Furious anger beyond anything the Asura had felt in tens of thousands of years surged through its body, filling it with a beast-like rage.
Rahhh!
The Asura roared like a wild beast, then punched down towards the city beneath him, space shattering where his fist's moved. Its calamitous power blasted against the ancient city, an explosion of apocalyptic proportions propagating outwards in all directions.
The explosion destroyed the land for tens of thousands of miles, a large portion of the Yuan Continent completely obliterated in a near instant. The continent that had existed since the ancient calamity had finally been destroyed. However, thanks to Thunderzen's foresight of such an event happening, he had evacuated almost everyone on the continent, keeping the casualties to a minimum.
The explosion faded some time later, revealing the ravage land below. No life whatsoever remained, as mountains were erased, rivers and lakes evaporated, chasms wider than the eye could see created, and forests destroyed. The once vibrant Yuan Continent now looked like a barren hellscape, one burning with smoldering ruins.
The Asura's menacing gaze lingered downwards, on the still standing ancient city. Surprisingly, despite being at the very center of its attack, it had mostly withstood the calamitous attack. Some buildings on the outside of the city had been razed to the ground, but the temple and the nearby buildings still stood, protected by an ancient defensive formation, somehow still functioning.
The Asura sneered at the sight. He vaguely remembered this backwater city during the ancient war, which had served as a small stronghold for the defenders of the world. He had not known it housed such a profound transportation formation, otherwise he would have done something about it long ago.
The Asura's glared angrily for some time, the Astral Emperor arriving beside him, peering down as well. The Astral Emperor studied the formation from the sky, his gaze piercing stone and earth.
"Do we give chase?" he asked.
The Asura scoffed with displeasure, turning around to leave. "These formations were designed to work only for native creatures of this world. I am unable to follow."
The Astral Emperor raised an eyebrow, then made a suggestion.
"Should I give chase?" he asked.
"No," the Asura growled, still furious from his failure. His battle lust had blinded him from achieving his goal, one that would have been easy to achieve had he targeted John with his full power from the start. "The formation has been partially destroyed during its use, and restoring it will take decades. We have more pressing matters to attend to."
The Astral Emperor nodded his head, preparing to leave with the Asura.
"Release me!" a booming, horrifying voice suddenly blasted out from beneath the ancient temple, shaking the world around them.
The Astral Emperor's guard instantly raised, preparing for a fight against this unknown entity. The Asura turned around and glanced downwards, his blood red eyes staring at something contained within.
The Asura snorted in disdain.
"You were captured and bound by such pathetically weak humans during the war, and yet you have the gall to ask for freedom," the Asura scoffed. "Your fate is the only fate you deserve. There is no mercy for the weak. You are a disgrace to our Asura race."
The Astral Emperor raised an eyebrow at the exchange, staring below, and then to the Asura. To think there was a captured and bound Asura beneath the ancient city, existing here unknown for all this time. A quick glance of the situation revealed that the Asura was being used as some sort of powering device for the cities formations, formations that would take quite some time to destroy, even for them.
"I will break you, kill you, devour you, when I escape," the creature from below growled, anger in its voice.
The Asura scoffed, its figure vanishing a moment later. The Astral Emperor glanced downwards for a short moment and then vanished himself, returning the now ruined city to quiet once more.
…
In the depths of the endless ocean, large beasts and other creatures swam about. Nearby on the ocean floor, a formation barrier rose miles up into the ocean's depths, pressing the ocean water back. The beasts gave this place a wide berth, wary to approach.
Flash! Flash! Flash! Flash! Flash! Flash!
Six flashes of light appeared within the formation barrier for a brief moment before fading away. Thunderzen glanced downwards at the land contained within the massive formation barrier, a land sprawling for dozens of miles, filled with fields, buildings, and cities. Tens of millions of people moved about the land, going about their days as normal.
Thunderzen sighed with relief, thanking himself for sparing no expense for making this place. The detection formations he had left on the Yuan Continent had all been destroyed, confirming his belief that the Asura would destroy everything in a fit of rage.
The land protected by the formation below consisted of those belonging to the Heavenly Lightning Sect, the Fenix Clan, and anyone else remotely associated with either of those powers. It was hidden in a completely remote and faraway place beneath the ocean's depths, hopefully shielding it from discovery by the Asura.
The other powers from the Yuan Continent had fled elsewhere, most listening to Thunderzen's warnings. Thunderzen shifted his gaze from the land below to his side, where five figured floated in the air next to him.
He inspected Raijen, whose body was covered in massive wounds too numerous to count. Thunderzen winced at the sight of his companion so ravaged by their recent battle. Even for a dragon, such wounds would be beyond painful, the recovery long and arduous. His gaze shifted to his brother and Daoist Eternal Weapon, both showing signs of injury as well.
Daoist Eternal Weapon was missing one arm from the battle art he had used, and had numerous other wounds on his bloodstained body. His brother, Thunderfist, was much the same, covered in blood from gruesome looking wounds. However, both of them would eventually recover, something he could not say for the last two.
His regretful, apologetic gaze shifted to the Honorable Alliance leader and the Grand Elder, who stood next to each other. They appeared like walking skeletons with a layer of skins appearing like leather draped over their bones. There was no sign of flesh or muscle beneath the skin, and their aura was now incredibly weak.
"Thank you, for your sacrifices," Thunderzen said sincerely. He would not apologize, would not downplay the sacrifice these two had made. Both had done so willingly, and because of them, they had managed to achieve their goal.
"We succeeded, so I can die knowing my sacrifice was not in vain," the Honorable Alliance leader said, his voice like a hoarse whisper. The Grand Elder nodded his head in agreement.
"When this is all over, your legacies will be etched into the histories of this world, stories of your sacrifice spread across the world," Thunderzen said.
"Not a bad way to go then, is it?" the Honorable Alliance Leader said, smiling.
Thunderzen nodded his head, his gaze firm as he watched the two before him finally lose all signs of life, their bodies crumbling away like dust in the wind.
"Rest easy, brothers," he said softly, his eyes closing with pain and loss.
