Although Kaelith could have erased Su Pei with nothing more than a stray thought, he chose not to, allowing the Cult Monarch to ascend through the suffocating pressure with dignity, as he watched in silence until Su Pei reached his altitude before speaking.
"Do you know why I am here, child?"
Kaelith asked calmly, his tone devoid of urgency, as if they were two old acquaintances eting beneath peaceful skies rather than enemies suspended above a trembling planet.
*Scoff*
Su Pei scoffed lightly, though the strain in his breathing betrayed the imnse force pressing down upon him.
"I do not, Eternal Sovereign. But unless you're here for a glass of lemonade or a cup of hot tea, anything beyond that is outside my scope of hospitality."
He replied dryly, gripping the hilt of his sword to steady the tremor in his fingers, as Kaelith's lips curved into a faint chuckle.
"Humorous even in the face of death... You are a true warrior.
As expected of a Cult Monarch."
Kaelith said, raising his hands in slow, deliberate applause, the sound of his polite clapping echoing unnaturally loud in the oppressive stillness.
"So... shall we begin?" Su Pei asked, drawing his blade fully now as its edge shimred with Monarch-tier mana.
"I've always wanted to fight a God.
So I suppose today I finally get to fulfill that wish."
He said, as Kaelith lifted a single finger in response, gesturing lazily for him to lower his weapon.
"You are not worthy enough to fight , child. I could kill you with a blink."
His voice remained asured, almost bored.
"However... you can still serve a purpose. Tell where Skyshard and his family are, and I will grant you a painless death."
The offer hung between them like a blade.
Sweat rolled down Su Pei's temple despite the cold wind, because he knew the Eternal Sovereign spoke the truth.
Death would co instantly if Kaelith wished it.
Yet, despite facing doom, he did not let fear loosen his tongue.
"I see now where Raymond inherited his delusion," Su Pei replied,
forcing a grin through clenched teeth.
"You called a true warrior monts ago, and yet you expect to betray my master for a comfortable death?
Hahaha... You are a fool, Eternal Sovereign.
A fool who raised a narcissistic son."
He jibed, as Kaelith's expression darkened. *Clench*
Tightening his wrists slightly, Kaelith exerted an invisible force
around Su Pei's throat, as he crushed his windpipe inward as though a thousand elephants were standing on it.
*Choke*
Su Pei choked, his eyes tearing up, as he struggled to stay conscious.
"You are far too arrogant for a mortal."
Kaelith warned, fury beginning to flicker behind his otherwise
composed eyes.
"I will ask you again.
Tell where Skyshard is.
And then lead to where his family resides.....
Or I will reduce this planet to ash and let their deaths be collateral."
His tone shifted now, no longer calm but edged with venom.
"I know Skyshard is absent from this planet at the mont.
If he were here, he would already stand before .
But my sources tell his family does reside in Ixtal.
So if you take to them, I promise to spare them.
For I will bring them to the Eternal Garden as prisoners instead."
His gaze sharpened.
"Refuse... and I will kill them alongside every other ant that crawls across this world.
Skyshard killed my son, and for that cri, his bloodline must suffer.
Yet I plan to be rciful enough to give him a chance to save them-if
he can."
The pressure tightened slightly, just enough to blur Su Pei's vision.
"The choice is yours... Commander."
Kaelith's voice lowered to a whisper that carried more weight than any shout.
"Total annihilation... or temporary protection?"
As in that suspended mont between breath and death, Su Pei felt the heaviest dilemma of his life settle upon his shoulders, knowing that either path led to suffering, and that loyalty had never before demanded a price so brutally clear.
If he chose to lead them to the Skyshard residence, even if Kaelith did as he said and spared them for now, only torture awaited the Skyshard Family in the future.
Whereas if he did not, he would sanction them to a certain death at
this very mont.
'My Lord, please forgive .
But this is what I would do for my own family if put in this situation....
Su Pei thought, as after a few seconds of deliberation, he finally made
up his mind and opened his mouth.
"F....fuck.... Y-you."
He said, his voice trembling, as despite Kaelith's tempting offer, he decided to let the Skyshard Family die with dignity, rather than letting
them be captured as political tools.
As Kaelith looked visibly shocked by his decision.
"Fine, have it your way then..."
He said, as with a single snap of his fingers, he destroyed Su Pei's
body from the inside out.
*BOOOM*
Su Pei's body burst into fragnts of flesh and shattered bone, erupting outward in a violent bloom of crimson mist that scattered across the skies above Ixtal like a grotesque firework, his Monarch-tier aura collapsing instantly as though it had never existed, leaving behind nothing but drifting embers of dissipating mana that flickered briefly before vanishing into the wind.
For a heartbeat, there was silence.
No scream.
No resistance.
No second chance.
Only the faint rain of blood falling toward the half-rebuilt district
below.
Until Kaelith broke the silence with a deep sigh.
*Sigh*
"Loyal to the end," he murmured without admiration, as he seed almost disgusted with how loyal Su Pei was to Leo until the very end. Beneath him, panic intensified as the death of a Monarch rippled across the planet like a spiritual tremor, as commoners began to say their final goodbyes while crying intensely, fully aware that the last
line of aningful resistance had just been erased.
"Mortals..."
Kaelith said with disgust, as he raised both hands toward the heavens,
and began to gather large amounts of Divine Essence.
*TREMBLE*
Soon, space itself began to tremble, a vast distortion forming high
above the atmosphere, as clouds spiralled violently inward as if caught in the gravity of a newborn star, while strands of pure, blinding energy gathered between his palms, condensing into a blade-shaped arc of power so imnse that even the oceans below
began to churn in response.
*KABOOM*
The sky darkened unnaturally.
Mana currents across the entire planet reversed direction, funneling
upward into the forming construct as continents vibrated under unbearable pressure, cracks beginning to spiderweb faintly across tectonic plates long before the attack had even been released. Seconds passed, and with ti the energy only grew.
And grew.
And grew.
Yet Kaelith did not swing.
Not yet.
As suspended between devastation and execution, the Eternal
Sovereign simply gathered more strength, allowing the planet to feel the full weight of what was about to descend upon it, as he relished this mont of revenge.
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