Green energy streams erupted from Jesor's body, mingling with the blood that covered his chest and arms. His body was utterly exhausted, and his eyes shone with genuine shock.
He never expected that Diako… his old friend… had become so strong.
Jessur sat on the ground next to a destroyed house, while Diako stood on top of the rubble, looking at him with a cold, otherworldly smile.
On Diako's forehead shone the number nine, engraved with a layer of energy, symbolizing the power of his skill.
Jessor wondered to himself: How did his number rise so quickly? Years ago, he only had the number six…
Jessor said in a tired but sharp voice:
"Hmm… it seems you draw your strength from somewhere else, not from the Kingdom of Darkness."
Diako laughed sarcastically, then replied:
"And even if I did... the Dark Kingdom is on the verge of collapse. Zavlian is dead, and the king is ill... so I allied myself with the Poison Kingdom."
As soon as he finished speaking, pink petals scattered in the air, swirled around him quickly, and then attacked him.
From afar, Jessur's daughter appeared, observing the scene, her blood flowing from her wounds.
Diako said to her mockingly:
"Is this your strength?"
In one fell swoop, all the petals turned to dust.
He appeared behind her in an instant, grabbed her neck and lifted her up.
Jessur shouted:
"No!! Take anything… but leave my daughter alone!"
But Diako did not hesitate.
One blow... and he fell lifeless to the ground.
A black halo exploded around Jessur, swirling like live smoke.
Diako stepped back slightly and said:
"I see that the Dark King gave you his own aura… but that's useless. The King of the Poison Kingdom gave me the aura of snakes."
Dozens of energy snakes began to writhe around Diako's body, forming a shield.
Jessur lunged unconsciously, just like a wounded beast, his sword shooting out a green beam mixed with a black aura.
Diako said, as if explaining a lesson:
"When a fighter reaches a state of balance, he gains an aura… which is the most powerful force in the world. It can be converted into an attack or a defense, and even shared with others. In team fighting, the team gives its auras to its strongest member to create overwhelming power."
Gessor's beam collided with the snakes' shield.
The explosion roared, and the shield cracked until it was completely shattered.
Diako shouted angrily:
"Impossible! How could the Dark King's aura surpass the Poison King's aura?! He's just a doomed man!"
Diako was thrown backwards.
Jessur followed him in the air, but Diako wrapped his body in a blue light and delivered a powerful kick that knocked Jessur to the ground, scattering debris from the force of the impact.
Jessur stood up quickly, surrounded by a dark aura, his eyes radiating a grim anger.
Diako was on top of one of the buildings, surrounded by a halo of snakes, and blood was dripping from his shoulder.
Jessur pulled his sword back, and green energy flowed from it.
He said in a low voice:
"The knife beam."
The giant beam went out towards Diako.
The latter smiled and said:
"Heavenly Defense!"
A huge disc bearing the number nine appeared, and light spread throughout the place.
The attack collided with the defense, and the disc gradually crumbled… but Jessur's attack also ended.
Jessur did not wait, but rushed forward quickly.
A semi-transparent shield appeared around Diako, with the number nine shining in its center.
The shield deflected the successive blows… then pushed Jessur back forcefully.
As Jesur's aura weakened… he began to collapse to his knees.
Diako approached him, his face a mixture of regret and confusion.
Then… his memory drifted back to his childhood days.
To that child who was running after Jessur, holding a stick as if it were a sword…
To the nights when he sat in the rain while Jessur came and placed an old blanket over his shoulders…
To the sentence he never forgot:
"From today onwards... whatever you face, face it with me."
The present returned with cruelty.
Diako's face suddenly changed, and he said in a broken but decisive voice:
"Jesor… you were my brother. But you changed when you became a servant of the Dark King."
Diako raised his hand, and the aura of snakes began to gather, forming a dark ball in his palm.
He spoke in a low voice, filled with sorrow and sharpness:
"It's the end, my brother..."
As soon as he finished his words, he quickly lowered his hand, but before the ball reached Jessur, a sudden explosion occurred.
Diako stepped back, his eyes widening in surprise:
"What happened to Jessur?!"
Jessur slowly rose, the aura surrounding him even more intensely than before.
Diako stared at him in shock, and began to mutter to himself:
"Is this really Gessur? How did he suddenly become stronger? Was he hiding his strength?"
Suddenly, Diako heard a deep voice inside his heart:
"No... he wasn't hiding his strength. The person in front of you isn't the same person."
Diako froze in place, looking right and left for the owner of the voice, but to no avail.
Black spots began to appear on Jessur's body, and he started coughing violently as if he were dying.
He said in a broken voice:
"It seems my illness is still gnawing at me... even after I have been reincarnated in another body."
As he finished speaking, another explosion occurred next to Diako.
Diako emerged from the smoke, enveloped in his own aura, his cheeks marked with snake-like patterns.
He stood seven meters from Gessor and said with quiet sarcasm:
"Truly remarkable... even after being reincarnated in this new body, you are still ill. This confirms that you will die soon, and there is no cure for your illness, is there... O King of the Kingdom of Darkness?"
The king of darkness raised his head and said:
"This city belongs to my kingdom, the Kingdom of Darkness. I believe you owe me an explanation, King of the Kingdom of Poison."
The poison king laughed lightly:
"An explanation?! That's really funny. And by the way… when you use incarnation, the vessel gets the same disease. Even if you were a king, you wouldn't be able to resist it. So what if the vessel is just a person on the level of existence? You're always sacrificing your servants… and that's why I hate you."
The Dark King did not respond, and silence reigned for a few seconds…
Then, in a flash, a dark sword emerged from the aura surrounding him, and he held it firmly.
The Poison King did not hesitate, and he drew his own sword from the halo of snakes.
The Dark King said coldly:
"Although I don't usually use a sword... this is enough to kill you."
The king of poison smiled and said:
"Are you kidding me?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the Poison King set off towards the Dark King without any hesitation.
.....
Everyone slammed violently to the ground.
Qiandu got up first, muttering to himself:
"Damn it... I didn't know there were caves like these under the city. Does Diako know about them?"
Baran and Narvik stood up at the same moment, and Baran said:
"Oy Narvik, do you know what happened?"
Narvik answered without hesitation:
"Yes… when the giant hit the ground, it collapsed and we fell inside, but… we were transported to different places. Let's look for the Falcon Boy."
They ran forward. The caves formed a vast labyrinth, and the further they went, the more branches appeared.
Baran struck the walls with lightning to ensure he didn't go around in circles.
As for Diasso, he was running quickly through the corridors, saying to himself:
"When the earth shattered, I was flying with the wings of a falcon, but some force pulled me to this place… Could this be someone's grave at the level of Al-Matar?!"
Diaso finally reached a huge iron door.
He hesitated for a few seconds, then opened it.
When he looked inside… his eyes widened in surprise before a smile spread across his face.
The room resembled a fighting arena, and in the center stood the golem that Qiando had summoned earlier.
Diasso entered and got ready, then closed the door behind him, saying:
"Skill transformation!"
Feathers emerged from its back, larger wings formed, its eyes transformed into those of a hawk, and its feet were transformed into powerful claws.
The golem immediately rose and charged at him. Diaso grinned, and soared into the air, attacking.
Meanwhile, the labyrinth stretched endlessly.
Qiandu was running at full speed, entering cave after cave.
He stopped suddenly and said:
"The golems are fighting... Is it the Ice Lord? Or the Lightning? Or the traitorous Diaso?"
Then he frowned:
"That traitor... Diako found him in a village that had destroyed all its inhabitants. Even the skill of the falcon, Diako knelt before the Poison King to grant it to him, and in the end, he betrayed him. I must kill him."
He continued his advance into the maze.
Meanwhile, Baran and Narvik were running around looking for a way out.
And then, in an instant… Narvik disappeared.
Baran stopped, shocked, and said:
"Does this maze have consciousness? Or is someone controlling it? It's as if it's pushing us towards specific places…!"
While he was thinking, he suddenly moved to find himself in front of a huge gate, much larger than the one Diasso had found.
He did not hesitate. He gathered his energy and struck the gate with black lightning… but it was already open.
Baran entered and found a room filled with drawings and writings, and in the middle of it was a strange sword.
He moved towards it quickly and tried to pull it with all his might… but the sword did not move.
He tried repeatedly, to no avail.
He stepped back a little and began examining the drawings.
The drawings on the first wall showed eight clans, each clan drawn in a distinctive way, and all in large numbers… except for one clan which included only one man.
He looked at the second wall and found a depiction of the man facing the clans alone without fear.
Then the third wall: the beginning of the fighting between them.
The fourth wall: traces of a fierce battle, but without bloody details.
The fifth and sixth walls were completely destroyed.
Baran moved to the seventh wall, and there was an inscription on it that said:
"One man subdued everyone, made laws, and championed the oppressed… He is the first emperor."
As for the eighth wall, it was inscribed with:
"The first to establish laws and stop wars... the first emperor, nicknamed the Star-Slayer Emperor. The first law he enacted: prohibits the killing of kings."
Baran finished reading, and black lightning began to erupt from his body more violently, and a terrifying smile appeared on his face:
"I will kill a king... and shatter your ridiculous law, Star-Slayer Emperor."
Lightning bolts were falling around him as if they agreed with him.