Celestial Bloodline Chapter 962: These damn cowards!

Right after Yizhe uttered his words, the figure shrouded in shadows—hovering solitary amid the throng of mighty and renowned experts from the Celestial realm—gradually lifted his gaze.

Instantly, as the Rulers encountered those pitch-black obsidian eyes marked by vertical purple pupils, they stiffened like stone idols while an enormous pressure abruptly crashed down upon them.

The atmosphere thickened into solidity, bearing down heavily on their forms. Individuals below the seventh stage of Celestial Rank wailed as their footing faltered in midair, their strengths seemingly ripped away, sending their frames tumbling from the heavens.

A horrifying scarlet Celestial aura twisted around the possessor of those obsidian eyes, thick and oppressive. However, none among the assembly sensed reverence or the innate urge to yield to a vastly superior force. Pure terror gripped them instead—unadulterated and total—like being hurled into an endless chasm devoid of any path back to illumination.

In that instant, dread filled every heart.

One mere look sufficed to rattle them deeply—what fate awaited when this shadowy entity struck? Utter doom!

The mature woman hovering behind Yizhe beheld the might encircling Azazeal and, through her special law of probability foresight, envisioned a grim destiny where all nearby perished battling him. She shrieked, seized Yizhe’s collar, and whisked away into the horizon with him.

"RUN!"

Her cry jolted the Rulers, still suspended in the air and struggling to hold steady beneath those shadowy eyes, from their stupor.

One of the two elders trailing Yizhe bolted after her, and in a flash, every Ruler who had tagged along in pursuit of Kyle—fueled by avarice for a share of his strength upon his demise—followed suit.

The ones left behind stood stunned, their thoughts swirling with astonishment and incredulity. How could Yizhe and his allied Rulers—the proclaimed mightiest guardians who erected their dominion over the realm, demanded total deference from all beneath them, guarded the primordial temple, and controlled vast domains—forsake their responsibilities so readily?!

They, possessing scant sway or merely feeble clans, lingered on!

This was their chance to unite, pool their forces, and challenge the shadow-emerging man before he could ravage the Celestial realm.

But there they went—fleeing. How could they ignore the fates of the frail Celestials relying on them, flouting the myriad regulations, just or unjust, they had imposed throughout the realm!

True enough, the obsidian-eyed entity appeared immensely daunting and fearsome.

Still, he remained but one lone figure—no matter his prowess—if they banded together, victory odds would surely tilt in their favor!

Above all, failing to halt him now imperiled the whole Celestial realm and every soul within it!

Yet these self-proclaimed top Rulers opted to bolt at danger's first whisper. Pathetic cowards!

The furious remaining Rulers, witnessing Yizhe and his cohort disappear, scarcely found time to hurl proper invectives when a deep, raspy chuckle reverberated across the void.

"Hehe."

The chuckle gave way to a sinister murmur that echoed directly in their psyches.

"Run... yes, run!"

All shuddered at the ominous tone. The formerly radiant expanse darkened abruptly, devoured by shadows as though the emptiness itself heeded his command. In that chaos, a few bold souls attempted assaults, only to be hurled aside like their abilities were worthless.

The Celestials under seventh-stage Celestial Rank, who had plunged earlier, howled as slender, filament-like shadows tied to the death law erupted from the terrain encircling the darkness clump still bound by the barrier. The filaments latched onto their forms amid frantic escapes.

They summoned their abilities, yet regardless of type or potency of natural laws invoked, everything evaporated into nothingness before their horrified stares.

In the turmoil, one clenched his jaw, burned his vitality to boost his strength briefly, and summoned a mighty law against Azazeal, broadcasting a mental plea to all nearby.

’Fight this man with me! The weak should leave and call for more people! Nathaniel—right, Nathaniel, find him! He would surely help, even if to further solidify his status!’

His call spurred the lingering Rulers into motion. While some like Yizhe’s group had bolted upon glimpsing Azazeal’s might, the steadfast ones rallied behind the elder man charging for the realm’s sake. They too burned their lifespans.

Ultimately, amid wails of agony, fewer than ten Rulers surged at Azazeal following the elder—not even a tenth of those gathered when Yizhe’s faction was present.

Nevertheless, these holdouts had clawed their way here via personal prowess. They seldom meddled in realm affairs or with lesser Celestials, focusing solely on their pursuits.

The leading elder braced to be repelled like prior attackers on Azazeal, yet astonishingly, Azazeal ignored him and the oncoming assailants entirely?

Rather, he extended a hand skyward, ripped open the void, and grinned malevolently to himself. Moments later, all who had escaped were yanked back through the rift like marionettes, then smashed brutally onto the earth. Dust and rubble erupted instantly as Yizhe and the retrieved ones screamed, faces twisted in utter shock.

The elder mid-assault on Azazeal, though taken aback, spotted a brief opening amid the distraction and lunged. But as his blow neared, shadowy filaments burst from Azazeal’s form, lashing out at lightning pace to bind every airborne figure. All froze immobile, tendrils even muffling their mouths, leaving only terrified eyes to behold the impending horror.

Every surrounding Celestial suffered the same binding and silencing.

Azazeal released the soul clutched in his grasp. It dropped limply behind him as he advanced toward Yizhe and his allies.

"Run... but can you run from me?"

His gaze void-like, he seized the closest Ruler’s throat, hoisting the entire body aloft with a broad grin.

As he throttled the Ruler gradually, relishing the spectacle for all to see, the elder finally spotted the long-held soul. A fleeting look turned to horror upon recognizing the visage, draining the last hue from his ashen face. His quavering elder voice resounded mentally to those around.

’It’s... Nathaniel... it’s actually him!’

No sooner had the elder spoken than he beheld, with a spectral pallor, the soul behind Azazeal—one of the realm’s supreme Celestials, closest to the End—dissipate into motes, its final gleam devoured by encircling shadows before vanishing eternally into nothing.

Sudden clarity dawned on the elder and those still capable of thought.

Why scant word had spread of the ancient realm birthing this obsidian-eyed horror. Why Valance had abruptly rampaged in slaughter. All stemmed from Nathaniel and his avaricious Ruler allies uncovering that forsaken domain, concealing it to monopolize its treasures.

Yet evidently, they proved no match for the entity roused therein. Valance and others became its thralls, felled by the Rulers’ own hands, while Nathaniel succumbed to this titan’s dominion.

Though their guesses missed nuances—like ignorance of Azazeal’s grudge with Nathaniel, or that he wasn’t some primordial horror but one who devoured a treasure en route to the End—their insights sketched the peril’s outline.

The writhing Ruler in Azazeal’s grip expired, his corpse chilling as his soul was ruthlessly extracted and pulverized into fragments. Then death’s law raged outward, fracturing the Celestial realm’s skies as if collapse loomed. Even Kyle’s barrier imprisoning the dark mass splintered amid the captives’ quaking eyes.

Yizhe bellowed silently as encroaching shadows hemmed him and others, rendering him impotent. Speechless, he wailed inwardly against death! So youthful still... younger than most here! Life’s pleasures barely savored...!

Why must he perish?!

Why?!

Had he foreseen this, he’d have long fled to the Lower Universes in hiding, emulating the craven Rulers who bailed after botching Kyle’s slaying!

Already paralyzed by dread against Azazeal’s lone form, they despaired utterly.

Thus, when inky blackness exploded, surging everywhere to engulf them, and they caught flashes of the ferocious clash at its core, their final hopes snuffed out.

Vision obscured, they discerned a serpentine icy-blue glow battered by crimson streaks. No shockwaves escaped their clashes, the frigid aura devouring each impact, corralling the cataclysmic dark fury to prevent spillover. Energy flickers sparked per collision, momentarily revealing the savage fray pulsing at the turmoil’s epicenter.