thing of the past."

"Its territories now fall under the sovereignty of the Supreme Council Clan."

The great powers finally understood the meaning behind his words.

This was not merely an announcement of victory.

It was a declaration of ownership.

Azrael's voice rose once more:

"We seek recognition from no one."

"Nor do we await permission from anyone."

"And we shall bow to no authority."

Every word struck the hearts of rulers like a hammer.

Then he continued:

"From this day onward..."

"Abaddon's gates shall be open."

A faint violet radiance appeared above the city.

"To all who possess talent..."

"Ambition..."

"And the courage to walk the path of power."

Then came the words that caused countless great powers to change expression:

"Whether human..."

"Beast..."

"Or any other creature."

Azrael's voice changed.

It was no longer merely an announcement.

It became a promise.

A promise carrying a threat that needed no explanation.

"But remember..."

"Whoever enters Abaddon..."

He paused.

Then said:

"Enters beneath the banner of the Council."

Silence.

Then his voice rose once more.

"And whoever raises the banner of the Council..."

"Shall never allow it to bow."

Hearts trembled.

Then Azrael continued:

"From this day onward..."

"These lands shall no longer be without a master."

"From this day onward..."

"The heavens shall learn a new name."

Azrael paused.

Then his voice shook the continents.

"The Council."

The world fell silent.

Then came his final words:

"From this day onward..."

"A new era begins."

The voice faded.

But no one moved.

Across the Central Continent, countless rulers stared at Abaddon.

One finally spoke:

"...He has declared the establishment of a clan."

Another shook his head.

"No."

Everyone turned toward him.

He stared at the city.

"He has declared the arrival of a new power."

An elder spoke quietly:

"The question is not why he destroyed the Rain Empire."

Someone asked:

"Then what is the question?"

The elder raised his eyes toward Abaddon.

And said:

"The real question..."

"Is why he chose this place to begin."

No one answered.

Because the only conclusion they could reach was terrifying:

The Rain Empire was merely the first stone to fall.

And Abaddon...

had only just opened its gates.