Unsealing Emptiness

Chapter 478: Raging Battle.

Before Jidu could retreat with Kai and Hakuja, embers of a black flame formed and burned wistfully around them.

Gritting his teeth, Jidu growled toward the Celestial Phoenix, "Do you wish to die?!"

She didn’t reply, instead, the temperature rose even higher.

Beside the Phoenix, Ember too smiled at the scene, her lips morphing into a twisted grin of amusement.

Red embers too began to burn, the once-blue sky turned red with black clouds of flames floating around comfortably.

The synergy between Ember and the Celestial Phoenix’s fire was surprising even for Jidu who looked at this scene with a seriousness he couldn’t muster up against the former alone.

Realizing there was no way out of this without it getting ugly, Jidu too flared his aura along with Kai and Hakuja. The latter couldn’t remain out of this with Celestial Phoenix involved unless he wanted to die.

The sky seemed to split as a few fissures appeared in the surroundings and healed just as quickly.

The Realm of Abezan couldn’t handle the power of six such absolute beings without tearing apart!

Unlike before, the aura from the two sides seemed on equal footing, neither side seemingly at any advantage.

The Empyreans quickly realized that albeit slightly, the Celestial Phoenix was stronger than the Heavenly Virtue of Humility, otherwise there should have been a clear winner with one side having two Empyreans.

It was at that moment, unknown to Jidu, that a voice transmission was heard in Ember’s ears.

[’Pretend to block, but dodge the attack at the last second.’]

Ember didn’t let it show on her face, recognizing the voice of the Celestial Phoenix.

But Jidu and his two allies also wore understanding expressions before the two sides unleashed their attacks.

Like a serpent, the black fire of the Phoenix coiled together with the red fire of Ember.

The mixed torrent of fire behaved like a living serpent and screeched at the three beings in front of it.

Kai and Hakuja too unleashed their best attacks, having decided to face it in a frontal clash following Jidu’s instructions

As the different elements clashed into the giant fiery serpent, a shockwave spread throughout the realm!

*ZoM!*

There were no longer mountains that would fall under the intense pressure and the earthquakes caused by their attacks.

It was amidst that torrent of winds, that a few pitch-black blades swept past the clashing serpent of fire, aiming at the necks of Jidu, Kai, and Hakuja!

"You dare play tricks!" Jidu shouted, and with a single wave of his hand, the blades were thrown off.

’Why couldn’t I sense their energy?’ He thought for a split second.

But that single moment of distraction was all that was needed as the serpent of black and red flames twisted its body and aimed directly at the trio!

Ember and the Phoenix quickly dodged their attacks, but the serpent moved too fast!

Jidu knew only he could handle the brunt of the attack, Kai and Hakuja needed to both survive if they wanted to win this. He pushed them aside with a strong force emanating from his palms and braced for the impact.

It all happened so suddenly that Kai and Hakuja could only make out the situation as the fire serpent was only a few breaths away from Jidu.

But it was yet another deception!

The serpent slithered and twisted, turning its face to Kai who was the closest to them!

Before Jidu could react, the serpent’s body all poured down on Kai who didn’t have enough time to even put up his defenses!

*Boom!*

"You sly bitch!!" Jidu shouted, but he knew they were at a loss now.

Kai was sent crashing down to the ground, the world shook as the serpent grilled down even as they had reached the surface!

The shockwaves of the attack had spread all over the Realm of Abezan. Even the tribes settled down on the distant islands from the main continent and could feel that entities of absolute power were clashing somewhere.

Hakuja looked wide-eyed in the direction Kai had disappeared to, his body tensing up as he imagined himself in the latter’s place.

"You! I will not tolerate hesitation from you! Handle that disciple of yours, or else!"

Came the shouting voice of Jidu as he flew past him, aiming to clash directly with the Celestial Phoenix while Hakuja killed Ember. He shouldn’t have gone for a combined frontal attack in the first place.

But it was too late for regrets.

Hakuja also steeled himself, setting his eyes on the person he taught as his own kin.

Ember, on the other hand, was stunned as well.

Everyone including herself thought that there were only 5 people present here, but the Celestial Phoenix was hiding another person on her back.

It was Ozul who had thrown those blades at Jidu!

’That idiot! He will die the moment Jidu notices him!’ She cursed in her heart.

Even though he had helped with distracting him, it could’ve been done in other ways as well. So, the Phoenix hadn’t forced him here.

’That bastard came on his own!?’ Ember was almost furious, but she didn’t let it show on her face, instead focusing on the two in front of her.

It hadn’t been long, but she was almost out of stamina. If they continued the fight, she wasn’t even sure if she would survive much less Ozul.

Flashing a glance at the Phoenix, she reassured herself.

Even with the rage radiating out of her, she could think with a cool head. She was targeting Kai or Hakuja from the start to lessen the burden on her.

’At least you haven’t betrayed me again...’ She smiled weakly, shifting her focus to Hakuja.

But another voice transmission was heard by her alone,

[’Remain beside me. Do not get separated.’]

Immediately, she felt the coldness of her heart dissipating a little. Even at this point, the Phoenix was thinking of her, understanding that she could die if they fought separately.

Before Jidu could reach her, the Phoenix flapped her wings as torrents of flamed feathers appeared out of nowhere and soared through the air,

*Swfoo!*

Such attacks made it difficult to separate the two even as Jidu tried to create such openings.

They continued to clash, with Ember and Hakuja helping from their respective sides.

Although they were at an isolated mountain range at the start of the battle, things escalated and they soon neared a city unwittingly.

Ember and Hakuja both didn’t want to hurt the thousands of people living there, but the Celestial Phoenix and the Heavenly Virtue Jidu were merciless in their onslaught!

The unnamed city disappeared within a few minutes! Only the few people who had escaped sensing the clash of these giants from afar were lucky enough to survive, the rest perished like sand slipping from a closed fist.

The fight continued as the four continued to reshape the continent!

An hour later, Jidu could be seen breathing heavily as well along with Hakuja and Ember.

Ember was in the worst shape as she also had internal injuries from the combined attack of Hakuja and Kai from before. She was barely holding on to her dear life.

At that point, she didn’t even know if Ozul was still on the Phoenix’s back or not. Although the Phoenix hadn’t received a direct hit, the pressure was still too much for someone with the strength of Transcendent alone.

Even a tired Empyrean could go on for hours while fighting, and so it continued like that until something happened.

What appeared as a dot behind Jidu and Hakuja quickly grew as it closed the distance between them.

It was Kai!

Ember gritted her teeth, that man had survived and was back in the fight.

But his appearance was worse than that of Ember. His whole body was littered with wounds which kept bleeding.

Being an Empyrean, he had several treasures to restore his blood and heal himself, but the attack from the Celestial Phoenix required more than a few days of treatment to get better.

"What took you so long?!" Jidu berated him, still frustrated that it had all come down to this in the end.

He planned to impress the others, show them how capable he was, if only Ember had agreed to his plans and they had gone to corner the Phoenix together!

Even if half-dead, Kai’s presence was still something that could tip the balance in their favor since Ember too had several internal injuries.

"You will not survive this, you mindless beasts!" He taunted, uncaring of the fact that Hakuja too was a Beasktin.

[’Do not falter.’] The Celestial Phoenix sent another transmission into Ember’s mind.

But Ember could only smile bitterly in her mind. Even if she wanted to, it wouldn’t be easy since both Hakuja and Kai would be attacking her now.

The Phoenix helped her sometimes, but Jidu didn’t give her many chances.

And so began yet another round of their clash, leveling the terrain below them. With each attack, Ember faltered, yet barely managed to hold on.

The Phoenix would randomly attack Kai and Hakuja to throw them off, annoying mostly the Heavenly Virtue of Humility, Jidu. The latter used to think that he alone could easily kill a Celestial Beast, but reality finally dawned upon him that he had severely overestimated himself.

’No... I underestimated her! Both of them!’

He had stronger attacks up his sleeve, but the Phoenix knew exactly what she needed to do to keep him at bay.

Glancing at Ember, who was now even struggling to breathe, he smirked,

’It won’t be long!’ He thought as he viciously eyed the Phoenix.