Chapter 175 – Accepting Death

*thud*

Everyone was forced down to their knees as the aura from the Heavenly stage expert spread across the whole hall.

“This cannot be happening.”

Kail gritted through his teeth, desperately trying to stand back up. He could somewhat resist the soul power of the Saint stage experts due to his inherently strong body which had been nourished by his own soul power. However, it was no longer possible to resist against the might of a Heavenly stage cultivator solely with his body. 

“Un… cle… ”

Beads of sweat poured down Asra’s face, as he struggled to rise from the ground. Unlike the tower lords, Kail, and Avor who were on their knees, the rest of the teens were completely flat on the floor with no energy to muster.

They had been constantly fighting for hours and were drained of all their energy at the moment. Furthermore, knowing that their last enemy was a Heavenly stage expert, their minds began to drown in despair.

No no no no…

Calron’s heart started to race with panic, his face plastered to the cold floor next to Asra and Harol. The Patriarch was currently unconscious and no one knew how long it would take him to wake up.

His body was a wreck and his internal organs were probably damaged irreparably, but the thought of feeling so helpless once again in front of an enemy crushed Calron’s soul.

He did not want to see his friends die.

No, his family.

“Stay down!”

Kail roared as he managed to break free of Zarvel’s aura, and charged straight at the winged creature. 

Standing at a vertical height of over five meters, Zarvel prowled slowly towards where the tower lords were gathered. It was not certain whether or not he had noticed Kail, but Zarvel gave no indication of trying to dodge the twin-clawed man.

“RUAAAAHHHH!”

Kail bellowed, ma.s.sive surges of wild lightning coalesced around his scaled fists as he struck at Zarvel’s back.

The sound of a mini explosion rumbled within the hall, but when everyone looked closer at Zarvel’s back, there was not a single dent or rupture in his scales.

He was utterly unscathed.

“What!?”

Kail uttered in shock. He knew that he could not defeat Zarvel with a single strike, but to not even be able to damage one of his dark scales caused Kail to wallow in anguish.

“We should leave.”

Avor whispered quietly to Calron. Compared to everyone else, Avor seemed to be the least affected by Zarvel’s aura. It was understandable since he was not under the influence of the dark orb, and his soul power was not subdued.

“We can’t let them die.”

Calron replied, watching Zarvel indifferently slap Kail away from him. The winged creature’s goal was the death of the tower lords and not the others present in the hall. Once the lords were dead, the royal family would have no support and it would pave the way for Zarvel to take control of the entire city.

Avor stood silent, but the expression on his face conveyed that he wanted to take Calron and Roran out of the palace.

Kail crumpled on the ground when he landed, but Calron could detect that the man was still alive. However, a more pressing matter was taking place in front of everyone. Zarvel had finally reached one of the tower lords and was viciously staring down at the bloodied man.

It was the same tower lord who was gravely injured when Calron and the others entered the main hall.

“You’ll be the first.”

Zarvel grinned, rows of sharp teeth extruding out of his jaws as the weakened body of the tower lord rose up in the air and floated towards Zarvel.

“Dilon!”

Erten’s father cried out, his voice hoa.r.s.e with emotion. Dying at the hands of an enemy while in combat was a respectable death, being slaughtered like helpless cattle was not.

The other tower lords groaned in protest, but none of them could fight back. Without their Heavenly stage powers, the tower lords were akin to Vajra stage cultivators albeit with stronger bodies.

*crackle*

Bursts of tiny blue static lightning surged around Calron, enveloping his entire body.

I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die, but I cannot watch him ma.s.sacre everyone here.

Calron inwardly thought. After Zarvel killed the other tower lords, he would definitely come for the Patriarch and Calron would not let that happen.

“NO, big brother!”

Roran screamed from a few meters away, realizing what his brother was about to do. Roran was aware of the physical stress that the Azure Lightning put on Calron’s body and after recklessly using it earlier, he knew that Calron was severely injured.

*cough*

Calron spat out a mouthful of blood and started to slowly rise up from the floor. His deep azure eyes stared at the marble, reminiscing about his family and what his life would have been like had they been still alive.

Forgive me, mother and father… I wanted to live my life for you and to take revenge for your cruel deaths… but I cannot let these people die in front of me. Avi, I hope you never feel alone in this world… Goodbye.

Calron’s irises morphed into a bright grey color, indicating the activation of the Divine Perception.

Once his Dark Psylocker’s ability was triggered, the aura pressure from Zarvel was reduced significantly, letting Calron stand up on his feet with ease.

Calron knew that he did not have long to live, as his internal organs would fail after a few minutes. He could already feel his heart struggling to pump blood into his veins.

Ignite.

The small blue static lightning around Calron suddenly exploded into a storm of azure lightning, causing the sound of thunder to reverberate within the entire hall. 

“Big brother…”

Roran muttered with tears in his eyes while glancing at Calron’s figure. Everyone saw the mighty presence of lightning, but Roran could see only one thing in Calron’s grey eyes.

Death.

Sensing a person’s stare, Calron turned to look at Roran’s tearful face. How could his brother not know what he was about to do? 

Calron did not know what to say, so he simply smiled at Roran. He conveyed all of his feelings and emotions in that single smile.

“AAAARRRGGGHHH!!”

A scream of agony filled the hall, as Dilon’s body was being crushed in front of everyone’s eyes. The tower lord remained floating in the air, but an unforeseen force was gradually squeezing his body together. It was Zarvel’s soul power.

Calron pushed away all thoughts away from his mind and instantly rushed at Zarvel in a flash. A single bolt of Azure Lightning shot through the air towards Zarvel, as Calron hoped that it would distract the creature from killing the tower lord.

He would not make it in time to save Dilon.

“Hmm?”

Zarvel tilted his draconic head to the side, noticing an attack aimed at him.

“Pathetic.”

He stated in a dry voice and in the next moment, Dilon’s body was completely crushed to a pulp, his flesh and blood blasted onto the ground.

Shouts of fury and wailing could be heard, as everyone was stunned by the death of a tower lord in front of their eyes.

s.h.i.t!

Calron fumed at being too late.

“RUOOH!”

Zarvel cried out in fury the instant the Azure Lightning collided with his body. An area of dark scales on his side were ruptured and scorched while smoke rose from it.

“You little… ”

Zarvel roared, turning his attention to Calron. He was surprised by the fact that the boy’s attack could actually harm him.

A Vajra stage cultivator’s attack managed to pierce through his scales?

Impossible!

Calron’s body appeared mid-air, exactly above Zarvel, but his hands were not empty. There were two dark mini-crossbows with electric-blue bolts fixed onto each of his wrists.

“Go die.”

He yelled, and shot the azure crossbow bolts directly at Zarvel’s face.

Time froze to a standstill.

“I remember it was you who killed quite a few of my subordinates.”

Zarvel looked straight at the incoming bolts, but there was no hint of fear in his eyes.

“Boy…  do you know why Heavenly stage experts are feared?”

Zarvel whispered the two azure bolts about to near his skull.

*whooosh*

All of a sudden, a large purple sphere expanded outwards from Zarvel, enwrapping a radius of approximately ten meters.

The azure bolts wobbled in the air when they came in contact with the purple sphere before finally disintegrating into nothing.

“The Heavenly Domain… ”

Resir and a few other tower lords muttered when they saw the purple sphere. It was the symbol of power for a Heavenly stage expert.

“You thinking that you could defeat me was hopeless from the very start.”

Zarvel teleported himself in front of the astonished Calron and wrapped his tail around the teen’s neck.

“GAAAAHHH!”

Calron roared savagely, summoning as much of the Azure Lightning as he could to burn Zarvel’s tail. His neck was beginning to be choked by the monster.

“You must not be very intelligent. I just said… it’s hopeless.”

Zarvel smirked evilly, taking pleasure at the mournful expression on Calron’s face. Although the strange blue lightning surprised him, its power was too weak to contend against the might of a Heavenly stage expert.

What Zarvel did not know was that the Azure Lightning’s strength depended on Calron, so if the teen ever reached the same cultivation stage as him, then Calron would be able to effortlessly dominate him.

“NOOO!”

Roran and Linda screamed while charging towards Calron. However, they were barred by Zarvel’s Heavenly Domain.

“If we were not on the opposite sides, I would have liked to have a talented subordinate as yourself working under me.”

Zarvel spoke as his tail tightened around Calron’s neck. The teen’s skin was turning blue, as Calron began to suffocate and gasp for air. A small stream of blood trailed down from his mouth.

There were only a few seconds until all the air left Calron’s body, but it looked like he would die from his organ failure before suffocation.

Which would come first: organ failure or suffocation?

This is the saddest way to die… 

Calron wanted to laugh at his dark humor, but he had no more strength in his body. 

I never thought that my brother’s decedents would give up so easily.

A familiar voice rang inside Calron’s mind in his final moments before death, as the cry of a colossal dragon thundered outside, evaporating Zarvel’s Heavenly Domain.

The illusion of a fifty-meter-tall golden dragon formed above the main hall, its golden irises gazing warmly at Calron.