Ch-45:Hexine... or not

Raon was looking outside the balcony while sitting on his high, ornately decorated throne, decorated with crimson-red, ice-blue, and gold, giving off an aura of strong regality.

The height of the throne room was 50 meters alone, which was considered very high for even cultivators since it was laced with anti-flying formations and various other necessary formations.

Raon saw the sky turn reddish-orange with a subtle yellow glow as it neared its cycle to set, yet it seemed to be hinting at the shimmering blood-red mountain range.

The entire mountain range was strewn with corpses, disfigured and destroyed, some crushed, some broken, and some blasted to pieces, yet it emanated the aura of death all the same.

The entire mountain range was marred with red blood that seemed to shimmer in the setting sunlight peeking through the destroyed foliage and debris all around.

It was emanating a strong yin energy that would invite several evil cultivators here for the next countless years due to the deaths of nearly a billion people in this mountain range over the past ten days.

Raon notices not just corpses of humanoid species, as there were beast tamers, non-combat, combative, grave robbers, and every kind of cultivator who had died here for reasons unknown to them.

As he observed the entire battlefield filled with ruin, he was reminded of the heroic stories as well as his childish ideals that he bared yet lost while growing up.

His memories sifted through his mind, jogging through everything that he experienced in life as he closed his eyes and looked straight ahead while supporting his head with his right fist.

Even awaiting death, he was sitting on the throne with grace and regality that could leave behind generations of royalty as the aura of authority oozed out of him.

Fenlie Zwigo, his seven wives, and eight of the strongest subordinates that he could find arrived in the throne room awaiting traps, yet all they saw was the ridiculous scene of Rio sitting on the throne like a Grand Emperor.

He felt like losing his mind as every damn room inside this castle was bare and empty as if it had been robbed clean, and even the layout was like a maze. What he saw when he reached the last room was this:

Rio Kigost von Liakroso, the Emperor of the titled 'Agat' Empire, the self-proclaimed Grand Emperor, was sitting on the throne with his eyes closed authoritatively, as if awaiting his subordinates and not his enemies, ready to kill him.

This scene infuriated Zwigo so much that he wanted to decapitate Rio right this instant, if not for the plan that he had already formulated, which was a foolproof plan with zero chances of failing.

Just as Zwigo was about to open his mouth, Rio opened his eyes, and the unwanted aura oozing out of him vanished before he released his aura in full glory, scaring Zwigo to shut up his hanging mouth immediately.

"What? You thought I wasn't aware of your measly presence." Raon spoke in a low, cold, but fear-inducing, authoritative tone.

Raon's eyes were blazing red as if with craziness, while his shoulder-length black hair was tied back to not cause any disturbance, yet his looks were definitely scary.

"Hah. You will die regardless, so stop acting arrogant." Zwigo spoke through the pressure on him because he couldn't afford to back out.

"Hahahaahahah"

"Haaaah... I will die. Sure, I will, but what about you?" asked Raon with an evil smile on his face.

"Stop" a soft, gentle voice sounded, making everyone look at its source, the center of the room, where the corrupted world's spirit materialized.

Awe and gasps of admiration leaked out of Zwigo's followers, yet he remained on guard as he questioned, "Who are you?"

"I am this world's spirit. I came here because of the bloodshed you both have caused. Rio, why are you fighting an outsider?" Her first words were addressed to Zwigo as she turned to face Rio during the question.

"I was bored. Nothing challenging enough" Raon answered blandly while absorbing 'Hexine' and the change in her behavior.

He also noticed red marks on her semi-physical form around her knees, neck, palms, face, and legs, indicative of the intense sexual activity forced upon her due to her pale white skin.

As Raon was closely observing the changes in her, her last sentence from their last meeting echoed in his mind as he tried to decipher the meaning.

'...This is the last time I can help... Take care... And... leave it be, my pitiful child...'

"What?" Zwigo blurted it out as he felt shocked by the shameless behavior of the man in front of him.

"Rio, then why did you go to war with so many lives on the line?" asked the corrupted spirit, barely able to contain the shock she felt at his response.

"Where's the fun in that?" answered Raon as he smiled evilly.

At this point in time, Zwigo felt like he had enough and could not deal with this guy's bullshit anymore, so he ordered everyone to surround him.

"Now!! Kill him!" shouted Zwigo before the spirit could say anything, as she immediately teleported behind Raon and sported a sharp sword through the throne into his heart.

The change of events naturally left everyone in the throne room shocked as they stopped their steps, noticing the sword piercing through Rio's heart.

The blood was oozing out of his heart as well as his mouth, yet there was no expression of pain but rather serenity on his face as he smiled.

The spectacle of a man's heart impaled through the throne with a black, bloodied wooden sword while the man had a wide smile on his bloodied face was blood-curdling for the spectators as they froze at the horrifying sight.

"So, I was right, hah" muttered Raon, much to the shock of everyone in this room.

All the cultivation realms that can be achieved before ascending to the upper realms do not allow someone to live even after they are decapitated or stabbed in the heart, except for some unique species and cultivation techniques.

Funnily enough, there was RIo right in front of them, who was still bleeding from his heart and mouth while affixed to the throne as if he couldn't feel anything.

Zwigo even guessed that everything that he was seeing right now was just an illusion and the reason behind the man not dying despite the current situation.

"You're not her.

Do not imitate her.

You have been corrupted by that man.

It's not your fault.

Let me relieve you."

The words left his mouth involuntarily as he felt a jolt in his head as pieces of scrambled-up information seemed to join and start making sense to Raon.

Despite the sight of him bleeding, he realized that the spherical orb given by Hexine was going to be used now as he brought it out and looked at the corrupted spirit.

He crushed the orb and then became immensely focused as he let the energy flow out toward the direction of the corrupted spirit.

The corrupted spirit felt primal fear from it and teleported behind Zwigo, but even he was confused since he couldn't see the spherical orb or the energy that left it.

At that moment, all the energy latched onto the corrupted spirit as her core was directly attacked to cut off the connection with the world itself.

"Arrgh..."

She let out horrendous shrieks as her connection to the world was slowly cut while her core was being carved out of its spirit state.

Her entire body changed throughout her shrieks as the entire world seemed to tremble around them, stopping anyone from interfering in the process.

"Good luck... You are no longer a spirit but a mortal with a complete physical form. You are just like his other female slaves now" Raon said as if delivering a verdict to a criminal guilty of heinous crimes.