Emperor's Predominance

Standing amidst the pin-drop silence of the forest, Raymond stood straight like a spear, with his eyes unflinching and a hint of mirth hidden under them. One of his fantasies was about to come true. That was dodging the rain of arrows with nothing but his footwork.

"Huu…"

Raymond breathed out deeply and looked at the relentless arrows surrounding him.

-Swoosh!

-Swoosh!

-Swoosh!

As the first volley of arrows soared through the air, Raymond's senses heightened. His keen eyes scanned the trajectory of each arrow, and with a sudden burst of speed, he dove to the side, narrowly avoiding the deadly onslaught. The arrows whistled past him, grazing the air where he had stood mere moments before.

Undeterred, Raymond swiftly rolled to his feet, his muscles rippling with anticipation. Arrow after arrow rained down upon him, seeking to find its mark. But Raymond, with the agility of a wild predator, moved fluidly through the chaos.

He relied on his exceptional reflexes and unwavering focus to evade the deadly projectiles. Raymond danced with the arrows, his movements were fluid and precise. He weaved, ducked, and spun, dodging each deadly shaft that flew towards him. It was as if time itself slowed down, allowing him to see the trajectory of each arrow with astonishing clarity.

With every dodge, he defied the laws of physics, evading arrows that seemed destined to find their mark. He moved effortlessly, his well-trained body a testament to years of discipline and relentless training.

His training didn't simply involve only running himself dry. Whenever he was not running, Raymond would imagine himself facing off against adversaries far above his league.

It is during one of these instances, particularly on a rainy day, looking at the droplets of water falling, a sudden thought struck him.

'What if he was bombarded with a rain of arrows?'

He would be practically defenceless against it with nowhere to run. Running away was the last thing he wanted to do. That's why from that day onward, every time it rained he would train his footwork to avoid the first thousands of droplets that descended on earth before the heavy rainfall.

Every time a drop fell on his body, he would go at it again with a newfound passion. Truth be told, it had never been as easy as he was finding it now. Raymond was now more sure than ever, he was moving at a speed that not even someone who has mastered a movement technique could ever hope to move.

Just as easily as a fish swimming in the water, Raymond's feet blurred as he swam through the sea of black arrows.

Looking at Raymond, effortlessly dodging his onslaught, Tim felt his common sense being flipped off, and world view shattering.

"W-wait! H-he is not even using mana!"

Astonishment followed by a flash of panic appeared on his face. This was simply unimaginable for him, this was unheard of.

"How can he move so fast?"

All he could see was a blur appearing here and there. Tim stopped his barrage of arrows, realising that he was simply wasting his mana at this point.

-Clap!

With a clap, all the arrows disappeared. Slowly the dust and smoke cleared up, revealing the figure of Raymond who was standing amidst the destroyed forest, with not a hint of harm on his body. Their gazes interlocked as Raymond looked up, with a smirk on his face he cried out:

"Once more!"

"Fucking brat!" Tim spat with frustration evident in his voice. "You think this is a game?"

Raymond let out a chuckle in response.

"I don't know about you, but to me, this is nothing more than a game."

"That's it! You asshole! I am going to show you why you shouldn't mess with an Emperor!"

Tim bellowed furiously, he had only used his Martial King level magic before, and now there was no point in holding back. A majestic voice echoed out as he pressed his palms together:

-Domain Expansion-

-Emperor's Predominance-

With just a thought from his side, the size of his domain tripled and expanded into a three hundred metre radius hemisphere.

"Don't get cocky just because you managed to withstand a King's pressure!" Tim barked in a challenging tone. "Let's see if you can do the same against an emperor!"

"Well, try me!"

Raymond jumped from his spot and somersaulted in mid-air, before bringing his foot down in an axe kick that landed straight on Tim's head.

"Hah!"

Tim disappeared before he could be hit and let out a snort. Again he disappeared as soon as Raymond appeared before him.

"Keke~ with Predominance in play, I can use this move whenever I want! You will never be able to touch me!" With that, Tim circulated his mana and prepared his next move.

-Death Knell-

The miasma inside the domain churned frantically as they started moving upwards and gathered in one spot. Cupping his right fist in his left palm, Tim solidified the miasma into a gigantic black bell that put the mountains to shame.

Raymond looked up from the ground, with curious eyes.

'Tsk, tsk, I killed off that wyvern too quickly. Who knows what kind of cool moves it would have shown me if I had played with it a bit longer!'

Raymond thought it was a pity that he had killed the wyvern effortlessly within a few moments after their fight started. It was definitely stronger than this shadow guy and probably had far more spells in its arsenal.

"What the hell is happening here?!"

Egon managed to stay in between his ragged breathing. Sasha was lending her arm for him as a support and helped him to stand. Even though Egon wanted to run away from this place to safety, Sasha had dragged him here saying that the safest place was near her friend.

Sasha couldn't describe what she was feeling, as far as her eyes could see there was a domain of inky black smoke with nothing visible on the inside. Just from the residual pressure outside, she could tell Raymond was up against an Emperor.

-Gong! -Gong! -Gong!

The bell rang, creating visible sound waves that would rupture the eardrums of anyone below the realm of Martial Emperor.

Looking at the bell, Raymond's eyes shook for a second before he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"M-m-master…"

A sickening sight met his vision, Lyla was standing behind him at a distance with her hands wrapped around Jasmine's neck. Jasmine groaned in pain as her skin burned with a purple hue, her eyes turned lifeless looking at Lyla's sadistic smirk.

"Goddammit!" Raymond sneered. "Fucking party tricks! Try something better."

Even if he appeared calm on the outside, he was rattled for a second by this illusion. With a dangerous look on his face, Raymond thought of a bold idea.

He circulated his mana, bringing a wisp of it towards his mouth, to end this illusion before he saw something he shouldn't have seen, he screamed:

"AAARRGHH!"

Raymond roared at the top of his lungs, with mana infused in his voice. Spatial ripples appeared as his voice travelled like a shockwave and hit the gigantic bell.

-Crack! -Crack!

Spider web like cracks appeared on the bell before it shattered into millions of pieces and vanished into thin air. The shockwave didn't stop there, it weaved through the air and hit the boundaries of the domain, and tore it apart like a thin paper.

"NOO!"

Tim whined as he spat out a mouthful of blood. Before he could even get a hold of his faculties, a sidekick landed on his temple, sending him to the ground.

"What the hell is that thing?"

Sasha exclaimed from where she was standing. She climbed onto a tree and squinted her eyes to take a clear look at the situation. A strange shadowy figure appeared in her view as it crashed through the ground.

Raymond landed near Tim, and with a kick to his butt, Tim was sent flying. Raymond appeared beside this airborne figure and stomped his foot on Tim's stomach.

-Thud!

Tim's body slammed down onto the ground, creating a crater.

"Why don't you try to disappear now? Eh?"

Raymond mocked as he grabbed the hair-like thing on the figure's head. Just as he was about to see who was hiding beneath the shadows, an ominous air blew around him.

Raymond's hair stood on end as he felt the threat to his clothes.

"Hey, hey! Are you mad? Don't do it!"

"Fucking hell!"

Raymond yanked the figure and threw it high into the sky.

-BOOM!

The night sky brightened like a hot summer midday, as Tim detonated his core. Sasha and Egon closed their eyes shut as the light prickled their eyes.

*******

"Well, hello Miss Sasha! It seems our target is safe!"

Sasha opened her eyes as Raymond's magnetic voice sounded next to her. She turned left where Raymond was sitting beside her on the tree branch.

"How did you—never mind! Did you see who or what that thing was?"

Sasha asked curiously. She wanted to know who had the gall to kidnap a prince.

"I don't know, but I did hear it talk! There is a high chance it was some evil cultivator."

Raymond replied calmly, but soon his eyes widened as he looked back and forth between Sasha and Egon. It could have fooled anyone else, even Raymond had failed to notice it before. But now that both of them were in the same place, their resemblance was becoming more apparent.

"Miss Sasha, are you a princess?"