Prologue 2

Rellandus basks in the feeling of new power that is coursing through his being as a new Exalted Celestial.

A few moments later, he frowns in confusion as he looks up at the sky.

The thing that he expected to come has no signs of doing so; a tribulation.

"Haaaaa… It looks like the God Kings started moving too…" He sighs helplessly.

The absence of any form of tribulation makes him suspect four things.

One, the God King of his home is occupied fighting another God King and has no time to test him.

Two, his God King has left the realm which gave courage to another God King cultivator, the being he saw just a few moments ago, to assault his home.

Three, his God King detected his breakthrough but chose not to send a tribulation over.

And four, his God King is dead.

He scraps the latter suspicion because with his newly acquired senses as an Exalted Celestial, he can still feel his God King's energy still holding his homeland together stably.

The absent tribulation however offers him a benefit.

Him not undergoing it means he will be fresh to fight again.

*Tap*

*Tap*

Suddenly, he hears the sound of light footsteps behind him, startling him greatly, making him turn around quickly in apprehension.

"Damn it all…" He cannot help but curse seeing a red-skinned warrior just a few steps away from him, wearing a set of all-white armor and is holding an ordinary looking bow that is just as long as her height.

The woman's choice of weapon immediately tells him a possible identity of the cultivator.

"War does give birth to powerful people." The woman, who Rellandus is now sure was the God King cultivator he saw earlier, speaks.

Rellandus, while having just taken a step closer towards the top of the Cultivation World, knows that he is still powerless in front of a God King.

"God King Naena…" He can only greet the woman.

Internally however, he wants to curse, and even gets the urge to cry. He knows that he will not be spared and laments the sacrifices of Mecento and Carain that are about to be naught.

He is about to run but a huge pressure descends on him, rooting him in his place.

"I've just wiped-out thousands of your compatriot Celestials. No one escaped. Don't think you can too." Naena reveals, making Rellandus's stomach sink in hopelessness.

It has only been 36 mortal breaths since his compatriots fled the area after all; such a very short time for such destruction caused.

He also fears that the woman's actions not having consequences means that his God King is currently not in this realm.

"You must be Rellandus." Naena interrupts Rellandus's stray thoughts.

"Y-you know me." He asks in surprise.

In any other situation, he would feel honored to that his name is known by another God King aside from the one he serves.

"Vroalagg once spoke highly of you. A lowly Celestial…" Naena starts as he walks closer to Rellandus.

"But now that I'm seeing you with my own eyes, I have to say … You deserve to be recognized. You have not even lived a chaos cycle and yet, here you are, already a budding Exalted Celestial." She stops half an arm's length before Rellandus.

Rellandus wants to step away, but he cannot.

"How enviable…" Naena smiles sweetly.

"…" A drop of cold sweat runs down Rellandus's forehead.

"The God King Territories are full of cultivators like me…" He replies.

"And humble. Truly humble. Just like Vroalagg said." Naena nods in approval.

Oddly, Rellandus can feel that he will not be killed by the being in front of him.

"If you truly think highly of me, an enemy, then why am I still breathing?" He asks.

"I think you know why." Naena smirks.

"N-no. I don't." Rellandus denies in defiance.

"Loyalty at this point will serve you no good. Your master is outnumbered." Naena's smile disappears.

"Vroalagg is currently fighting ten God Kings, and his downfall--- … No." Her attention on Rellandus breaks for a moment, distracted as she looks the skies with a surprised gaze.

"T-ten." Rellandus's eyes widen.

While he has faith in Vroalagg, he is uncertain if his master is powerful enough to defeat ten other God Kings simultaneously.

"Rellandus… You hurt me with your lack of faith." To his surprise, a familiar voice rings out around him and Naena, followed by the appearance of the most powerful man he knows which the voice belongs to.

A dark-skinned man wearing a set of green crystalline armor with a long spear on his hand. God King Vroalagg: his master.

He is about to greet his master but the expression of anger in the man's face stops him.

This is the first time he is seeing his master in rage after all.

"This is low, Naena.", Vroalagg breaks Naena's hold on Rellandus.

"A God King, killing Celestials." He walks closer to Naena.

"MY Celestials!" He flares a thick amount of energy.

Energy that refreshes Rellandus, but makes Naena fall to her knees.

"V-vroalagg, you…" Naena is tongue-tied as she looks up at Vroalagg in fear.

"T-the others…"

"Are dead." Vroalagg confirms the archer's fears.

"Y-you should not be this powerful." Naena is in disbelief.

"Oh, but I am. No one remembers the last time I involved myself in your petty squabbles. It seems that you have all forgotten my power." Vroalagg leans closer to Naena.

"Kkkk.." The heavy feeling that forced Naena to her knees increases even further, choking her.

"N-no matter how powerful you are, you can't take us all." She still manages to smile defiantly however.

"You're right." Vroalagg's anger dissipates at this, making Naena feel relieved.

The next moment however, to her shock, Vroalagg thrusts his spear to her throat.

"You young thing. I may fall soon, but understand this. With the void full of selfish, self-interested beings like you, the God King Territories will annihilate itself not long after I'm gone." Vroalagg says before mercilessly twisting his spear, detaching Naena's head from her body.

The next moment, the energy in Naena's body and soul explodes out from her corpse, almost blinding Rellandus.

The blaring light does not last however as Vroalagg raises his hand and accumulates the escaping energy on his palm, and condenses it to an orb.

That orb is then stored by him to somewhere.

"Rellandus. Congratulations." He then turns to his disciple.

"Master." Rellandus greets, relieved to see that not only is his master alive, but is also much more powerful than he imagined.

That relief is short-lived however as he remembers his Master's words clearly.

"Master, what do you mean 'I may fall soon'?" He asks.

"Haaa…" Vroalagg sighs in defeat.

"'Soon' to us who lived very long, but for you, it is a distant future."

"…" Rellandus does not know what his master is talking about.

"You must be wondering why cultivators from all sides decided to attack us today? Do you know why cultivators from our home keep getting attacked outside?" Vroalagg asks Rellandus.

Rellandus shakes his head in response.

"Jealousy. Envy. Greed. There are many reasons. The others have quietly watched our realm for a long, long time. They've witnessed how our brothers and sisters, grew more powerful. Powerful enough that it takes ten of their cultivators to equal only one of ours." Vroalagg explains.

"T-that's…" Rellandus understands.

"But they are God Kings…" He cannot understand however why God Kings, beings who are supposed to have detached from the matters of lesser cultivators, are on the move.

"Even among God Kings, power is not equal. As you've figured by now, I've just killed eleven of them today. Every God King desires power and as long as that desire exists, no matter how powerful people become; they cannot escape their greedy natures.

"Something happened out there, and war is about to break out. Their urgent need for more power and resources finally released the greed they have long shackled and hid. They have come for what we have, for what I have."

Vroalagg points his forefinger to Rellandus's forehead.

Rellandus's vision darkens for a moment before a scene reveals itself to him.

An uncountable number of God King realms, razed, broken, many even lifeless, as hundreds of God Kings fight in the void.

Powerful beings he thought were permanent and nigh omnipotent, are dying left and right, producing even more deaths as collateral.

The vision ends at that and Rellandus returns in Vroalagg's presence.

"This is the state of the God King Territories?" Relladus asks shakily.

He has been too focused on training and cultivating and it has been quite a long time since he stepped out of his home realm.

The last time he travelled to other realms, and through the streams of the Void, he knew that the God King territories is not safe for anyone.

But for the territories to be like this is simply inconceivable.

"No. That is simply one of the many predictions I made in the past, of what is waiting for the Territories." Vroalagg reveals.

"How can we stop it?" Rellandus asks.

"It's too late." Vroalagg shakes his head in defeat.

"When that prediction still had a low probability, I tried to fight it, to reduce its probability even more. I tried to make many unlikely God Kings to become amicable with each other. But no matter what I did, I failed. I cannot change their conflicting natures. Every breath that passed, the probability of that prediction has grown until it became the inevitable future that awaits us all."

"…" Rellandus's heart feels heavy of the bleak news.