Beastmaster of the Ages

Chapter 1965

Chapter 1965

A lifeless white ball of fire came bursting out of the flaming clouds like a gigantic white eye that turned in the direction of Skywolf Frost. Amidst the storm of fire were four divine astralships that followed the ball of white, each of them piloted by a rex of Skywolf Blaze, namely, Bluedepths, Redforge, Darkshroud, and Boundless.

Of the seven great clans of Skywolf, the Starvore clan was the undisputed leader. Yet on that day, only five of the seven clans remained standing after the eradication of Greenvoid and Sanctquility, leaving not much, if anything, behind.

When the five ships turned toward Skywolf Frost, they seemed to shudder. Countless troops of the Yanyi Army emerged from the flaming clouds, having temporarily evacuated the battlefield. So far, only this army's casualties had remained within the expected range.

The specters that had left the battlefield seemed completely destitute when they saw the state Skywolf Frost was in. A wave of despairing cries ensued as they beheld a nightmare they would never wake from. It was as if their very hearts had been pierced through by the solar lances. Their blood blended together with hate and their eyes turned bloodshot. They had lost all reason and wouldn’t know peace until vengeance and slaughter was achieved. Speaking of reason at a time like this was nothing short of shameless.

Before the specters had departed for the invasion, they’d considered it nothing more than a casual hunting trip and set off with a light mood. Even the normal specter civilians had relished in the jovial atmosphere, yet the reality had stunned their entire race. The army that numbered in the hundreds of millions was shocked beyond words. In the dead silence, nothing but mindless hatred festered.

The divine astralships charged toward Skywolf Frost, yet even they would be helpless to extract the sun from one of their home stars. Even if they did, the changes that had been wrought wouldn't be reversible. No nova source was left in Skywolf Frost, save for the leftovers.

The ships descended as five beams of light on the dead star. The ground on which they landed was as pale as bone, seemingly cracked and flaking like a wilting bark. The cold air around them complimented the complete void of any signs of life. Elites flooded out of the ships to see the sights for themselves. There was a pitch-black abyss in front of them, out of which their nova source had flowed.

Then a loud rumbling roared once more as the sun moved again. The pillars that had impaled Skywolf Frost were extracted one after another. Those terrifying weapons looked even more sinister after they had increased in size. Once the sun was separated, Skywolf Frost was nothing more than a pale husk floating in the cosmic aether; its contents had been completely emptied out.

The countless elites of Skywolf Blaze, the three imperials and six rexes included, had watched the entire thing unfold with blank faces. After that, all of them slumped to the ground, kneeling and prostrating to the dead world. Tears endlessly flowed, accompanied by desperate begging and denial. That kind of shock had dealt a heavy mental blow to those that survived, and for a race that thrived on previous victories, it was something they’d never felt before. In their despair, everyone turned to Grand Emperor Starvore.

"There’s only one thing we can do to atone for this. We have to make sure that all life on the sun suffers the same fate," he said, his eyes crying tears of blood. He turned to the star of gold, red, and now white, with a furious look of hatred. The flames in his eyes burned like those of Skywolf Blaze.

......

Everything felt like it was part of a wild dream. Tianming passed through a region of cold frost before arriving at another region of flaming clouds. The sun was quite quiet as well, with nobody speaking much. A cold atmosphere seemed present everywhere.

The gigantic head that was the Divine Sun Palace appeared before Tianming's ship. It seemed like the sun emperor had sought him out on his own accord. The mouth opened up and out walked a golden-haired man with his arms crossed and a smile on his face. He looked very much like a doting father waiting to welcome Tianming back home.

"Tianming, my son, come. Even though we're still in the midst of war, we’ve made great gains. It's about time we had a celebratory toast as father and son." He tossed one of the two vials of fine wine he held toward Tianming with enough force to make him take a few steps back. Then he opened the bottle and took a swig of the fiery golden liquid. Some of it spilled onto his chest, making him seem even more unrestrained and casual.

"Don't hold back on me, kid! Even though getting drunk isn’t ideal while fighting a war, it’s but a small indulgence compared to the celebrations to come. After we take care of Skywolf Blaze together, we can celebrate for three days and nights! Doesn't that sound great?" he said with a wide smile and a flushed face, as if he was really drunk.

He loudly burped and tilted his head at Tianming before suddenly chuckling, "Tianming, did you see? Wasn't it just grand? It was too bad I couldn't see it happen from within the flaming cloud layer. That was the glory of the Flameyellow Imperial Star, a legacy and pride of us flameyellow divinities. We should be proud of this. Don't tell me that you're going to play the saint and call me out for killing innocents." He expectantly looked at Tianming for the answer he wanted, but shrugged.

"Well, I'm sure you understand. They were the ones that came to wipe us out, though they intended to do it at a much slower rate. Our descendants would’ve suffered a life without any hope had they succeeded. Compared to that, what I did was saintly, to say the least! In a mere three breaths, I sent those sinners off to the cycle of reincarnation. There was no need to prolong their suffering at all! Son, war is war. Anyone that takes part celebrates in the victories and suffers the same loss. There’s no such thing as an innocent bystander on either side, understood?"

"Are you saying all this to convince me or yourself?" Tianming said, looking at his eyes.

"Are you kidding? I couldn't feel better about this if I tried! I don't need to convince you, let alone myself! Everything I did will be recorded in history, and the people that come after are free to judge me as they please. Naturally, the fact that they’ll even exist to judge me in the first place is thanks to the blood sacrifice of the people of Skywolf Frost, so whatever they’ll say will be irrelevant in the first place."

The two rulers of the sun stared each other down, seemingly intent on discerning the thoughts of one another. The sun emperor took another swig and smiled again. "Lastly, you, Tianming, were the one who destroyed the Sanctvoid Guard Formation! If it weren’t for that, I wouldn't have had a chance to pierce the star! If you consider this a sin, then you are my biggest accomplice! You and I, we're the same, you know.... Do you understand now?" He paused for a loud burp. "That's enough words, son! We’ll let the alcohol do the talking! You're still young and growing, though, so don't drink too much. I made the toast, so you do as you please."