Last Ruler Of The Empty Throne-Chapter 161: That day

On the azure expanse of the Blue Planet, the sky hung heavy, stripped of the chaotic presence of rival factions.

Only the Sun Branch remained, their golden banners fluttering defiantly in the wind, a silent testament to their resolve.

The other factions had long since retreated, their ships vanishing into the cosmic haze. The Sun Branch, however, lingered, their presence not merely a show of strength but a calculated necessity.

They had waited, watching, ensuring no stragglers or spies remained to challenge their dominion. The air buzzed with the weight of their vigilance, as if the planet itself held its breath.

The Sun Executioner, a towering woman clad in armor that shimmered like molten gold, stood at the edge of the Hollow Moon world.

Her eyes, sharp as polished obsidian, scanned the horizon. Behind her, soldiers of the Sun and the remnants of the Moon Branch stood in disciplined ranks, their faces taut with anticipation.

The Sun Executioner raised a hand, her voice cutting through the stillness like a blade. "Lift the barrier."

At her command, the soldiers moved with practiced precision. Sun warriors, their mana radiant with fiery hues, joined hands with Moon warriors, whose energy pulsed with a cool, silvery glow.

Together, they wove their mana into a shimmering tapestry, a barrier of bluish-gold light that enveloped the Hollow Moon World.

From beyond the planet, the barrier would appear as a celestial veil, a protective cocoon that glimmered against the void of space. The air thrummed with the power of their combined magic, a low, resonant hum that vibrated in the bones of all who stood nearby.

The Sun Executioner turned her gaze to the heart of the Hollow Moon World, where the Artifact Skyscraper loomed, a monolithic structure of gleaming crystal and ancient metal, its surface etched with runes that pulsed faintly with latent energy.

"Ilon," she said, her voice steady but laced with urgency, "show me."

The skyscraper responded instantly, its runes flaring to life. The air around the gathered warriors shimmered, and the world transformed.

The barren, war-torn landscape of the Hollow Moon World vanished, replaced by a holographic projection of the same location in its pristine state.

The ground was smooth, unmarred by craters, and the sky above was a vibrant blue, untouched by the scars of conflict. The skyscraper stood taller, its surface gleaming under a sun that burned with unblemished radiance.

The hologram shifted, and the scene erupted into chaos.

BOOM!

An explosion tore through the air, a deafening roar that sent shockwaves rippling across the holographic landscape. Dust and debris spiraled upward, obscuring the sky for a moment before parting to reveal a man standing at the epicenter.

He was middle-aged, his face weathered but fierce, with eyes that burned with a fury that seemed to ignite the air around him. In his iron grip, he held a spy by the neck, the man’s body limp and trembling.

Beside him stood a woman, her beauty striking even amidst the chaos. Her dark hair flowed like a river of midnight, and her eyes mirrored the man’s rage, tempered by a deep, unspoken pain.

"ROMNICK!" the man bellowed, his voice a thunderclap that echoed across the Hollow Moon World. The name of the Moon Faction leader carried such weight that the ground seemed to shudder beneath it.

The response was immediate. From the shadows of the skyscraper and the surrounding ruins, an army emerged. These were soldiers of the Moon Faction, their silver armor glinting in the light.

Guards of varying strength, from 4th to 6th Realm warriors, formed a tight circle around the man and woman, their weapons drawn and expressions grim.

But something was wrong.

The man’s aura pulsed with an intensity that defied his known power. He was recorded as a 6th Realm warrior, yet the energy radiating from him was unmistakably that of a 7th Realm, a level of power that made the air heavy and the ground tremble.

The head guard, a stern man with a scar running across his cheek, stepped forward. "If you don’t surrender now, we will be forced to use extreme measures," he declared, his voice steady but laced with doubt.

The Moon Faction’s primary ability was deception, manipulating perceptions to make others see what they wanted. Could this man’s power be a trick? The head guard clung to that hope, unwilling to believe a 6th Realm warrior could ascend so suddenly.

The man’s eyes narrowed, his grip tightening on the spy’s neck. "If you stand in my way, don’t blame me for what happens next," he warned, his voice low and dripping with menace.

He gave them a moment, a fleeting chance to retreat, but the army stood firm, their weapons gleaming with moonlit energy.

"I warned you," he said, and his fist clenched.

BOOM!

In an instant, he moved faster than the eye could follow. He appeared before a 5th Realm guard, his fist crashing into the soldier’s chest with a force that sent shockwaves rippling through the ranks.

The guard crumpled, his body slamming into the ground with a sickening thud. The army froze, their confidence wavering as the man moved like a tempest, his strikes precise and devastating.

One by one, guards fell, their defenses shattered by a single blow. Swords clattered to the ground, shields cracked, and the air filled with the sound of breaking bones and desperate cries.

The head guard, a 6th Realm warrior, faced the man next. His face was pale, his earlier bravado replaced by dread. He had assumed the man’s power was a deception, a trick of their moon ability, but it then dawned on him.

No manipulation could fool him, he was also a master of lunar energy. Then the truth became undeniable: this man was a 7th Realm warrior, and his power was real.

"Why are you doing this?" the head guard asked, his voice trembling as he raised his weapon.

"Shut up," the man snarled.

BANG!

A single strike to the face sent the head guard crashing to the ground, his body leaving a crater in the earth.

The army faltered, their formation breaking as fear took hold.

Then, a new figure emerged, her presence commanding the battlefield to still. She was a woman of peerless beauty, her silver hair cascading like moonlight, her eyes sharp and unyielding.

The energy around her was overwhelming, a 7th Realm aura that dwarfed the fallen guards. "What is the meaning of this?" she demanded, her voice cutting through the chaos like a blade.

The Sun Executioner, watching the hologram, raised a hand. "Stop," she commanded. "Skip to the main point." The holographic battle was gripping, but time was short, and she needed answers, not a prolonged spectacle.

The scene shifted, the hologram fast-forwarding to a critical moment.

The peerless woman now knelt, clutching her arm as blood dripped from her lips. Her once-imposing aura was fractured, her body battered from a fight she hadn’t anticipated losing.

Before her stood the man, transformed. A pair of massive blue wings, shimmering with lunar energy, spanned meters behind him. In his hand, he wielded a spear that glowed with a faint, golden light. His condition was still pristine, his power unshaken.

The woman beside him, his wife, stood silently, her eyes burning with a mix of pride and sorrow.

The battlefield was a ruin, littered with the bodies of fallen guards.

And above them, Romnick, the Moon Faction leader, floated in a blue-gold robe, his expression unreadable. Flanking him were two 7th Realm powerhouses and an army of thousands, their weapons gleaming under the fractured sky.

The man threw the spy’s lifeless body at Romnick’s feet. "What is this?" he demanded, his voice a low growl.

His wife stepped forward, her voice steady but laced with pain. "Explain yourself."

Romnick’s expression didn’t waver. "Why should I?" he replied coolly. With a flicker of his hand, the spy’s head was severed, blood pooling on the ground.

The army gasped, some stepping back, others tightening their grips on their weapons. It was a brazen act, a challenge.

Basically, Romnick was saying, Now you know. What will you do?

The man’s gaze lifted to the sky, his chest rising and falling with a deep, controlled breath. Romnick frowned, unsettled by the man’s calm. No, he was too calm.

BOOM!

The man’s aura erupted, a cataclysmic wave of power that shook the earth.

His clothes tore away, revealing a body glowing with golden light. Above his head, a circular halo of pure sun energy hovered, pulsating with divine intensity. One eye glowed blue, the other golden, like twin stars in a cosmic dance. His blue wings flared, and the air crackled with the combined might of sun and moon energy.

The army trembled, retreating as the world itself seemed to protest. The space around them warped, the fabric of reality straining under the man’s power.

His blue eye pulsed, and a wave of moon energy surged from his wings, freezing the army in place. Their minds clouded, their bodies locked by the lunar magic that the Moon Faction prided itself on.

His golden eye flared, and he raised his hand to the sky. Without warning, concentrated beams of sun energy rained down like meteors, blanketing the battlefield.

There was no formation, no preparation, just raw, unrelenting power. The army scattered, their screams piercing the air as the attacks obliterated everything in their path.

Romnick, caught in the onslaught, couldn’t escape. The man’s attacks were precise, targeting the faction leader with relentless fury.

The man’s wife watched, her expression unreadable. She didn’t stop her husband, she didn’t need to.

Until—

PSTCHSH!

A bolt of lightning tore through the sky, a jagged scar that ripped open the fabric of space, enough for a colossal figure to step through.

Its presence was so immense that the hologram flickered and dissolved.

The Sun Executioner and the gathered warriors stood in stunned silence.

That power, that overwhelming power they had just witnessed was unimaginable.

It was only now most of them understood the reason no faction allowed them to master the techniques of the other faction.

In this situation, the man had only used two of the three.

What if he had mastered the third?