Chapter 1263: So, This Is War

"How is this barrier so powerful?" The Yin Ghost stared in a fluster, watching the two Demons beside it slam attacks onto the barrier unceasingly.

It was unable to endure this sense of suspense, watching its Lord within the barrier, causally sleeping, at times scratching itself.

It tried to communicate, but noticed through its exceptional senses that it was impossible. For mysterious reasons, it seemed that its Lord was cut off from the world. "That makes sense why I haven't been able to feel anything from my Lord even though I could feel his presence within the Imperial Palace."

"This is taking too much time," it muttered, firming itself as it siphoned out a lot of ghost fires from its body and condensed it on its palm, turning it purple as it placed it on the barrier, instantly causing countless ripples to form on it.

The purple hue then spread through the barrier, releasing a lot of purple mist as its palm began to slowly sink into the barrier. However, it also noticed the barrier draw out power from the ground to quickly mend itself.

"Get...destroyed!"

It opened its beak, unleashing a roar as the ghost fires swirled into it, condensing into a sphere before blasting off into the barrier like a breath attack, instantly puncturing a hole through it. Its power had surpassed the natural repairing capacity of the barrier, causing it to shatter.

"What...what is this?" The Yin Ghost slumped to the ground in shock, unable to handle the emotional outburst as it noticed that there was nothing on the other side of the barrier. There was no trace of its Lord anymore. Its presence had disappeared as if it no longer existed.

"My Lord! Lord! Please answer me! Where are you?" the Yin Ghost screamed until its throat hurt, unable to handle it anymore as it began to weep, finally realizing something...

Its Lord had been killed long ago. And the presence it felt was only the lingering presence of its Lord that had been maintained here through mystical means.

"I... was late. Forgive me, my Lord," the Yin Ghost screamed in remorse.

"Get up," one of the Demons near it said solemnly. "Enemies inbound. And they're strong!"

"I'll kill them all!" The Yin Ghost stood up in rage, watching the figure of the Emperor, Wang Hao, and a bunch of Imperial Meisters rush into the cavern.

Immediately, a battle erupted between the two parties. And surprisingly, the Yin Ghost was actually stronger than Han. After all, it was a legendary Yin Beast that had been condensing its power since the founding of the Empire.

Unlike the Yin Dragon, its power was accumulation-based, depending on the quantity of ghost fires that it had. Even though it had used up a lot of them, it still possessed enough, putting up a tough fight.

Two minutes into the battle, five Imperial Meisters died. After all, they were facing against a legendary Yin Beast and two Demons.

Even though they were young Demons, thanks to the chaos wreaked in the capital by the thirty Nightmares, there was a vast amount of negative emotions in the air that they absorbed like a sponge, rapidly growing in strength.

On top of that, the Emperor and group had been battling the thirty Nightmares and had just managed to kill them, having used up a lot of their power. So, casualties piled up on their side quickly.

...

"Han!" Su Daiyu screamed like a banshee, seeing her beloved being killed by Krune. She exploded her Imperial Arms, using the generated power to critically wound Chen Xue, sending her flying away as she rushed towards Krune in an effort to destroy him.

"So, the daughter plans to kill me a second time?" Krune stared at her, letting out a wry smile, clutching his shattered right hand.

For a moment, her rage vanished as Su Daiyu felt an odd sense of déjà vu, recalling the statement her father, Su Zixin, had uttered right when she used a Demon Arms to forcefully take control of his Imperial Arms.

Though, it had only been for a moment before her expression hardened as she condensed all her power to destroy Krune.

Unfortunately for her, a massive Cloud Whale flickered into existence before her, impaling her with its horn before unleashing an Air Needle, puncturing through her body.

Accompanying it was a rain of lightning bolts, slamming her into the ground as the force of gravity on her amplified, preventing her from moving.

Slowly, Krune arrived before her, holding the Star Hammer with his left hand, noticing the sense of hesitation in him as his hands shivered. 'No, she's not your daughter. Not anymore. She caused the sufferings of countless people.'

He then lifted his Star Hammer, causing it to flicker with a tremendous amount of power as countless bolts of lightning landed on it, empowering it before its radiance vanished. Suddenly, it was suffused with a suffocating might, exuding enough weight to shatter a hill as Krune brought the hammer down. "Goodbye, Su Daiyu. Father has neglected your well-being."

"You... who are you?" Su Daiyu stared at the approaching hammer as her face slowly turned serene, accepting her fate.

Bam!

...

"Huff...huff! Hah...haaah!" Wang Hao gasped for breath as he lay at a corner of the cavern, his limbs severed, exhausted. Surrounding him was a pool of blood of both the humans and the Demons.

The Yin Ghost's head lay before him, sporting a baleful expression, unwilling to leave without avenging its Lord.

It was a brutal annihilation on both sides.

The Yin Ghost and the two Demons had been killed.

However, their side lost all the Imperial Meisters. The Emperor had also breathed his last, having overexerted himself to defend against the Yin Ghost's breath attack that it had unleashed using all the ghost fires that it had condensed.

Wang Hao was the sole survivor as he grunted, laying still, closing his eyes as he sensed his limbs regrowing, albeit at a snail's pace.

There was a flurry of footsteps as a couple of princesses that had been ordered to guard another location arrived, exhausted, having just won their respective battles. Upon seeing the desolate scene, as well as the corpse of their Emperor that was missing his head, they collapsed to the ground, screaming, "Dad!"

Suddenly, a resounding siren blazed throughout the Empire, signaling their victory. Hearing it, Wang Hao sighed as he muttered, "There's no joy of victory. Only sadness of the loss of loved ones prevails. So..."

"This is war."