Chapter 1577 – Death Enshrouds
Honorable Elder Julian Kruse and Honorable Elder Mihangel Evans froze on the spot as they saw the old lady who went by the t.i.tle Soul Empress Merlight when her name was Merlin Gracelight.
She was such a beautiful woman in her prime that it was told that she made half the world crazy for her.
Martial Overlord Stage Powerhouses could live for fifty thousand years, but this woman had lived for over seventy thousand years already at this point.
Nevertheless, they couldn"t understand. She remained unmarried, nor have they heard her having any descendants.
How could she have a son or a daughter, much less a grandson?
This old lady was said to be also part of the group that hunted down Soul Emperor Hadrian Cross. Now they understood why he managed to escape from the onslaught of four Soul Emperors. It was probably because of this woman who claimed Soul Emperor Hadrian Cross to be her grandson.
Quickly, Davis arrived inside the barrier.
He did not go completely near the grieving old lady but towered a few kilometers away from her. From the way she unleashed her soul force and caused thousands of people to die, he could perceive that she was unstable at the moment.
The atmosphere was eerily silent despite many people winding up dead, belonging to the Alstreim Family, including the other people who came to see the grand marriage. They could only hear the sounds of the old lady mourning as she laid her head on Soul Emperor Hadrian Cross"s bloodied chest, grieving for him as her body kept trembling.
Even the Poison Lord and Zlatan Family"s Patriarch stopped their attacks, wondering what this old lady would do as they seem to be calculating their moves. Nevertheless, with Isabella having an eye on them, they were hard-pressed to do anything.
Evelynn and the others were practically terrified for Davis, but they didn"t raise a voice, not intending to disturb him. They didn"t know if this old lady was truly hostile or not. They still didn"t know.
In all this confusion, it was a good while before the old lady raised her head to look at Davis, her face covered in Soul Emperor Hadrian"s blood.
"Are you... the one who killed my grandson?"
Davis"s brows furrowed, "Old lady, you just killed thousands of innocent people. If I"m not wrong, your from the Soul Palace, right? I"ve never heard of Soul Emperor Hadrian Cross having a grandmother as he was said to be an orphan, then that means you had been hiding that fac-!"
"Whizzz!~*
"Davis!!!"
A panicked voice echoed from above while Davis felt death approaching him when an incredible pressure of soul force descended on him, trying to snuff out his soul in a single wave. It was extremely fast, unable to be defended against but could only be met at the point of contact in the soul sea where it would be already too late to suppress its momentum.
*Boom!~*
Abruptly, the dragon-scale patterned ring over his finger glowed with a brownish-golden light, causing him to be covered by a similarly cloaked veil that defended against the soul attack that came at him with the intent to kill.
Davis"s face remained expressionless as he looked at the old lady.
She was not someone he could kill as that would cost him a heavy price. He was hoping to talk it out with her, but without even saying anything, she attacked him, almost killing him in the process if it weren"t for Scala.
Indeed, it was none other than Scala, the Peak-Level Emperor Grade Defensive Artifact, a life-saving treasure that would activate upon when his life is in danger.
Without it, he wouldn"t have gone near this unstable Peak-Level Emperor Soul Stage Soul Emperor as it was a no-brainer that he would be courting death.
"Seems like you truly want to die..."
Davis spoke, no longer bothering about the heavy price he has to pay. However, he would truly go unconscious if he were to take this woman down at this moment on top of using it against the Soul Emperor.
Old Lady Merlight raised her hand, pointing at Davis.
*Whizz!~*
This time, Davis clearly saw it.
A gleaming light needle that radiated an ardent might formed before the tip of her finger, causing his pupils to dilate. It held an extreme intent to whitewash anything into pure white, twisting it into mindless annihilation. The intricacies behind that attack made him tremble while, at the same time, inspiration rushed into his mind.
However, it was all irrelevant as his life would end the next second if Scala became unable to hold against the attack.
"Dragon Soul!!!"
*ROAR!~~~*
The image of an Earth Dragon appeared above the old lady as it momentarily shook her off her killing rampage, making her blink at the figure who appeared in front of Davis before she shrieked.
"Old wench, are you out of your mind!?"
Isabella possessed an enraged expression, looking as if she demanded an explanation or else wouldn"t leave her alive.
Within the time frame of two seconds from the initial attack to this, Isabella arrived. On the other hand, all the other powerhouses stayed where they were and even slightly retreated as they saw Old Lady Merlight"s frigid expression that bordered on insanity.
Only after Isabella disrupted her attack before it could manifest did they remain, wanting to know the outcome.
Nevertheless, Old Lady Merlight was just shaken by the aura of Isabella"s Dragon Soul that was at the Supreme Soul Stage level but made her a bit rattled. However, it really didn"t harm her other than weighing immense pressure on her that made her unable to use her technique as though she was being disturbed.
Such a unique soul aura usually would"ve made her shocked, but it instead made her harrumph in rage.
"Hmph! You"re a woman who inherited a dragon"s soul from a remnant tomb or an Immortal Inheritance? Unfortunately, you have yet to improve your Soul Forging Cultivation for it to truly affect me."
Isabella still trembled in anger as she knew that was the case. However, before she could reply, another enraged shout rang out.
"Soul Empress Merlight! What is the meaning of this!?"
It was none other than Honorable Elder Julian Kruse.
Despite being a Mid-Level Law Rune Stage Powerhouse, he courageously asked the Peak-Level Emperor Soul Stage Soul Empress!
Old Lady Merlight raised her head and saw the elder from the Heaven Gazing Sect. Her expression became hideous.
"You all ganged up on my grandson for merely embezzling and manipulating some organizations and people when so many are doing it in plain sight! My grandson was right, the righteous path is truly hypocritical...! I was blind to have not seen this and aided that old fart Yorhan in hunting my grandson down! Instead, I should"ve defected with my grandson to the wicked path as he wished!"
She shrieked as hatred began to appear in her eyes.
"Old Lady Merlight! Have you gone insane!?"
The Zlatan Family Patriarch bellowed, his domineering pressure bearing down on Old Lady Merlight.
Why was this decrepit old woman screaming nonsense at this point when she was near to death?
Couldn"t she just mourn her evil grandson"s death and be done with it?
"The wicked path gladly accepts you, Soul Empress Merlight."
But, the Poison Lord smiled as he gestured. His essence energy undulations shot out, canceling Zlatan Family Patriarch"s martial might.
The Zlatan Family Patriarch shot a look at the Poison Lord in displeasure, causing the latter to smile with a mocking expression on his face towards him.
However, Old Lady Merlight didn"t seem to bother about them. Instead, she increasingly trembled, looking as if she was about to erupt.
"That old fart even blamed that my grandson stole from our Soul Palace"s Treasury. I came to know it was all lies after my grandson found a safe place and recovered. It was a good thing that I decided to aid him to escape that day, but now..."
However, her trembling body stopped shaking while she turned her head to look at her grandson"s unrecognizable body with a sorrowful look on her face.
Indeed, she came to meet with Soul Emperor Hadrian Cross as she received the news that he finally recovered today, but she then said something about a grand wedding between two Ninth Stage Powerhouses was taking place nearby during a casual talk while convincing him to not do immoral deeds.
However, her grandson suddenly stood up, told her to wait, and went out.
She didn"t know that he went to investigate, only to end up finding Ancestor Tirea Snow was getting married to Ancestor Dian Alstreim, which made him truly enraged and crash the marriage.
She didn"t know that any of that.
While she was waiting, she suddenly felt a sense of unease for the time he was taking to return and went to look out for him, only to see the bloodied corpse of her grandson in this Grand Alstreim City.
At that moment, her heart shattered, and she sought nothing but vengeance from this moment on the world that constantly chased down her grandson.
When her grandson was dead, for what reason would she even want to live her remaining few centuries of life?
It didn"t matter anymore.
All that matters is to bring ruin to the people who caused his death.
Her tranquil body began to tremble again, her wrinkled face becoming full of hatred.
"The Four Great Dragon Families, Heaven Gazing Sect, Heaven Mandate Temple... mark my words. You are all my enemies from this moment. There will never be peace within the Territories of the Four Great Righteous Sects from now on! You will all watch as your youths die mysteriously!"
"You dare!?"
"How ridiculous!"
"Excellent!!!"
While the Poison Lord appeared excited, the Zlatan Family Patriarch and Honorable Elder Julian Kruse bellowed with fury.
Still, Soul Empress Merlight didn"t pay heed to any of their words as she raised her hand.
"Since my grandson died here through unknown means, everyone can accompany him."
Resplendent light erupted from her body, covering hundreds of kilometers in an instant!
Isabella"s eyes sharply narrowed as she released her own Perfect Martial Domain, Dragon Soul, and even burned her blood essence in response, suppressing the other party"s soul domain.
However, Soul Empress Merlight appeared indifferent as her eyes began to turn bloodshot. It looked as if she suffered from something, but her Soul Domain instantly became more powerful and widened even more, almost covering the entire Grand Alstreim City!
"Wait!!!"
Isabella shot towards Soul Empress Merlight as her scalp turned numb. Even with her Perfect Martial Domain, burning her blood essence along with her Dragon Soul, she was unable to suppress this person"s Soul Domain to the entirety.
Its aura was like an empress"s, ruling above all and even towering above her own. It could be discerned that Soul Empress Merlight was possibly burning her own soul essence to fulfill her vengeance.
Isabella could suppress most of her soul domain, but people would still die as she wasn"t able to completely suppress it. Its prowess decreased, but only by a level or so.
Was that enough for the others to remain unharmed?
"Wait! I was the one who killed your grandson!!!"
Davis bellowed, looking entirely desperate as Isabella.
"It doesn"t matter."
Soul Empress Merlight"s eyes widened, but her lips calmly moved as if she didn"t such a weak person could kill her grandson, "My grandson died in this soil, so it is only proper that everyone in this soil accompanies him to the reincarnation cycle, including you."
Davis"s expression became hideous, feeling time running out.
Everyone in this Soul Domain could feel their deaths imminent, their hearts clenching in abrupt terror.
Davis looked toward the distance, on a certain building where a purple-robed woman simply smiled while tears shed down her face.
This woman always had his eyes on him during the entire scenario as his wives.
Immense pain welled up in his heart as he realized that she was going to die as well, but she didn"t seem unhappy about it, possibly because she spent some time with him these few days.
*Bang!~*
The Poison Lord and Zlatan Family"s Patriarch launched their attacks against the barrier, intending to gain the advantage as if they wanted to join the fun or fulfill their own agenda. The barrier didn"t even hold for a second as it shattered. From the two places the holes were made, the city-wide barrier dispersed as though it became a receding tide.
Davis could only witness this scene in incredulity as he gazed at Tina Roxley in the distance.
It was as if the world was on its way to ruin right in front of his eyes. He turned his head to look at Evelynn and the others, knowing that at least Evelynn would survive this ordeal as she had a similar life-saving artifact on her, but what about the others?
"Ah~"
His lips moved as he chuckled.
"Ahahahahah!"
Suddenly, he started laughing out loud right in front of everyone"s eyes that became dubious.
Despite being suppressed by Soul Empress Merlight"s Soul Domain, Davis could only feel little danger to his life as he still had Scala"s defensive prowess.
What did it mean?
It certainly meant that he could escape, Isabella could escape, but the little bit of danger didn"t account for something else, something he came to value more than his life with the time he spent with them.
"Ahahahaha!!!"
He kept laughing like a madman before he fell on all fours in mid-air.
*Splat!~*
Blood spurted out of his seven orifices, splas.h.i.+ng as it had burst out. His eye sockets exploded while his forehead split apart over the glabella, revealing his soul sea fluctuation as it became even visible to the common eyes, except no one was able to observe.
"AHAHAHAHA!!!!"
However, Davis still laughed, kept laughing like an utter madman while his family members who noticed appeared aghast to his abnormality.
Soul Empress Merlight collapsed on the surface, right above her grandson"s bloodied corpse. Isabella couldn"t help but be stunned as she felt no resistance whatsoever as her domain almost crushed her if she didn"t retract it.
Not only her, everyone looked at Soul Empress Merlight in trepidation, wondering why she collapsed when a resounding thud echoed.
They turned to look at the source of the sound, recognizing it was none other than a Poison Lord Villa Cultivator"s body crashed on the surface as blood splashed, appearing almost as if he had fallen to his death!
*THUD!~*
*THUD!~*
*THUD!~*
Almost everyone above began to fall, their bodies plunging from the skies as they crashed right onto the surface.
The Poison Mistress, Poison Lord, Zlatan Family"s Patriarch, the three Dragon Families" Grand Elders. Blood splashed from their bodies as they all crashed to the ground, but they didn"t seem to make any moves, remaining motionless while their bloodshot eyes appeared dull.
Everyone left alive couldn"t believe what their eyes were seeing.
Dead...
It looked as if they were all dead!
"Noooo!!!~~~"
However, a wailing voice echoed at this moment, garnering their attention as they swiveled their heads, turning to look at Isabella, who shrieked in a grieving manner.
Isabella held Davis with her hands as she captured him from falling like everyone else. However...
She absolutely couldn"t sense any kind of undulations from him, not even his vitality!
Evelynn and the others had their eyes wide in incredulity as they heard her cry.
*Thump!~*
Tumultuous waves of dread swept their hearts, making their heartbeats rapidly speed up while they felt their minds tremble, making them dizzier by the second.
Looking at the unmoving Davis held by Isabella, who began to cry as she kept trembling restlessly, they all couldn"t help but scream and rush towards him with no concern for their lives.