NOVEL NEXT Chapter439-The Sacred Sword That Pierces the Void
Above Silver City.
Nine sacred colossal dragons—each different in form, vast enough to blot out the heavens—pulled the resplendent imperial chariot and hovered quietly above the city's dome.
Their scales shimmered with the luster of stars, flame, frost, and thunder. With each slow unfurling of their wings, the very Laws hummed in submission.
Streams of golden radiance spread like long rivers into Silver City, and billions of citizens lifted their faces to the sky.
As the nine dragons stepped forward, flowers of truth suddenly blossomed across the firmament, and a hazy, rosy glow bathed everything below.
Even experts of Stillness Sage's and Starbound Savant's caliber were tense—excited, yet nervous.
As for Tredy, Joshua, and the surrendered officials, their hearts were even tighter with anxiety.
Roar—roar—roar!
The nine sacred beasts bellowed.
With a thunderous crash, the soldiers inside the city dropped to their knees in perfect unison.
Billions of citizens followed, kneeling as well.
Beyond the divine city, countless subjects from the surrounding territories also knelt.
Before the Silver Sorcery Palace, Suggwoth, Ares, Harry, and the others all went down on one knee, clasped their fists, bowed, and prostrated themselves.
"Suggwoth greets Your Majesty!"
"Ares greets Your Majesty…"
"…"
From within the imperial chariot poured an incomparable, supreme nobility.
A heavy, star-like majesty spread outward, shaking the souls of those kneeling.
Silver City's residents did not even dare raise their heads to look straight up.
The sheer pressure of nine dragons together already made their spirits tremble—how could they possibly imagine the imperial might of the sovereign seated above them?
One reclusive Divine Radiant after another watched with bated breath.
Frostveil Sage arrived outside Silver City with Elori in tow.
Powerhouses of every faction fixed their eyes on this unprecedented spectacle.
Even the experts of the Judicatory Sanctum, the Ossuary Court, and the Council of the Dark Order were secretly peering in from the shadows.
To truly understand the Crossbridge Empire, one had to first understand Aurek.
On the imperial chariot.
Aurek looked down at Silver City. Seeing the countless beings prostrated below, his eyes did not ripple in the slightest.
The curtain was raised high.
He rose and stepped out of the imperial chariot, standing in the high sky, one hand resting on the Emperor's Scepter.
Beneath the dazzling crown, his sharp eyes swept the world—his presence utterly crushing even the nine dragons behind him.
In that instant, even Divine Radiant powerhouses standing far above the clouds—Lord of Sacred Light, Prologue Sage, and the rest—had their minds shaken by that pressure, as if even the will to resist had been frozen solid.
"This… this is the emperor of the Crossbridge Empire… Aurek?"
Outside the city, Elori stared up at the towering figure who stood before the nine dragons.
When she saw that angular, awe-inspiring face—so majestic, yet shockingly young—her mind went blank.
So young.
That was the only thought left in her.
In the face of such absolute imperial might, the word felt pitifully pale.
She could not imagine an emperor who, in just two or three years, had raised more than a billion God General– and True God–rank legions, and could command nine ancient dragons.
A peerless powerhouse who surpassed the Divine Oracle.
A figure whose arrival could shake the entire Abyssal Demon Realm—
—and yet he was this young.
The life aura he emanated was vibrant and effortless. He was undeniably only in his twenties!
At that age, others were still struggling to advance, striving to become strong, still relying on the shelter of their factions as they roamed the world in high spirits.
And Aurek had already forged an empire that did not lose to a Divine Empire!
He stood at the pinnacle of authority and power—riding dragons, towering above countless experts who could only look up.
Frostveil Sage fell into a long silence.
"Emperor Aurek… master of the Eura Continent… at last, we've seen him."
Dorrak, Standale, and the others watched in a daze.
With a single glance, they understood—
This was a true emperor.
A man who commanded dragons and an empire, standing at the summit of all things.
"Aurek!"
"The Crossbridge sovereign—!"
"The radiance on him… it's brighter than the stars that fill the sky! No—those nine dragons are nothing more than backdrop to his glory!"
Prologue Sage exclaimed, his voice hoarse.
The Divine Radiant experts beside him silently agreed, unable to summon even the faintest desire to compare themselves.
"So this is what it means… when an emperor comes in person."
Lord of Sacred Light stared at that majestic figure, and at the sacred pageantry behind him—nine dragons, billions of people kneeling.
Though everything about Aurek was veiled, leaving him unable to probe even a fraction…
Within those keen eyes, he saw the ambition and will of a true ruler.
Gustav? Putt?
They did not possess even one ten-thousandth of such will.
When that gaze touched this world… perhaps the real war would begin.
Sword of Order Hayden felt it deeply as well—so deeply that a chill ran through him.
The Council of the Dark Order had gained an unprecedented enemy.
Before the battle even began, Kylian—and even those Divine Radiant powerhouses—were already uneasy.
Because the weight of this emperor was terrifying.
Even a single sentence from him carried incomparable force.
A single word was a torrent of power formed by more than a billion God General– and True God–rank soldiers.
Aurek took one step forward, and beneath his feet a rainbow-hued celestial stairway formed by itself.
His imperial robe snapped in the wind like a war banner.
He was like a supreme God King, approaching under the guard of ancient dragons.
He descended before the Silver Sorcery Palace.
"Rise, my people."
Aurek's voice was not loud, yet the laws of kingship woven within it permitted no defiance.
"We are at Your service, Your Majesty!"
Suggwoth and the others rose.
At the same time, the soldiers within Silver City stood as well, and the movement carried through the billions of citizens—an overwhelming surge of momentum.
Everyone stopped what they were doing. As if by silent agreement, all eyes fixed upon the legendary tableau before the palace: the sovereign and the nine dragons.
Stillness Sage and Starbound Savant rose and looked over.
Even at this close distance, they could not see through Aurek in the slightest.
Yet the kingship—fused with draconic might—made even ancient Divine Radiant experts feel a bone-deep dread born from the very hierarchy of life.
Tredy, Joshua, and the others were even more shaken.
Even the White Lady's eyes were filled with an indescribably complex emotion.
"Your Majesty! The imperial residence has been prepared."
Angie stepped forward and bowed as she reported.
Aurek glanced over Stillness Sage, Starbound Savant, Joshua, and the others, then turned with scepter in hand, facing the endless sky beyond Silver City.
"Since I have already arrived… let this world witness the empire's blade."
Boom—!
Above Starlight Valley, one of the seven districts of Saint Solen City, the sky suddenly split open.
The dwarves' pocket world shattered along with it.
Threads of golden swordlight pierced the heavens, flying into the outer starfield, slicing massive ancient satellites cleanly in two.
Peerless sword intent spread through the stars.
The order of the world itself seemed disturbed, triggering void collapse.
One earth-shaking bolt of law-born divine thunder after another poured down from the broken void, relentlessly crashing into Starlight Valley.
Bang!
Bang—bang!
The explosions shook heaven and earth—the whole world trembled.
Many nearby experts were stirred and tried to approach to see what was happening.
However, countless God General– and True God–rank soldiers sealed off the entire surrounding area.
Natasha and Cyriel stood outside the valley.
Within it, the Ashen Lord and three other Divine Radiant powerhouses joined forces, using a forged golden greatsword to resist the law-born thunder of destruction.
They were using the divine thunder to engrave patterns of lightning laws!