Countless people noticed the gigantic storm cloud that passed overhead for just an instant.
They had no idea what was going on or where this storm cloud had come from.
In just a couple of seconds, the storm cloud left the Lightning Manor's Empire behind, entering the Empire to the southeast.
The Judgment Palace Empire.
Immediately, all the huge Magic Circles surrounding the Judgment Palace Empire began to activate and ring with alarms.
Several Mage Lords of the Judgment Palace had their faces turn white in shock.
Whatever had just entered was far beyond their power.
This meant that this had to be a Mage King!
Why would a Mage King suddenly invade the Judgment Palace?!
Was this war?!
BANG!
After an explosion, two Mage Kings appeared in front of the huge storm cloud with narrowed eyes.
"Who are you?! Why are you invading us?!" they shouted as they readied apocalyptic Spells.
Yet, the next moment, their eyes widened in terror.
Just now, they felt like a God had looked at them with killing intent.
H-How was this sensation so intense?!
This was even stronger than…
And then, they realized that this wasn't a Mage King, but a Mage Emperor.
Even more, based on the huge cloud filled with lightning and the direction it came from, this was most likely the Lightning Emperor.
But why?!
The Lightning Emperor was known as one of the nicest and most approachable Emperors!
They had all met the Lightning Emperor before, and they almost couldn't link the apocalyptic pressure in front of them with the nice old man they knew.
In the next moment, the storm cloud enveloped them.
At the same time, they felt like the reality around them was warping.
As Mage Kings, they were very familiar with all Affinities, including Space, Time, and Gravity.
Yet, they felt that the warping that appeared around them didn't only warp these three things but something even more fundamental.
It was almost like the very essence of Mana was changing around them!
An instant later, the Mage Kings began to fall from the sky.
They couldn't fly anymore!
They still had all their power, and they could still feel all the Mana inside their bodies.
Yet, it was like the reality around them had become unfamiliar.
It was like all the Concepts were written in a foreign language in the world!
It was like they had forgotten all of their Spells and Concepts, even though they could all remember them clearly!
The two Mage Kings couldn't believe what was happening.
The language of the Concepts around them had changed into something unfamiliar!
Reality was rejecting their power!
Their Mana Shields and all their enchantments vanished, and a moment later, their bodies were lifted by what felt like a huge invisible hand.
They were completely helpless!
Their Spirit Senses were smothered in the thundercloud of lightning, completely blinding them.
They, mighty Mage Kings, were now nothing but helpless puppies.
The storm cloud continued charging forward, pulling the two Mage Kings with it.
Some seconds later, the storm cloud appeared just 100,000 kilometers away from the Judgment Palace.
In front of the storm cloud was a humongous fissure, 50,000 kilometers wide and unfathomably deep.
The fissure was the deepest black and any being that saw it would feel terrifying dread.
They would feel like this was the most dangerous place in the world.
Falling into this fissure meant death!
This was the Pit of Death.
There were millions and millions of corpses inside the huge fissure at any given moment in time.
The pure density of Death Mana in there was far beyond comprehension.
Even more, the Death Mana didn't only stay in the fissure since more and more Death Mana was being produced there, pushing the Death Mana out of the fissure.
The land around the fissure was a land of death.
Yet, on the other end of the fissure was a platform, and this was the opposite of a land of death.
Beautiful flowers, humongous trees, peaceful beasts, and plenty of small animals were living there.
It was a paradise and beyond beautiful.
However, this platform filled with life was surrounded by the Pit of Death.
Yes, the huge fissure was actually something that could be considered a moat of a medieval castle.
The 50,000-kilometer-wide Pit of Death surrounded the peaceful land of life.
It was like the Pit of Death was both protecting and imprisoning it.
Death was doing something good and something evil.
However, the land of life was also not as peaceful as one might think.
Everything seemed nice on the surface, but the limited resources of the land of life forced its occupants to constantly war with each other.
The land of life was safe from the outside world, but it wasn't safe from itself.
There was good in death, and there was evil in life.
Life and death were not as different as one would think.
In the middle of the platform was a tall and beautiful white castle, stretching over 50 kilometers into the sky.
It was a symbol of harmony, beauty, peace, prosperity, and life.
Yet, there was a darker part to the castle.
In truth, the beautiful white castle was mirrored by another one.
A perfectly dark castle was stretching deep into the earth below the white castle, mirroring it.
This was the Judgment Palace, a beautiful and serene white castle with an identical but mirrored terrifying black castle beneath it.
The white castle was in the middle of the land of life, and the black castle had several huge tunnels leading to the Pit of Death.
Contrasting but adjacent.
Together but separate.
The Judgment Palace.
The storm cloud vanished, revealing the Lightning Emperor and the two Mage Kings.
Now, the Mage Kings could actually see the Lightning Emperor, and when they saw him, cold sweat ran down their backs.
Purple lightning was coming out from all over his body, creating several black holes in the space around them.
The lightning was so powerful that the mix of Space, Time, and Gravity was being ripped apart.
But the most terrifying thing was the Lightning Emperor's expression.
His face was distorted with rage!
