The Steward Demonic Emperor

Writer: StarReader

Proofreader: Silavin

Sword Child took the chance of Heavenly Sovereign’s gloating to grab Qingcheng and fly next to Zhuo Fan, “Father, what do we do? Isn’t there anything we can use to flee? We’ll figure a way to finish Heavenly Sovereign later, since he’s taken in by sbewitching.”

Zhuo Fan had a dead look in his eyes, reflecting in them was the failing Baili Yuyu’s body and the victorious Heavenly Sovereign. “I thought since having two paths clashing almost broke his skill, then all the paths would be sure to take him down.”

Heavenly Sovereign caught on his word, smirking, “My dear little brother, this is what happens when you’re messing with things beyond your understanding. The power of the combined paths is that of utter destruction, a force worth of a Supreme, the one standing above a Sovereign. Of course you can’t control it.”

He didn’t get to gloat for long, for sharp cracks resounded in all directions, bringing everyone’s attention to the seemingly sealed paths.

The bubble of space around the paths warped and swelled, then shrank at times. Despite them being contained, it only worked to bring the paths closer to fusing, closer to each other. Deep in the center of it all, a strange and dark power of annihilation grew with tremendous speed.

The earlier sounds didn’t cfrom the failing barrier, but the lashing power surges from inside it, working its way to higher and higher levels. It was like a ticking tbomb, ready to blow up and take everyone there down with it.

Heavenly Sovereign panicked, “Damn it! My path can’t contain it still!”

He fled at top speed in the opposite direction. He dispelled the Heavenly Eye, taking the other path Zhuo Fan launched at it within himself.

Emotion Sovereign knew twas of the essence and jumped in front of Zhuo Fan, Chu Qingcheng and Sword Child in the nick of time.

The darkness inside the special bubble grew so much, it could no longer be contained.

A blackness thick as death was unleashed, yet there was no explosion. It flooded the world in all directions with nothing standing in its way. Be it the heavens, air, and the earth itself, none could withstand it as it ate its way through everything.

It lashed out with such speed it caught onto Heavenly Sovereign, “Curses, little brother! You just had to put in so many paths! Shift!”

The skill sent him hundreds of miles away, buying him precious seconds as he never stopped speeding away from death itself.

Despite it all, the abyss caught up one too many times, despite throwing all the skills he knew at it. It still brushed his sleeve, just as his Shift was a fraction of a second too slow to deploy.

Just that mere brush and Heavenly Sovereign felt a sudden emptiness in his left hand. He looked over to find it not there, only a mass of blackness creeping all the way up to his shoulder.

“Gah!” Heavenly Sovereign grunted, moving with swiftness and precision as he cut his arm off completely and flew away at double speed.

He felt no pain as his hand was eaten away, no numbness, no nothing. The blackness was all-consuming, and undeniable. He held his bleeding left shoulder, sweating hard as he strained to outlive the most dangerous power that existed.

When he finally saw the abyssal wave slowing down, he could finally breathe more easily, giving him tto calm down and assess.

“Don’t die onlittle brother, not before I take you for everything you owe me.” He gave the mass of darkness a fearful yet excited look. “So this is the power of a Supreme! There’s no denying its appeal. I have to have it. The paths are undoubtably safe, indestructible, but there’s no telling how long this black mass will persist and keepingaway from taking them.”

…

In the moment Emotion Sovereign went to shield Zhuo Fan, Chu Qingcheng and Sword Child, the black mass struck.

Zhuo Fan cried with worry, “Yuyu!”

“Miss Yuyu!” Chu Qingcheng teared up.

“I’ve used my path to shield you from the black wave. I won’t be able to hold much longer. I can only hope Sovereign Yun makes it in time.”

Zhuo Fan gasped, “Sovereign Yun? But I saw him die in the mortal domain!”

“But his will lives on.” Emotion Sovereign gave a flat look despite Yuyu’s body breaking down by the second.

Seeing the dead expression on Yuyu’s usually expressive face struck a chord in Zhuo Fan. He then glanced at the weary Chu Qingcheng, from having the Nine Serenities’ path pulled out of her, and the scared Sword Child, his eyes darting from the all-encompassing blackness to the shrinking prismatic shield around them.

It dawned on him that he was utterly powerless, a pawn for the truly powerful to toy with him and his as they wished.

“Miss Yuyu!” Chu Qingcheng’s cry snapped him to attention, noticing the prismatic glow having shrunk so much it left Yuyu’s hand out as the other three were huddled closer in the ever-closing space with the looming death moments from taking them as well.

Boom echoed from somewhere above them and the four looked up to see faint glittering white lights working hard to make their way to them.

“Sovereign Yun’s Starfall!”

“But for every one of the ten Sovereign paths, one needs a certain mindset to use it. Taking over srandom body won’t be enough. The Emotion path will need the pinnacle of emotion, true and pure emotion. That’s the only way for you to last for so long and control your Emotion path. So that means, the body you’re using…” Zhuo Fan trailed off.

“Has deep emotions for you, Zhuo Fan. Baili Yuyu was willing to die for you.” Emotion Sovereign added on her stale tone with that flat look, making him uneasy.

Zhuo Fan shivered, looking at the faint stairs and the hint of prismatic in them, “And this is Sovereign Yun’s path. His mindset is for the people of the world. Which means there must be a direct descendant to be in tune with his Dao Heart. It can only mean Shuang’er… but for her to unleash so much of its power, at Sovereign Yun’s level, then she too…” Zhuo Fan choked, unable to finish.

“Would gladly sacrifice herself for you.” Emotion Sovereign completed.

“But why would they go so far for me? I never returned their feelings.” Zhuo Fan’s voice quivered.

“Such is love, as well as the strength of the human path.”

Whoosh~

As the last of the stars faded just near the shrinking barrier, a blinding white light shone behind them, breaking through the black wave and into Emotion Sovereign’s shield, covering the three.

“Don’t worry, this is Sovereign Yun’s star path. You will turn into stars and escape from here. The blackness won’t be able to touch you.”

Sword Child and Chu Qingcheng were carried away first, but Zhuo Fan hesitated, “Senior, is this your wish, or Yuyu’s?”

“This girl isn’t a fool to pay so much for another girl’s man. I bewitched her to control her body. It’s despicable, but it’s all for the greater good. Farewell, Zhuo Fan.”

As the white curtain of light faded behind Zhuo Fan, Baili Yuyu’s dead expression vanished, swallowed by the darkness along with Emotion Sovereign’s last trace.