The whole Empire was shocked. They just found out that all the nobles in the Dragon's side, and even the Emperor had been captured. It all happened within a day. No one could react to this piece of information, and it was too late to react. Without their lords, the Diamond Ranks couldn't receive any order.
It was also impossible to completely unite them all, and form a single leader since everyone thought they were the best, so it would only create chaos if they tried to unite. Not to mention they had an ego as high as the Emperor himself.
Pharder was of course shocked to hear this news as well. It happened so quickly. No one expected the Empress to revolt. They were all too focused on Montcresia.
Wait… That was it. The Empress tried to distract them and lure them away from their lords!
Pharder trembled in fright. That woman… how could she think of this stuff. Every time he looked at her, he couldn't predicted her thoughts or moods. She was always veiled with mystery, but even with that Pharder still looked down on her.
Now, however, it was impossible for him to underestimate her.
"What will her next move be? What will she do?" Her unpredictable action made him feel scared.
In a single day, she managed to capture all the nobles and even the Emperor himself. She basically controlled the entire Empire.
No one would riot against her, except the foolish ones. Unless they managed to unite all the Diamond Ranks and revolt together, fighting against the Empress would be a futile resistance.
Suddenly, something crashed into his office. Bits of woods flying everywhere, and dust were all over the place.
"Aldred, what do you think you are doing?"
"I am getting the job done. It's finally my time to kill you!" Phantom Doomblade pierced out of the dust cloud and went straight towards Pharder's heart.
Pharder stepped back to dodge, but his clothes were ripped, and a small wound appeared on his chest.
"You've done it now!" Pharder grabbed something out of thin air. It was a deep dark, glowing crystal.
Aldred frowned. "That crystal… where did you find it?"
"None of your business. Now fight me!" Pharder absorbed the mana within the crystals. Every inch of his body was filled with power, and he rushed towards Aldred. His speed was so fast, and uncontrolled that the entire building exploded before he appeared in front of Aldred.
Pharder struck Aldred right in the face which made another sonic boom that created huge crater and sent Aldred flying 10 kilometers away.
Aldred gritted his teeth as he was still flying in the air. Suddenly, Pharder appeared right in front of him, and punched straight down.
With a loud sound, Aldred crashed straight down, and bore a hole 1 kilometers deep.
"With this crystal, you are nothing in front of me!" Pharder absorbed more mana from the crystals, and gathered its power in his right fist.
Then he slammed down which created a powerful explosion that sent dust cloud 80 KM high into the sky.
The result of that attack was a massive crater the size of a small city. The seared red hot surface of the crater made it seemed like it was struck by an asteroid.
In the center, Aldred lay on the ground with blood on his lips.
Aldred looked at his health points.
Health Points: 24,551/32,580
The attack dealt a significant damage to him.
Pharder approached him with an Eternal Crystal in his left hand.
"Tell me where you obtained it."
Pharder frowned. "You are about to die, and that is the question you ask me?"
"I know you are not supposed to be the one who should have it."
"Ah, so you knew that old man?" Pharder laughed.
"How long ago was it. 8 years ago? I couldn't remember the exact time, but I do remember his pathetic old face. Ah, the way he begged me to spare his grandson. I could remember it like it was yesterday. What a fond memory."
"What did you do to him?" Aldred glared.
Pharder laughed again. "I thought you'd never ask. That was the best part." He grinned. "I told my men to stab him. Over and over and over again until he die full of holes. HAHAHAHAHA!"
"Bastard, I will kill you!"
"Try if you can!" Mana surged from the crystal and into his hand. He attacked, swinging his fist at Aldred.
BOOM!
Pharder raised his eyebrows because Aldred had actually manage to block his attack with his sword.
Aldred slashed, creating a small wound on Pharder's finger.
"You think this will hurt me?"
Aldred did not reply, instead, he raised his blade to his lips, and licked the blood on it.
"What a sicko. Licking the blood of your enemy. You think that will scare me?"
Aldred moved forward and slashed Pharder's forearm. This time, the wound was slightly bigger.
Pharder frowned. The attack was much stronger than before. He then looked at Aldred who was licking the blood on his blade again.
"You fucker! Go to hell!" Pharder clapped his hand. Suddenly, a large amount of black fog gushed out and shrouded Aldred.
He was completely engulfed by the darkness, and all of his senses were turned off. All except one, his sight.
His godly eyes glowed in the darkness.
"Die!" Following the angry roar, a powerful fist, overloaded with unstable mana, came at him.
Practically at the same time, Aldred stabbed his fist.
"This won't stop me!" Pharder used his other hand to punch Aldred in the chest.
His fist punctured through his heart, and made Aldred spat a mouthful of blood.
Pharder laughed. "Die! Die! With this crystal, I am the most powerful!"
The darkness faded, and Aldred fell to both knees.
Pharder looked at him and smiled. "All that effort to obtain the treasure, and you still die in my hand. What a joke."
Suddenly, he heard someone clapping nearby. It was Aldred who watched this scene with a smile.
"How?" Pharder looked down and saw Aldred's body laying on the ground. "What did you do? I killed you already."
"My enemies asked the same thing. And the same thing happened to them afterwards."
Pharder glared at him. "What?"
Two Phantom Doomblade pierced through his chest from the back. Pharder was shocked. The attack happened out of nowhere.
His feet was lifted from the ground. Pharder struggled to move, but he managed to absorb the mana from the crystal. He swung his fist until Aldred cut off his arm.
"AHH!!!" Pharder breathed heavily. "My arms! They are protected by the mana. How can you… how can you cut it off."
Aldred smiled, and licked the blood on his blade.
"You… your strength actually increased from licking my blood!"
"You are almost correct. Specifically, the damage I dealt to you will be increased the more I licked your blood."
"Humph! Even with that power, you still cannot kill me!" His arm regrow, and he punched the blades out of his body.
Aldred sighed and summoned another clone. Now there were 4 Aldred.
They closed their eyes and abruptly opened them. "Sky Splitting Strike!"
