Stranger Danger

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”

Despite his solemn expression, not a sliver of panic could be found on Chu Xunxian’s face. “The show has just begun.”

As if on cue, an iron whip appeared out of nowhere and sailed straight toward the gigantic dragon’s head. Dark in color, it had thirteen segments and was covered in spikes from head to toe. At first glance, it looked no different from an ordinary weapon.

In reality, the iron whip cut through the light almost as if it didn’t exist and landed squarely on the dragon’s head.

“Roar!!!”

The Dragon Sovereign opened his mouth and let out a painful, bloodcurdling scream. When the people looked, they saw that the iron whip had ripped off an entire chunk of flesh in one hit, spilling blood and scales everywhere.

The Dragon Sovereign began struggling violently, his sun-like eyes burning with an inferno of fury. Wherever he looked, the sky collapsed, and the earth tore itself asunder.

The next moment, three wooden stakes appeared just like the iron whip had. Wooden stakes they might be, they were long and gigantic like a pillar that held up the sky. They were burning with cyan flames as well.

The three wooden stakes moved to the left, right, and center of the dragon’s head. Then, the cyan flames transformed into three chains and wrapped around it.

The flaming chains looked unbelievably frail, but in reality, the Dragon Sovereign could not break free no matter how hard he roared and struggled. In fact, the more he struggled, the deeper the flaming chains bit into his head. It eventually broke his scales and sank into his flesh and blood.

That wasn’t all. The cyan flames were rapidly spreading across the Dragon Sovereign’s head. It wasn’t long before the entire sky was on fire.

While the Dragon Sovereign was shackled by the flaming chains, a bright yellow scroll slowly unfolded in the air.

The scroll looked like a mandate of heaven as countless divine dragons were flying around it, noble and dignified. Strangely, not a single word was written on the scroll.

“The Dragon Sovereign intends to commit sins and bring disaster to the world. In compliance with the Will of Heaven, the emperor proclaims that his power is to be reduced…”

Suddenly, a grandiose, dignified voice boomed throughout the world[1].

Every time it spoke, a word would appear on the scroll, and its power would grow stronger.

When the words “his power is to be reduced” appeared on the scroll, it shone brightly and cast rays of golden light upon the Dragon Sovereign. The Stranger’s terrifying power and aura began disappearing bit by bit.

“His fate is to be stripped…”

The words appeared on the scroll as the voice spoke, and some sort of indescribable, profound energy was ripped off from the Dragon Sovereign’s body, causing his energies to weaken further.

“And his life is to be taken for his unforgivable sin…”

As soon as the reading reached its end, an inauspicious, murderous qi suddenly caught this entire corner of the world in its vice grip. The sky shook, the wind crumbled, the clouds scattered, and the sea cracked. Such was the killing intent It was as if all of creation was cowering in fear. 𝐑

The next moment, a crack appeared in the space above the Dragon Sovereign’s head, and a long saber with a ghost’s head for a pommel slowly floated out of it. It looked no different from the executioner’s blade an executioner normally used to behead a criminal, though of course it was much bigger. Broad and covered in rusted blood, the killing intent pouring out of it was positively choking.

The next moment, the executioner’s blade swung toward the gigantic dragon’s head in the sky. However, it suddenly stopped midway as if an invisible block of air was blocking its path.

It was at this moment a loud, heroic and domineering voice boomed throughout heaven and earth.

“KILL!”

As soon as the word was spoken, the ghost head pommel burst into a dark glow and wailed as if it had come alive.

“Kill…”

A thick, merciful voice followed next, ruthless and unbending despite its compassionate quality.

“Kill.”

A third voice came, vast and infinite like the command of the heavens themselves.

The three voices overlapped one another and echoed throughout this space until it sounded like every man, woman and child in all four nations were shouting at the top of their lungs; as if every single human in the entire world was screaming for the Dragon Sovereign’s death.

Shapes of mountains and rivers began appearing in the sky. Transparent silhouettes began walking out of houses and settlements. There were male, female, old, young, soldiers, farmers, scholars, warriors… people from all walks of life had appeared to glare down on the Dragon Sovereign and scream:

“KILL!”

“KILL!”

“KILL!!!”

Buzz…

The executioner’s blade began vibrating, and the rusted blood covering its blade slowly receded. When it was gone, all that was left was soul-chilling cold and infinite bloodthirst.

The tsunami of voices seemed capable of washing away even the thickest rust, and the wishes of millions could reforge even the dullest blades. This time, when the executioner’s blade fell again, heaven and earth could not stop it, and the demons could do nothing but bare their necks and die.

There was a flash of metallic light. The wind stopped blowing, the clouds stopped moving, the water stopped flowing, even the Dragon Sovereign stopped struggling. It was as if time and space had been frozen.

A few breaths later, when the wind started anew, and the sea water started flowing once more, the world began to darken.

It was not because clouds had blotted out the moonlight, but because the Dragon Sovereign’s eyes were dimming.

It was so sudden, so abrupt, so unbelievable…

For a moment, silence hung over the world like an oppressive blanket. The people could only watch as the dragon’s head the size of an entire mountain range fell off its neck and toward the sea. Then, the silence was shattered as it crashed into the sea and kicked up waves of heavenly proportions.

The sea churned as epic tsunamis rolled out in every direction.

The waters turned red as sunset in an instant.

And a river of blood cascaded down from the stump where the Dragon Sovereign’s head once was: gorgeous, grand, and indescribably bloody.

It was all a dragon’s blood. The Dragon Sovereign’s blood.

“How can this be? How can this be? The Dragon Sovereign can’t lose. The Dragon Sovereign cannot lose!”

At the side, the Eastern Sea Dragon King was muttering rapidly under his breath like a madman. The light in his eyes had died together with his lord and master’s.

He just could not believe what he just witnessed.

He just could not believe that the victory that was right within his grasp would turn into such a crushing defeat in an instant.

He just could not believe that the grand conspiracy he plotted for centuries to achieve would end so pitifully.

And he just could not that the powerful, invincible Dragon Sovereign in his mind… would be beheaded like a petty criminal.

His confidence was gone, his faith was gone, and his dream… was dead.

This was the moment the Eastern Sea Dragon King’s heart died.

Meanwhile, Ye Qing’s mouth was opened wide enough to fit an egg.

“That… that’s it?”

Ye Qing blinked after an unknown amount of time. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

He was sure he guessed the opening correctly, but he sure as hell hadn’t guessed the ending.

He guessed that the four nations would have a trump card up their sleeves, but he never imagined that they would be able to behead the Dragon Sovereign so… so… so easily.

This was the walking calamity who left an unforgettable mark in the history of the human race nine hundred years ago, and he just… died without so much as a whimper?

Didn’t they say he was invincible?

Didn’t they say that he was unstoppable?

Didn’t they say that he was the enemy of mankind?

That’s it?

Are you fucking kidding me?

“What were you expecting?”

A mirthful smile danced on Feng Qingyou’s lips as she asked, “Did you think they would fight for seven days and nights, breaking heaven and earth and killing sun and moon before the Dragon Sovereign is finally sealed?”

“Ah, hahaha… No? Not really?” Ye Qing rubbed his nose in embarrassment. Fine, that was exactly what he thought would happen.

“I know you feel like this battle ended way too quickly, and the Dragon Sovereign seemed like a pale shadow of his reputation. However, this outcome is possible only because the four nations had used up some of their greatest trump cards.”

Feng Qingyou explained, “The four items you just saw are the Dragon Beating Whip, the Dragon Binding Stakes, the Dragon Suppressing Decree, and the Dragon Killing Blade[2].”

“Nine hundred years ago, in order to defeat the dragons and the Strangers of the four seas, the humans scoured the world for precious materials, gathered the most talented artisans under the heavens, and forged these four Ancient-class Strange Artifacts.”

“Made specifically to deal with the dragons and the Strangers of the four seas, the Dragon Beating Whip, the Dragon Binding Stakes, the Dragon Suppressing Decree, and the Dragon Killing Blade had killed countless dragons and Strangers during their active period, many of them Ancient-class. They had also played a massive role in the suppression of the Dragon Sovereign and the Kun Sage.”

“However, after the final battle, the four Ancient-class Strange Artifacts were severely damaged and had more or less expended all of their power. So, the four nations placed each Strange Artifact in their respective temples. For nine hundred years, they were worshiped day and night and nurtured by the Will of the Empire. That was why they were able to boast the strength they boasted today.”

“However, most of the power they had accumulated for the past nine hundred years had also been expended. It is a huge price to say the least.”

1. I am seriously running out of ideas on how to describe voice ringing across everywhere without sounding repetitive as fuck =.=” ☜

2. You can practically hear a certain late Grandmaster screaming that he should’ve been born a few centuries earlier. ☜