The Desolate Era

Iyerre stood there in empty space, staring at the floating mountain before him and the clearly visible log cabins at the very top. Given his abilities, he was able to sense that within the log cabin sat Autarch Mogg.

Generally speaking, for someone like Autarch Mogg, it was impossible for him not to notice when someone was staring at him. However, Iyerre was able to do so without him noticing anything at all.

“Autarch Mogg of the cultivators. He really spent quite a bit of effort putting this mountain together. It is filled with all sorts of seals and scanners.” Iyerre smiled as he continued to inspect the place. Autarch Mogg’s various warning systems and barriers were perhaps quite troublesome for other major powers on his level, but they were nothing more than parlor tricks to something like Iyerre.

Iyerre was able to see immediately through the many flaws of these defenses. This was due to the far superior level of insight he possessed! He had been able to create things like the Annihilation Hive and the formation temples, all of which had stunned Ji Ning and Titanos. Everyone had been certain that only a Lord of Chaos could’ve created such incredible edifices.

Ning and the others certainly weren’t able to create such things, but finding a few weak spots and exploiting them was much easier. Even so, only Autarch Titanos had been able to devise the reverse-vortex formation, while Ning had spent many days before managing to overcome the Eight Revolutions Spacetime Temple.

This was a testament to the difference in insight between them!

When the Autarchs had set down those many layers of seals around the heart of the Sithelands, they have felt that the Sithe would be unable to escape… but in truth, those seals had been an utter joke to Iyerre, who was able to bypass them with ease. The only reason he pretended his forces were sealed away was to ensure that the cultivators would lessen their vigilance against him. In truth, he had long ago sent his countless Hegemons and Emperors to the various secret dimensions.

“This mountain might be able to stop the Autarchs, but it cannot bar my path.” Iyerre smiled as he walked closer towards it.

Whoosh. His entire body became vaguely incorporeal and semi-translucent. He slowly strolled forwards, moving towards the mountain peak and then climbing up it.

The many barriers atop the mountain were completely incapable of barring his path. Autarch Mogg was highly skilled in the Dao of Space, and his various seals and barriers were all dimensional in nature. However, Iyerre was using an even more profound application of the mysteries of space to become part of ordinary space itself, making the barriers completely ineffective against him.

After walking for ten seconds, Iyerre came to a sudden halt. He frowned slightly as he stared at the distant log cabin. “A Dao Domain field?” This was a bit more troubling. Dao Domains were also known as Essence Domains. Ning had his Sword Dao Domain, while Autarch Mogg had his Space Daobirth Essence Domain.

This was a time of war. Although Autarch Mogg’s true body was not taking part in combat right now, he still vigilantly kept his domain up at all times. He didn’t put too much effort into it, but it was still enough to cover half of the mountain. Any enemies who penetrated this mountain would be instantly discovered by his domain.

“The power of his domain comes from the Chaosverse itself; it represents a domain formed by the power of the prime essences. I can avoid the prime essences and make it impossible for them to detect me, but I’d be discovered as soon as I entered the reach of his domain.” Iyerre pondered this question. “Suppressed by this Chaosverse, I’m unable to use any of the Dao’s power at all. I’m stronger than these native Autarchs, but not by that much. I don’t have the overwhelming advantage that I should.”

This was why he had brought three mighty helpers when he had gone off to fight Ning. Now that he knew Ning had escaped, Iyerre had parted ways from the three. They were each responsible for killing one Autarch… but now that they had separated, Iyerre ‘only’ had a 80% chance of killing Autarch Mogg, who was even weaker than Ning.

“I’m hidden in the darkness. He has no idea how strong I am. I’ll definitely be able to kill him in this battle.”

“Time to attack.” Iyerre began to make his move. He reached out with his ivory-skinned right hand, penetrating the Space Daobirth Essence Domain and sending a series of gentle, comfortable ripples straight into the mind of Autarch Mogg, who was still seated in the log cabin.

“Hrm?” Autarch Mogg suddenly felt very comfortable and at peace. This gentle feeling caused a hint of a smile to naturally appear around his lips. Freedom… release… the glorious joy brought by the light filled his every thought, banishing all his worries and concerns.

Whoosh! The alabaster hand shot out with incredible speed, piercing through the various spatial barriers and the impediment of the Essence Domain to strike towards the log cabin.

His domain had clearly been intruded upon… but right now, Autarch Mogg only felt a sense of relief and release, as though he had never been as free and relaxed as he was right now. “It’s all in the past now. All my worries and concerns are over… wait. No. The war against the Sithe just started. We’re in the middle of a war! How could I possibly be truly relaxed and carefree?” Autarch Mogg quickly came back to his senses, and when he did he immediately ‘saw’ that hand pierce through his domain. By now, it had already reached the log cabin.

The alabaster hand passed straight through the cabin itself, not damaging it in the slightest. A tremendous sense of danger filled Autarch Mogg’s mind, terrorizing him.

“How could I have ignored it when it passed through my domain? How could I have been drawn into a state of completely relaxation without even realizing it?” Autarch Mogg was utterly terrified by the implications of this. Being trapped in an illusion was one thing, but this had been no illusion! His spirit and his thoughts had been manipulated without him even realizing it, even though he was an Autarch! He had only come back to his senses after sensing the obvious contradiction of him being at ‘peace’ during a time of war.

“Who? Who did this?!” Autarch Mogg had no time to analyze things. He immediately manifested six arms, clasping a saber in each hand and using them to launch a marvelous coordinated attack against that alabaster hand. His saber-light flashed like dimensional edges, moving with inscrutable speed.

The alabaster hand ‘danced’ towards him in such a gentle, beautiful, and graceful manner that Autarch Mogg’s spirit was shaken once more. Flick! The fingers of that hand gently brushed against the saber-light, causing it to be dispersed and redirected elsewhere. Flick! Flick! Two of Mogg’s other sabers were pushed aside as well. The alabaster hand had used almost no power to defend, but none of Autarch Mogg’s attacks were able to land on it.

Mogg’s three remaining sabers spun in concert to form a tight defense around him out of saber-light that was linked together with space itself. It was as though an independent dimension was standing in front of him, helping him block.

Riiiip! The giant hand suddenly became bright and sharp, tearing past two of the sabers. Mogg’s defensive saber-arts were his pride and joy, but they were completely unable to defend against this giant hand. As for the dimensional barrier he had erected before him, it was instantly pierced through as the giant hand stabbed at Autarch Mogg’s chest.

“Run!” Autarch Mogg was truly stunned and terrified. The seven Autarchs had often sparred against each other and held Dao debates with each other, but not even the most powerful (Ji Ning) had been able to gain such a major advantage over him in their fights.

“This person is significantly more powerful than even Darknorth!” Autarch Mogg exclaimed to himself in amazement.

As he retreated, the light from the giant hand had already reached out to stab him in his chest. Autarch Mogg could sense a sharp, penetrative force dig deep into his body, causing him to vomit out a mouthful of blood. He hurriedly summoned the mana in his body to resist this attack, but the invading energy was extremely difficult to deal with. In the end, Autarch Mogg was only able to cancel out the invading energy with his mana by throwing an enormous amount of energy at it. This had actually cost him more than 30% of his total power.

A single quickly clash had resulted in him being badly wounded!

Boom! Autarch Mogg was sent flying into the walls of the log cabin from this blow. The log cabin instantly blew apart, and even the barriers surrounding the area began to tremble. The surrounding area collapsed, transforming into a dark region of primordial chaos… and from within the darkness emerged a gray-robed, barefoot man who strode through the collapsing dimension with ease, completely unaffected.

“Who are you?!” Autarch Mogg shouted frantically. In all his battles against the Sithe, he had never once encountered any individual who held such a terrifying advantage in power over him.

“My name is Iyerre. I’m here to kill you.” Iyerre smiled, but he moved incredibly fast. He gave Autarch Mogg no reprieve at all, charging towards him right away.

“Flee.” Autarch Mogg knew that he had just run into a terrifyingly strong foe. If this battle continued, he’d probably end up dying here. Without hesitation, he chose to immediately flee!

When Iyerre saw that Autarch Mogg was trying to warp through spacetime to escape, he tapped his foot downwards. “Freeze.” An invisible ripple sprang out, completely sealing off spacetime in the area around them, making it impossible to warp away!

“He’s actually even more formidable than I am when it comes to the Dao of Space?!” Autarch Mogg could quickly sense how spacetime had been locked away. He himself was also capable of suppressing spacetime, but he wouldn’t be able to do it this easily or to this effect. He couldn’t help but feel amazed as he transformed into a streak of light and began to physically flee.

Iyerre frowned as he watched Autarch Mogg flee: “These native Autarchs are able to use the boundless power of the Dao. In my homeland, I could exterminate these creatures with the wave of a hand… but in their own Chaosverse, killing them is really quite difficult.”