Dragon Monarch System Chapter 959:- Reunion [II]

A claw emerged from Kaoru’s chest, having transfixed both hearts in a single, fluid motion.

The sheer brutality of the strike caused him to hurl up a thick spray of blood.

With eyes radiating a sinister crimson glow, the Monarch spoke in a low, frigid voice.

The spectators were left speechless by his ruthlessness. The cold-blooded efficiency with which he executed them both was terrifying.

Those unfamiliar with the man’s identity felt an even deeper sense of dread.

There was a dark irony in their end; two sworn enemies who despised one another and could never find common ground died together, slain by the same hand while pursuing the same target. One claw had claimed both their lives simultaneously.

Within the following heartbeat, the heads of the remaining members were lopped off. Their skulls hit the earth and rolled away just before their headless torsos collapsed into the dirt.

To those with weak Cultivation, it appeared as though he hadn't moved an inch. However, observers possessing superior agility and exceptional vision could track Aditya making eight rapid-fire teleportations. In the gaps between each flicker, his Raiketsu sang, unleashing compressed air slashes against every target’s neck.

Aditya shifted his gaze toward Atlas, who was staring back at him.

“Aditya!!!” Atlas screamed, lunging at the Monarch with everything he had.

That charge proved to be his fatal error.

The Monarch blinked directly in front of Atlas, launching a flurry of air slashes that were invisible to the naked eye. Relying on sharpened instincts, Atlas sensed the danger just as Moros had and moved desperately to evade the onslaught.

His primary mistake was losing focus on Aditya, resulting in a deep vertical gash opening across his left shoulder. While Aditya hadn't specifically targeted that spot, Atlas’s reflexes were just fast enough to prevent his body from being cleaved in two.

Before Aditya could follow through and sever the limb entirely at the shoulder, Atlas used his blade to parry the Raiketsu and create distance.

However, his attempt to retreat was cut short by a hidden predator.

A blade sank deep into his midsection.

It was the silver sword wielded by Athena.

“Damn you...!!!” Atlas hissed through clenched teeth, lashing out at Athena to force her back as she ripped the blade from his gut.

“What?” Athena asked, her expression one of mock innocence.

“This was never intended to be a fair duel. Our only objective is your death; the methods are irrelevant.” Atlas found himself encircled by his own enemies. The numbers had been skewed from the start, with Alfred forced to contend with eight opponents.

Now that the momentum had shifted against Atlas, Athena didn't hesitate to press the advantage. In her mind, she was merely settling the score.

Just as he had used his subordinates to corner and nearly execute Mateo and Alfred, she was now doing the same to him. It was his own negligence that led him to focus entirely on Aditya while she was still a threat on the field.

Atlas spat a glare at Athena before looking toward Aditya, almost as if he expected the Emperor to demand a fair fight or tell her to stand down.

Instead, the Emperor simply offered a nod and a beaming smile.

This response sent Atlas into a fit of rage.

He cursed his own arrogance for not carrying a teleportation crystal. He had been so certain of his success in capturing Laura and Athena and slaying Aditya that he deemed such precautions unnecessary.

“Wait a second...”

“If you are standing here, then what became of Moros and Wolf?” Shortly before he had encountered Athena’s group, Moros had departed abruptly, claiming he had an urgent matter to handle and leaving Atlas in charge. He had assumed Moros would secure Aditya and Laura while he handled Athena.

It was now clear the entire operation had collapsed.

“Take a guess!” Aditya replied, his smile widening.

At those words, Atlas’s pupils shrank to the size of pinheads. Moros was his superior in power, and Wolf was nearly on that same level. If the Monarch had eliminated both and arrived here unscathed, it meant the current Dragon Monarch’s strength far eclipsed his own.

‘I never stood a chance from the start.’

‘I need to escape.’ His eyes darted around, searching for a path to flee.

But considering Aditya’s lightning-fast teleportation, he doubted escape was even an option.

‘Why did I leave that teleportation crystal behind?’ Every Core member was issued one. The leader of the Sect valued their lives too highly to lose them, as the death of a Core member was a devastating blow to the Sect’s overall power—akin to losing a limb. Such losses were to be avoided at all costs.

Regret washed over Atlas. He realized his hubris had blinded him. After his initial brush with the Dragon Monarch, he should have been far more cautious.

The Sect had attempted to be careful by deploying two additional Core-ranked members to ensure the mission's success. Yet, the decision to split their forces had been a catastrophic blunder. He realized too late that the Sect had underestimated the magnitude of this threat.

‘What do I do now?’ Atlas sensed the end approaching. As a powerhouse at the Peak of the 6th-order, he wasn't ready to die. He was relatively young for a cultivator and felt he had a full life ahead of him.

He hadn't even found a partner yet. He had envisioned starting a family, raising children, and one day seeing his grandchildren. There were countless dreams and oaths left unfulfilled.

In the shadow of death, Atlas finally regretted his life's path. He understood that beneath his status as an immortal cultivator, he was still just a man. His soul remained that of a mortal.

His human essence was defined by his cravings and his deeds.

“I suppose this is the end!” Atlas shut his eyes. This time, he didn't try to dodge, nor did he use his heightened senses to evade the coming blow.

The blade tore through his neck and exited his throat, drenching him in his own blood. Atlas had never known such agony.

‘So this is what death feels like.’ Ultimately, a man who had lived nearly a millennium perished in a nameless place, his family never knowing he died for a cause he didn't even truly care about.

He had spent his life enslaved by avarice. His hunger for Cultivation resources had driven him to join the Sect and abandon his principles. His selfish desires had led him to commit atrocities. Now, the weight of those sins had finally caught up to him.

As Atlas’s body hit the dirt, Aditya deactivated his passive skills. Athena followed suit.

The two shared a silent look.

Athena was well aware that this man was the banished Crown Prince of the Celestial Dragon Empire, yet he bore no resemblance to the pathetic rumors she had heard.

He was the exact opposite.

He carried the genuine Aura of a King, a presence she had only seen in the most legendary sovereigns. But as an Emperor, he possessed the raw power to substantiate that presence.

He was a leader who could dominate a battlefield personally. The boy who had been discarded by his parents and sent to a wasteland had forged himself into a formidable, wise man who knew exactly when to show mercy and when to be a monster. Athena realized then that no one was more fit to rule the Celestial Dragon Empire than Aditya.

Nearby, Laura and Bree assisted Mateo in drinking a Healing Potion. The 5-star concoction immediately set to work, knitting together torn flesh and regrowing tissue. In under a minute, the wound had vanished, leaving Mateo looking as though he had never been injured. Not even a faint scar remained.

“Incredible! This potion is remarkably potent.” As a nobleman, Mateo understood the astronomical price such a draught would command. Such high-level healing items were extremely rare.

“I won't forget this favor,” he told Laura solemnly.

Laura simply dismissed the thanks with a grin.

“Don't thank me. This was brewed by the Goddess of Alchemy. It’s a gift from your Dragon Monarch.”