The Greatest Devastation

His Majesty stood in a suffocating silence, his hands beneath his sleeves freezing. Eyelashes wet with a streak of crystalline tears. He looked at the cultivator in pure horror and disbelief.

The cultivator already expected the reaction and looked down, appearing apprehensive and pale as The King, before falling onto his knees to bow deeply.

"Your Majesty, kill me as you must, but I swore to protect the people from any great calamities. It is my duty as the renowned doctor of the world." He trembled, drooping his head low as it touched the ruddy carpet. The cultivator ease off his cultured manners and didn't dare to plead with him at the eye, because of the grave offense he declared directly to The King. His noble demeanor contrast with his quaking kneeling position. The air around them immediately tensed when The King still didn't say a word. The foreboding silence only aggravated the air in the chamber.

The cultivator was overanxious, and he didn't wait any longer for His Majesty to remember, thus he went on.

"His Highness The Royal Prince's birthday was the first day of the month of autumn. Before we entered this season, every region and nation, small, insignificant, or privileged, were forewarned by the Heavens. The Full Moon basking in a bloodbath. I am telling you this because we were reminded beforehand that the Red Full Moon brings a stroke of ominous luck in the future. If someone was born on the day of the Full Red Moon, that didn't happen for about thousands of years, its soul was destined to provoke the greatest calamity upon the three realms." He stammered, head still resting upon the carpet.

The Red Full Moon, its name was as bloody as the soul of every living thing it annihilated. It was predicted by the Gods of the Heavens about a thousand years ago, yet it was too seldom to appear within a millennium. But a thousand and a thousand years, the passing of time will never stop, and the ancient Gods of the realm were wiped out by the first Red Full Moon. The people of today only had the experience of the bloody tragedy the civilians had suffered in the past, which become hearsay.

Its records in history books never gave justice to the millions of people mercilessly slaughtered by the ferocious creatures when the first night of the Red Full Moon appeared. During the striking night, the land it spotted was basking in blood, as if the mortal realm became the land of the underworld.

The gates of the Demon Realm were forcefully opened by someone and devoured the living they saw on sight. Receiving the alarming calls of the commoners, the Gods of the Heavens shed their might on the Devil Lords of the hell. Losing one too many Heavenly Gods and one too many Evil beings, along with the millions of innocent people.

The greatest devastation that has been drawn to the world causes the three realms to turn upon each other without any signs of winning.

Casualties were densely immense, and it took another millennium to rebuild the three realms. The Red Full Moon was the premonition of it all, the forewarning of the Heavens and the catastrophe behind it was engraved in the people's hearts.

However, some of them didn't believe in the existence of the Red Full Moon, but most of them believe that it will never emerge again, until one month ago. The King was one of them.

After a while, out to the cultivator's surprise, The King kneeled before him too. The cultivator went still on his spot and immediately uttered.

"Your Majesty, what are you--"

"Is that the only way to prevent another disaster?" He timidly whispered, his voice sounding a lot like his soul was taken away. Expressionless as he looked the cultivator straight in the eye. His sleeves were no longer quivering but The King's starry eyes reveal the emotions that no human couldn't conceal.

The old man of a cultivator held his breath and endured his heart shattering into pieces, while he announced the words; "To burn alive with the eternal flames, or to drown its life in the deep sunken sea. That is the only way."

When The King was still processing the words, clangs of swords and numerous footsteps resounded outside the chamber, and the door suddenly burst open. Reveals his wife, Cheng Mei.

With a hand on the door, she halted as soon as he saw the two, kneeling in front of each other. Palace guards and the royal maid following behind also stopped to observe the scene before them.

"What… is going on? Yunxi?" Her voice inclined with concern and puzzled. Taking note of the disheveled doctor in front of his husband. The terrified look on his face didn't appease the anxiety that was building up in her throat.

Cheng Yunxi was his husband, The King. His back visibly pales at the sound of her wife's voice. As if he had said something immoral, he refused to turn around to face her.

The doctor equally paled, color in his lips draining when he saw the Queen. He couldn't keep the silence anymore and voiced out the truth.

"Your Majesty, I-I," But so long as he composed his words, The Queen already took notice of the paper laying on the carpet. Scribble of words written on it, only then did she recognize that it was from the physician's medical notes.

Her heartbeats only advance further as she knelt and grab it.

The look of pure dread in the cultivator's face caught The King's attention, sure in his mind that her wife wouldn't take it lightly. He turned around briefly and saw it too late when her wife was already face-shaken, her hands stopped from lightly shaking.

"What is the meaning of this?" The rims of her eyes started to redden, she looked past the paper and directly at the physician. Paper in her hands deliberately crumpling as the seconds ticks out.

"The Red Full Moon, the birthday of our son was exactly the bloodied moon that came back." Cheng Yunxi somberly stated, putting the room heavier than before, his face was no better than the expression of the physician. The palace maid covered her mouth in shock.

However, the face of The Queen didn't appear such, instead, her jaw tightened, her hands crumpled into a fist, and instantly stepped aside to unsheathe a sword hanging on the palace guard's waist. The sword glimmered at the light of the pane glass window, and it pointed towards the doctor's direction.

Everyone didn't expect it and a few people took a step back in the hallway. Cheng Yunxi's breath also stopped.

It was widely known in the past of the Kingdom at Mount Sinia, was an affair between a female general and a crown prince. That woman from being the female general of the kingdom became the young prince's chosen wife. Not so long ago, she vowed to protect the civilians of her kingdom by any means but to never kill with her sword again.

Yet today, the killing intent from that blade alone and her bloodshot eyes. Yunxi knew her too well. That her oath was stupid from the start, because he knew that to save someone was far more difficult than destroying the world. And to protect someone, blood has to be spilled.

The old man was no cultivator if he didn't notice the murdering intent, he looked down and continued to kneel. This time, it was for the Queen, and both were pointless.

"You are well-known royalties who are not ignorant of the tribulation that the Red Full Moon brings." As if something snapped, the cultivator looked at them with a deadpan stare. His jaw is taut, his dark eyes are devoid of light.

"I have lost too many civilians and relatives in the past, and aspire to become the most renowned doctor in the world, If I must stop a calamity that will happen again, I would take any risks with the cost of my life. But this, I have no right to decide His Highness's life in my hands. I am done with my part, Your Majesty." He bumped his head on the carpet and slowly rose.

"We couldn't stop a disaster brought by nature, because it was a fated punishment for us. But this, you can still stop this." He lifted his head and glance at Cheng Yunxi.

"You shut up!!" That was when she had enough and took a step forward, her blade flashing, the guards didn't have the chance to stop her, but Cheng Yunxi made a move.

However, in the corner part of the room, the pure white silk fluttered by the window, and the raw cries of a child stopped them from causing a ruckus.