Observing through the small, cube-shaped magical object that Nathan had surreptitiously placed in the room, Aditya’s eyes narrowed at the sight of the enigmatic cloaked figure who had just made his entrance. An unsettling sense of familiarity gripped him, yet he couldn’t put his finger on why, especially since the stranger’s face and physique were obscured.

Not wasting any more time, Aditya initiated the teleportation array’s complex sequence of glyphs and sigils. In less than a minute, he found himself standing in the capital city of the Northern Frost Dragon Empire. Amber, Nathan, and the remaining members of the shadow guardians materialized alongside him, their faces etched with resolve.

Turning to Nathan, his voice took on a grave, formal tone, embodying the royal authority he held. “General Nathan, listen to my command. Return to the Dragon palace and convey my instructions to Prime Minister Spencer. I hereby decree that the Istarin troops are to be mobilized and transported to the capital through the teleportation arrays. Should any individual—be they civilian or otherwise—endeavor to obstruct our troops or impede their mission, they are to be dispatched without delay. Such are my royal orders. Execute them with the utmost urgency.”

Nathan stiffened at the formal command as Aditya has never commanded him in such tone. But from his tone he understood how serious the whole situation was. “Your Majesty, consider your command my top priority. I shall ensure that your orders are carried out to the letter.”

As Nathan vanished to carry out his orders, Aditya turned to Amber and the other shadow guardians. “You shall accompany me. We must capture that enigmatic figure.” Aditya had feeling that this mysterious man was an inner part of that organization, the one that the White Dragon king was a part of.

“Follow me,” Aditya commanded, leading the shadow guardians and Amber toward the church with unyielding determination in his eyes.

At the same time within the church, the enigmatic cloaked figure sensed a shift in the magical energies around them. His eyes narrowed, alert and discerning. Turning to Pope Alaric, he spoke gravely, “The Emperor of Istarin has arrived in the capital, and he’s not alone. He’s brought his elite troops. You should dispatch your own forces to intercept them.”

A calculating gaze entered Alaric’s eyes. Though filled with pride, he was no fool. “Do you really think my subordinates can delay them for any meaningful length of time? The Istarin troops are not to be underestimated.”

The mysterious man smirked beneath his hood and gestured for Alaric’s subordinates to come closer. “I have a way to bolster their capabilities, albeit temporarily.”

Before they could question what he meant, the cloaked figure swiftly produced small, two-inch-long worms from a hidden pocket. With an almost inhumane speed, he inserted the wriggling creatures into the ears of Alaric’s subordinates.

Ahhhh…..!!!!!

The reaction was instantaneous and gut-wrenching. The men and women screamed in agonizing pain as the worms burrowed into their ear canals. Their faces twisted in torment, hands clutching their heads as if trying to physically pull the pain out. Their shrieks filled the sacred halls of the church, casting an eerie pall over the already tension-filled atmosphere.

Alaric, though shocked, did not let his expression change much. “What are these creatures? And what have you done to my subordinates?” At this point, he didn’t cared if they died in front of his eyes. He asked because he was curious.

“They are a form of parasitic worms that will enhance your subordinates’ combat abilities for a short duration,” the cloaked man explained, maintaining his calm demeanor. “The pain is a small price to pay for the power they will temporarily possess. Sometimes, the ends justify the means.”

Still filled with pride but appreciating the gravity of the situation, Alaric nodded. “Very well. Let’s hope your…enhancements prove useful in stalling the Emperor and his troops.” The pope did not ask what would happen to them once the short boost in their power ends. What would happen to their bodies. He and the mysterious cloaked man just didn’t cared.

The mysterious figure inclined his head, his own plans unfathomable behind the veil of his hood. “Oh, they will. Of that, I assure you.”

–

–

Scene change_____

When Aditya, Amber, and their cadre of 500 elite Shadow Guardians arrived at the entrance of the church, they found their path obstructed by a veritable army. Nearly 5,000 church members stood defiantly before them, a motley assembly of different groups.

There were Holy Knights, their bodies encased in intricately designed full-body armor, each carrying an assortment of swords and greatswords that gleamed menacingly in the sunlight. Nuns, dressed in modest black garments, stood solemnly beside them, an air of divine righteousness radiating from their bodies.

But what truly caught Aditya’s and Amber’s attention was a small cluster of individuals who didn’t fit the mold of either Holy Knights or Nuns. This small group was comprised of 101 individuals, each one a Peak 5th-order Cultivator. The enormity of what this meant caused both Aditya and Amber to exchange glances, their eyes widening in a mixture of disbelief and dread.

For Aditya, the sight was staggering. Reaching the rank of a Peak 5th-order Cultivator was no small feat. It represented the absolute pinnacle of what was achievable for cultivators hailing from the six continents. The amount of resources, both material and mystical, required to elevate even a single individual to this exalted level was astronomical, enough to financially ruin a mid-tier empire.

Aditya felt extremely shocked. Here stood 101 such figures, all part of a church that wasn’t even a sovereign empire but an organization functioning within the borders of the Northern Frost Dragon Empire. To say that he was shocked would be an understatement. He was floored, flabbergasted, utterly stunned. It was as if someone had dropped a ton of bricks on his expectations and shattered them into tiny pieces.

Amber was equally stunned. She had faced formidable foes in her time, but this was an army that defied comprehension. It was akin to discovering an arsenal of nuclear weapons in the backyard of a supposed non-military entity. It shook the very foundations of what she believed to be possible.

With a resonating “Crack!” that sounded like the tearing of the very fabric of reality, crimson lightning erupted around Aditya. The atmosphere itself seemed to feel the tension, as the sky above the capital transformed. Once bright and sunny, it now became an ominous dark hanging as foreboding clouds converged, as if aligning themselves with the Dragon Monarch’s unyielding resolve.

Aditya grasped his black sword and took a step forward, “Amber, deal with the others. These Peak 5th-order cultivators are mine to handle.”

Had anyone dared to question Aditya, known as the Dragon Monarch, about whether he felt fear in facing 101 Peak 5th-order cultivators, especially given his own standing as a Peak 3rd-order, they would have been answered not with words but a smirk. A smirk that would speak volumes, a smirk that would say he feared no one, no matter how powerful.

While it’s true that Aditya was deeply shocked—floored, in fact, by the staggering number of Peak 5th-order cultivators standing against him—it didn’t translate to fear. If his Shadow Guardians had uncovered such a force within the church earlier, Aditya wouldn’t have wasted time revealing the church’s corrupt deeds to the public in a measured manner. No, he would have deemed the church as a ticking time bomb that needed defusing immediately—a malignant virus to be eradicated without delay from the Southern region.

Though he had no answers for how the church had amassed such a formidable force of Peak 5th-order cultivators, he suspected it had something to do with the enigmatic figure who had approached the Pope. An unknown variable who seemed to have shifted the equation altogether.

“High Cleric Harrison, servant of the church, bearer of divine authority, I tell you, Istarin Emperor, you’ve made a massive mistake,” began the man, his graying beard contrasting with the golden embroidery on his flowing white robes. His eyes, once calm and placid, now seethed with uncontained anger. “You have humiliated us. You’ve torn us down. And as long as we stand, as long as we breathe, we shall—”

He couldn’t even complete his sentence when a bolt of crimson lightning, as if summoned by some unseen hand, plummeted from the sky and struck him squarely on the head.

Bang!

Crack!

The heavens themselves seemed to respond to the drama unfolding below. The sky, already dark and ominous, began to shake and rumble as if angry gods were expressing their displeasure. Crimson lightning bolts began to swim in the dark clouds.

When everyone’s eyes darted back to where Aditya had been standing, they found nothing but empty air. He had vanished, as if he were never there in the first place, leaving only the charged atmosphere and the gathering storm clouds as proof of his presence.

“Search… Kill him…” The Peak 5th-order cultivators sprang into action, their eyes darting frantically in every direction, desperately trying to locate Aditya. But it was as if he had become a wisp of smoke, dissolved into the wind. No matter where they looked, no matter how keen their senses, they could not find a single trace of him. It was as if the earth had swallowed him up, leaving them grasping at straws, their expressions turning from shock to unease to outright dread.

Swooosh!!!!!

Crack!!!!

At this moment, Aditya had become so fast that even the Peak 5th-order cultivators couldn’t sense his presence. It was as if he had become one with the nature. He moved so fast that he easily broke the sound barrier of this world. The sound barrier of this world was many times higher than the sound barrier of Earth.

When Aditya disappeared everyone had cracking-boom sound the next second. But from Aditya’s perspective, as if time itself had slowed down. He was moving so fast that this moment that even the Peak 5th-order cultivators were moving as slow as turtles.

Swoosh!!!

Around a second later, Aditya returned to the place where he was standing originally. The 101 Peak 5th-order cultivators looked at Aditya. The next second, something happened that left everyone present in shock and in disbelief. One by one, the heads of the 101 Peak 5th-order cultivators began to fall to the ground. Even the cultivators whose heads were severed by Aditya stared at Aditya in disbelief as they slowly lost their consciousness.

Amber thought that now that she had reached Beginner 5th-order cultivation, she would be able to somewhat catch up to Aditya but now she was proved how wrong she was and how naively and how highly she was evaluating herself in comparison to Aditya. At this moment she knew that she was no where close to Aditya’s power level.

In the blink of an eye, Aditya reappeared at the same spot where he had been standing just a moment ago. The 101 Peak 5th-order cultivators who had been so keen on finding him, fixed their eyes upon him. Then, something almost incomprehensible happened. With a fluidity that defied the imagination and a speed that shattered the sound barrier of their world—which was exponentially higher than Earth’s sound barrier—the heads of all 101 cultivators dropped to the ground almost simultaneously.

For a split second, the air was thick with disbelief. Even the severed heads seemed to stare at Aditya, their eyes wide with a mixture of shock and awe, as the light of consciousness gradually dimmed from them.

The atmosphere was thick with a stunned silence. The sheer speed and precision of Aditya’s movements had stunned everyone. This man, who wasn’t even a 4th-order cultivator, had managed to slay 101 Peak 5th-order cultivators in what felt like less than two seconds. It was a feat that defied all logic and understanding.

The Shadow Guardians and General Amber, who had always been loyal to their Emperor, felt their blood boil with a thrilling excitement they had never experienced before. Their king had just performed a miraculous feat that would be talked about for generations to come. Although they knew that their Emperor was super strong, no one expected Aditya to be this strong. The current Aditya could kill even peak 5th-order cultivators like slaughtering pigs.

In stark contrast, the faces of the nuns and holy knights turned ashen. Deep shock settled into their eyes, which were now wide open in terror. The thought that had been lurking in the backs of their minds—that this might be a fight they couldn’t win—had just been brutally confirmed in the most horrifying way possible. Their bodies began to tremble uncontrollably, a cold chill running down their spines. Their mouths felt parched, as if they had been wandering through a desert for days. No amount of training or religious conviction could have prepared them for this moment. They were facing not just a powerful enemy, but what seemed to be an unstoppable force of nature. It was a sobering, terrifying realization that left them paralyzed, contemplating the reality they had refused to acknowledge: they were utterly powerless in the face of this man’s might.

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