The Almighty Ring

“Surprise me,” said the Emperor Alistair with a frown before the royal guards took their defensive stance around him. To be fair, he was a little annoyed to be asked such a question. He was a straightforward man and when he asked for someone to be killed, there were a million ways the deed could be done. Why ask such a question then? To make a joke? That being said, the Highlord Advisor was powerful; measured combat level at over ten million. That gave him a certain leeway for him to talk around the Emperor as long as it was not degrading or a direct insult.

“Enjoy whatever breath you have left for I, the Highlord Advisor, have decided to dispose of you!” said the man as he kicked off the ground and made a straight charge for Jiang Fei. With their own device, the Highlord Advisor had already gauged Jiang Fei’s combat level and knew that he had only over four million combat level. He was only as strong as a captain of a small platoon in the Royal Guards.

“Another one to bite the dust,” Jiang Fei muttered. A grin was made and the air around him crackled with dark energy.

Creak! Crack! Kreeeek!

Almost every combat level measuring device within a certain vicinity broke down immediately. Some were still working fine. Those who were still conscious enough to read the devices were shocked.

“Impossible!” the Highlord Advisor gasped. His own device was definitely one of the surviving ones and based on its reading, the man cloaked in black, covered in black smog, with dark energy crackling about him, had a combat level reading of over 15 million! He was stronger than the Highlord himself!

“How strong…” 0541 thought to himself. Even though Jiang Fei and Umbral Jiang Fei were of one body, Jiang Fei himself had never once been able to push himself to get a combat level of over ten million. Somehow, for whatever unknown reason, Umbral Jiang Fei was able to break through the threshold and become a being that great in strength.

Thud.

A deep, bass-like sound was heard and Umbral Jiang Fei disappeared. In the next moment, the same sound was heard and Umbral Jiang Fei’s fist was planted into the Highlord Advisor’s chest. Although his attack was not penetrative, it carried with him an explosive force that knocked the Highlord off his feet, and he ended up zooming across the air, slamming against a wall hundreds of meters away before bouncing off it.

“Dammit! Some luck I have…”

The Highlord Advisor struggled to get on his feet. Blood was flowing down his forehead and his overly decorated clothing was ruined. He wiped away the flowing blood from his delicate, porcelain face before groaning again in pain. It was rare for someone like him to even exist in the universe especially when it got exponentially rarer for someone with a combat level of above ten million to exist, which explained the disgruntlement he felt. The Highlord tried to brush his injuries off but a few broken ribs and perforated internals were something that he could not hide.

“I have to use my strongest skill next,” the Highlord Advisor thought to himself. The man was clearly stronger in terms of combat level but if there was one thing that every powerful Alderaanian had that won over others, that was their confidence in psychic energy. It was something that he was adept at, coincidentally, the prime factor that gave him the chance to be where he was.

He took out a small vial and emptied the contents into his mouth, gulping it down. Much like the miracle that was Jiang Fei’s Health Potion he had brought out from the game, the contents of the vial seemed to have the same effect; healing wounds in a flash.

“Interesting.”

The ends of Jiang Fei’s lips arched into a grin. He saw the Highlord’s movements as he retrieved the vial yet chose willingly not to press on for an attack. He wanted to “give” his enemy a chance, perhaps to seek for even more excitement in battle.

“You’ll be sorry you attacked an Alderaanian!” the Highlord muttered inaudibly under his breath. The man in black might be stronger physically but he was confident in his skill in psychic manipulation. As long as he could disrupt the enemy’s senses for just a second, he would have every window he needed to end the fight right there and then.

The Highlord leaped forward and at the same time, a concentrated psychic needle was shot out toward Jiang Fei.

“Sheesh… Just when I got my hopes up.”

Jiang Fei sighed. When it came to psychic power, no one besides Theon could do any harm to him.

The needle struck Jiang Fei’s mind and just dissipated like a cube of salt in the ocean.

“No…”

The Highlord Advisor panicked. He knew that his attack connected smoothly yet it was so ineffective that it didn’t even make his enemy flinch. All was lost as he was already on his way toward Jiang Fei, like delivering himself into the mouth of a tiger.

“You need to open yourself up a little more! Let me show you the true form of psychic power!” Jiang Fei howled as his grin turned into a maddening laugh. A surge of energy blasted out, like a tsunami of psychic energy, before it completely drowned the Highlord Advisor of the Emperor.

“Oughh! Ouuughhh!”

The man dropped to the ground. His skin ripped apart on its own and his ears burst with blood pouring out like an open faucet. His eyes were now red as they drowned in his own blood.

Umbral Jiang Fei paced nonchalantly toward the incapacitated man and picked him up by the neck.

Defeated, the Highlord Advisor tried to fight back but his mind was so damaged that he could not even consciously control his body like before. In fact, it felt like piloting a broken machine that would not listen to the command given.

“Your highness, the Emperor, how would you like me to prepare this man? Whole, or shredded?” said Jiang Fei as he grinned at the emperor who was still hiding behind a row of royal guards. A black, swirling energy formed around Jiang Fei and it crawled toward his hands, “grabbing” the Highlord in place. The Highlord was now suspended in the air by the black energy and continued to soar higher and higher.

“Guards! Save the advisor!” Emperor Alistair decreed. The Highlord Advisor was a person too important to let die. He was groomed to be a powerful individual to serve the empire and for what it’s worth, he must not die.

“Perhaps, I should make this decision!” Umbral Jiang Fei grinned once more and aimed his open palm at the suspended man.

With an unknown power, Umbral Jiang Fei closed his palm and before the struggling Highlord Advisor could do anything, his entire body exploded spectacularly. His four limbs were sent flying in different directions while his severed head landed right in front of Emperor Alistair.

“Protect the emperor!” the officiant roared. Royal guards and other hired security personnel hurried to the emperor and formed a tight border around him.

“Contact the three Archbishops and summon Marshal Gautian now!” said the emperor in a calm and collected manner. Despite being a little startled at the sight of excessive violence, he remained composed as his sight was still glued to Jiang Fei.

“Do what you want. I have no fear for you nor qualms about destroying you,” said Jiang Fei whilst he stretched his neck and hands; displaying a nonchalant disposition. He turned about and paced hurriedly to Aurelia.

“N-No! D-D-D-D-Don’t come any closer! My father will hear of this!” cried Victor like any other stereotypically spoiled brat. The Emperor and Victor’s appearances were heaven and earth. It was a shameful display and to make things worse, the wedding’s broadcast was still ongoing. Everyone watching the streaming had just witnessed how a person like Victor behaved in danger.

“Seems like I have wronged Aurelia…” the Emperor thought to himself and sighed heavily. He knew, all along, that Victor was never even on the list to be paired with the great Ice Queen, Aurelia. Still, his family was famous and Victor’s father had been nothing but a helpful and reliable friend to the empire. Be it as it may, the emperor forgot to account for the poor girl’s feelings. Seeing as how Victor behaved today, the emperor started to regret agreeing to the wedding arrangement.

“You sicken me,” Jiang Fei hummed when he stood in front of the floored Victor. He swung his hand and slapped him hard, leaving a bright red mark handprint on his cheek.

Jiang Fei was not going to kill him. Not because he was afraid of the repercussions of killing the son of an important famous family, but because he was not even worth being killed. Killing him would only sully his hands and the rage in Umbral Jiang Fei’s heart would still remain.