"Damn, how is he able to grab my knife without dying?" Hrook was shocked as he noticed Krune's demeanor change drastically.

He was one of the princes of the Guria Empire, having been stronger than his peers since childhood. Due to being pampered a lot since childhood, he came to look down on anyone that..existed.

Even if someone was just breathing somewhere, he was the type to get offended by that. And what followed next were executions. But as long as those being executed didn't possess a Spiritual Incarnation, the Guria Empire didn't bother with any investigation.

Thanks to that, Hrook roamed freely. However, the day he met Krune and Zamura was when he was first face-slapped figuratively. The ones he tried to kill not only didn't die, but they even managed to injure him.

After that, he entered the Sub-Realm, entering the top hundred rankings from the start. While checking the rankings, he didn't see Krune's name, smirking disdainfully. Moreover, he noticed that Cultivator was only ranked 27th, turning arrogant as he outdid them.

Surprisingly, he couldn't become prideful about it. After all, he was only ranked second in the rankings. And the one standing first was Zamuria, having a lead on his Godly Point accumulation.

He tried to exceed her, intending to obtain an active ability first and take advantage. It was then he saw a character named Gehen, someone he didn't even know existed, someone that was way behind in the rankings who suddenly became the first King of Layer 3.

Until the end of his stay at Layer 3, he neither became the first King, nor reached rank one. After all, once he obtained an active ability, Gehen casually attained the first rank.

On top of that, on the day he was about to leave Layer 3, moments before he was teleported out, he noticed that he dropped another two ranks as Krune and the Seamstress pushed him down. Left with a sour feeling, he arrived at Layer 2.

But as he struggled to become strong and finally reached Tier 5 in strength, he saw Krune casually beyond the city, making numerous rounds every day. Those that he hadn't given attention to and felt were mere peasants in front of him showed him up one after another.

Unfortunately, he was unable to attain Tier 6 strength in Layer 2 since all the Black Demons had left. Once he accumulated enough Godly Points, he reached Layer 1 and made his way towards the top of the Immortal Peak.

And the worst thing of all that he encountered there?

Krune, Cultivator (Zamura) and others that he looked down on had joined hands to create a sect. And..they were strong. With only his abilities, he didn't have the confidence to eradicate them all.

Left with no other choice, he had bowed his head, asking for permission to reach the peak to exit the Sub-Realm. To release his pent-up stress, he had arrived at the battlefield to blow off some steam.

But, as if to mock him once again, Krune had arrived before him. Hrook took action the moment he probed through Krune's strength, attacking him, leading to the current sequence of events.

"I didn't like you before. And my opinion remains unchanged," Krune said, condensing the Cloud Whale in his hand, wielding it like a knife as he plunged it into Hrook's neck. His other hand that had been holding his opponent's knife exerted strength while emitting a freezing energy, hacking away at the Land Incarnation present within with his laws of ice.

Instantly, both of them summoned their Land Incarnation, causing the Godly Energy in the place to spike to tremendous levels.

On one side was violent bloody mist, condensing countless horrid wails of the beings whose essences were trapped within. And on the other side was pure..Godly Energy.

Those fighting on the side of the Zamuria Continent suddenly sensed a blast of Godly Energy that invigorated their beings, replenishing their expended reserves while also causing them to feel safe all of a sudden.

Behind Krune, Godly Energy swirled, condensing into a pulsating heart before turning into a creature resembling him—in his human form. And since enough Godly Energy had been supplied during the creation process itself, its cultivation base spiked continuously before settling down.

historical

Ninth Stage God Core Realm!

It was not one, not two, but thirty of them that had formed behind Krune. And as if it was natural of them to do so, they all summoned a Cloud Whale in its complete size, causing the massive creatures to float in the air.

All of them faced Hrook and the cultivators from the Guria Empire, instantly causing a tornado to form as they sucked in air from all around.

For a moment, the area in a radius of a couple kilometers around them was devoid of any air. A couple of seconds later, intense gales were generated as the air rushed in to fill the vacuum.

As everyone from the Guria Empire understood the threat the Cloud Whales exhibited, they launched attacks towards them in an effort to destroy them. In response, Krune casually condensed a massive wall of ice suffused with plenty of Godly Energy to defend against the attacks.

He then looked at Hrook, directing the question to everyone behind him, "Can you revive?"

"Well, that's your worry," he concluded.

Air Needle!

Instantly, the attacks bombed through the place, piercing through the bodies of countless cultivators, destroying their bodies. And when their bodies turned into liquid—thanks to their Spiritual Incarnation—before morphing into their original forms, the air needles riddled them with holes once again.

They were being destroyed one after another as the Cloud Whales constantly condensed air into their bodies before firing off the Air Needles.

In the meantime, Krune gazed at Hrook, calmly taking out his Pestlor as he said, "Man, you really are stupid."

"Such a blatant show-off!" Hrook snorted, unaffected by the cultivators that were struggling behind him. Even though they were being thrashed about by the Air Needles, none of them had died yet. After all, this level of attack wasn't enough to kill them. Being supported by their Land Incarnations, they could heal all their injuries without trouble.

"I'll show you true power.." Hrook's body slowly turned beet red as a figure of a fish with needles all over its body condensed around him.