CHAPTER 174: | THE PURGE OF THE PREVIOUS KING

  ---

  "Hmm, how intriguing. I didn't expect that this lion is a nine-star variant," Alister said in an extremely calm manner, like he hadn't just pummeled the crystalline lion to death earlier.

  The beast's true form which was the massive cavern, still lay there, crystalline shards scattered like broken glass across the cavern floor, glinting faintly in the dim light with edges sharp enough to pierce through metal with ease, as the faint hum of the fleeing beasts residual mana gradually faded like a dying echo.

  "Huhuhu, how weird..." Alister eyed the system's notifications incoming at him as he waited for the title notification to appear, but saw none. And he unable to bear it couldn't help but mutter it coldly, repeating the thought like an echo in his mind. "How weird indeed... how could such a phenomenon happen?"

  Alister was intrigued at the fact that even though he had killed a stage-one nine-star variant, which was an emperor at stage one, yet to his dismay, he didn't obtain the title of the emperor slayer.

  Perhaps it may be that the demonic beast that he had killed this time, the sentient crystal entity shaped like a lion, had its star rating elevated by some external influence, thus it isn't recognized by the dimensional record to be a true emperor...

  From what Alister could recall in his vast library of knowledge, the possibility of this happening at stage zero was close to none, unless some external factors had forcefully elevated that demonic beast's star rating, which wasn't too far-fetched if you think about it, since Varuna himself had nearly created a monster capable of killing Ashin Sae Acoustine, though he himself Alister, had killed it in its premature state, which was a pity in itself since he couldn't see it in it's peak.

  The memory of that demonic beast, which resembled that of a kraken with it's leather tougher than renewed metal, brought a faint, bitter taste to his tongue, like an old lover that had been separated from him for thousands of years only to meet it as dust, just like the magic crystals all around the cavern, exploding only to leave a lingering residual of mana lingering to the air still vibrating subtly from time to time.

  But all hope isn't lost, since elevating one's racial race star rating would only be possible when a demonic beast at stage one would transition to stage two, as a stage-one tier-ten only then would it be possible to increase your race star rating and evolving it into a more powerful lineage of yourself.

  Though its drawback is that amassing quadrillions of experience points which in itself was records or maybe it's more than a couple of quadrillions to reach the maximum tier available at stage one is nearly impossible, unless one is a monstrous sovereign or a prodigious champion or perhaps an emperor, only them would it be possible to transition your race star rating into the nine-star, which Amara had done.

  The sheer scale of it made Alister's mind whirl, as the cool cavern air brushing his skin woke him up from his stupor. Then, looking at it again, Amara could be called the best example to this, since she was at the peak of tier ten before transitioning to stage two.

  So compared to her previous self that Alister could treat like a mere bug, Amara after her transition had become far more incomparable to her previous self, though not that formidable unless she had advanced to the zenith of the sovereigns at stage two, which should be impossible in such a short amount of time, since she herself wasn't a monster like Lumicor who could easily advance to that rank in a matter of years.

  Alister chuckled inwardly at the absurdity, the sound of his laughters echoing softly off the jagged, crystalline walls, it was a rare spark of amusement in his otherwise calculated thoughts, mingled with the distant crackle of settling shards and the faint, lingering buzz of dissipated energy.

  After already having figured out this strange phenomenon, Alister didn't dwell too much into this matter since he had already understood this strange mechanism of the dimensional record, and maybe he could use this strange mechanism himself to create his super soldier of ten thousand valkyries that is connected to his subconsciousness through his soul, to enhance their star rating every time his hands are free.

  Though he hadn't started the process of creating them, but in the near future Alister would create his personal servants. The idea lingered, like a mint running through his mouth as the faint vibration of the collapsing stone around him warned him of an impending danger.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Alister nodded his head at his brilliant idea, then pushed it to the back of his mind as he had to escape from the collapsing cavern, since his dome had been strained beyond its capacity.

  The air grew thicker with dust and crystalline powder, choking and gritty with a sharp, mineral tang that stung his eyes, as cracks spiderwebbed across the ceiling, sending more shards raining down like brittle hail, tinkling against the debris-littered floor.

  So he took a step as he fueled his [void step] with all of his mana, then like a void itself he vanished from the collapsing cavern, the roar of falling rocks and fracturing crystals fading into silence behind him.

  ---

  ~ ? ~ West of the Lahaina Empire — In the Conference Hall of the Peta Kingdom ~ ? ~

  In the conference hall of the Peta Kingdom, a holy place where all of the most distinguished noble ministers of the land gathered every single month in every year in the imperial calendar without delay, in order to uphold their duties to share their sagely wisdom to the development of the Peta Kingdom, but today was one of the rare occasions, as they stopped their conference in a moment of notice.

  The room's brimming with opulence, remained silent as the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling swayed slightly, casting flickering golden light that danced like nervous fireflies across the polished marble floors, the faint clink of crystal pendants adding to the sudden hush, the air heavy with the scent of aged wood and ink.

  This event had only happened once in their entire life as a minister, and it was now, as all of the ministers could feel something bloodthirsty waiting outside of the magnificent door that gatekept the entrance of this room, filled with knights whose skills are said to be capable of slaying a sovereign beast in an hour.

  The air hummed with tension, a faint metallic scent creeping in, like the prelude to a storm, thick and electric, making the hairs on their necks prickle.

  All of the men gathered today had the same thoughts, 'that an intruder coming this far was an impossible task,' so the ministers continued their discussions, for they knew the capabilities of the knights.

  But in the next second, that magnificent door laden with golds, silver, gems exploded into pieces, the blast echoing like a thunderclap, shards whistling through the air with a sharp whine that cut the silence.

  Some of its shards impaled the roundtable crafted from the finest jade while others stabbed through the walls of the room, as all of the ministers, not having the time to lament at the destruction of an impressive artwork that screamed of opulence, turned their attention at the two stunning women with silver hairs and blood-red pupils entering the room like it was their backyard.

  "T-these!!!" The prime minister shouted with rage as he smashed his hands into the already broken roundtable, breaking it further before he continued, "How dare these impudent wretches have the guts to intrude this holy place? Guards, arrest them!!!"

  To the prime minister's dismay, no, to all of the ministers present in the room's dismay, the sounds of the knights footsteps never came, no matter how long they've waited. Their faces twisted from confidence to fear, since how could they not fear these wretches in front of them when they were capable enough to incapacitate the knights gatekeeping this conference hall?

  And when these women had the identifiable appearance of the cultists of the Evernight Cult that had established their presence into their kingdom weeks prior through force. Sweat beaded on their brows, the room suddenly felt stifling, heavy with the scent of blood and the faint, acrid whiff of fear-urine and sweat mingling with the polished scent of the hall.

  The ministers, knowing that their death was imminent, couldn't help but sigh, since they were too young to die in this place. So all of them collectively turned their gaze to the prime minister, who was far more powerful than any of the men in the room, since he, the prime minister, was the right-hand man of the governor and the one who handles his dirty work, so how could he be weak?

  But as their fantasies of survival reached its zenith, Shuxie, irked at this scenery of cowardice, narrowed her gaze at the man in question as she used her newly obtained blood affinity to manipulate all of the blood cells in his head.

  Then, with a single thought from her, the prime minister's head exploded into pieces, a wet pop followed by the splatter of warm blood and brain tissues covering the ministers' faces, cementing their fear to be absolute.

  All of the ministers witnessing this scenery paled, then glared at Shuxie, who seemed like a devil at this moment, as all of them tried to run while others kneeled to the ground trying to beg for a chance to live. But before all of them could run.

  Shuxie in the other hand was disappointed at their reactions as she controlled their blood, then let their heads explode in a splendor of brain tissue and fragments of their skulls one by one, like she was playing with water balloons with her sister.

  Fenda, standing right next to Shuxie, let out a small sigh since she couldn't believe that her beloved sister was still inelegant as she used to be. It seems that their messiah's teachings just wouldn't get through to her stubborn sister's head no matter what she did, sighed in dissapointment, since Shuxie can't be elegant then let her be, and let her someone far more elegant clean this mess.

  Fenda reached her hand at the air as the blood all over the room condensed into a small droplet of blood that then settled at the bottom of the chalice that Fenda took interest from somewhere, as she swirled it, observing the murky blood swirling in them, something that couldn't compare to the clear wine of blood that their messiah loved to drink at every passing moment.

  Though unsatisfied, she took a sip from the glassware, the bitter, iron-rich taste coated her tongue like the foul memory, that she had experienced when those old bastards dared to stare at her in the Holy See so openly, it was a disgusting feeling lingering in her mind.