The One King

Azrael descended from the sky and landed beside Gaia.

He said nothing.

He merely cast one final glance at the city, parts of which had been reduced to a sea of ashes, before turning and walking forward.

Gaia followed him in silence.

They entered the city together.

Yet the scene before them was vastly different from the joy that had spread among the citizens after the fall of the Rain Empire's soldiers.

The aftermath of the invasion was visible everywhere.

Homes lay in ruins.

Shops had been emptied.

Bloodstains covered the walls.

People wandered through the streets with pale faces. Some carried the few possessions they had managed to save, while others desperately tried to repair whatever could still be salvaged.

The soldiers of the Rain Empire had stripped the citizens of everything valuable.

They had enslaved the men.

They had violated the women.

And the scars of their actions were carved deeply into the faces of the survivors.

Gaia stopped for a moment as she looked at the scene.

Azrael's expression did not change.

There was no anger.

No sorrow.

No pity.

To the people of this city, this was a tragedy.

But to Azrael...

It was nothing compared to what he had witnessed during his other lives.

He had seen wars, massacres, and exterminations countless times more horrific than this.

Such scenes were no longer enough to shake his heart.

He continued walking.

Eventually, they reached the center of the city.

A massive palace stood before them.

Although parts of it had been damaged, its enormous size and former grandeur were enough to reveal the status its owner had once possessed.

But what caught Gaia's attention was not the palace itself.

It was what hung above its entrance.

A man's head.

It was covered in blood and impaled upon a long spear.

Gaia stared at it for a moment before asking one of the survivors who it belonged to.

After a short while, she returned to Azrael.

"It is the City Lord."

Azrael turned toward her.

She continued,

"When the Rain Empire's army arrived, he refused to surrender."

"They destroyed the city."

"All of the local soldiers were killed..."

Her voice lowered.

"And every cultivator in the city was slaughtered."

Azrael's expression remained unchanged.

But deep within his heart, he had already made a decision.

It did not matter whether the City Lord had died.

It did not matter whether the Rain Empire had conquered this kingdom.

He had only one goal.

Power.

Then revenge.

Azrael released his spiritual sense.

In an instant, it swept through the entire palace.

He examined the rooms.

The corridors.

The halls.

Then his perception stopped at a particular location.

The library.

Without hesitation, he entered the palace.

A few minutes later, he and Gaia arrived at a massive library.

Azrael opened the door.

They entered.

He then closed the door behind them.

He began moving between the shelves.

There were books detailing the history of the kingdom.

Books about the geography of the world.

Maps of the continents.

Records of the various empires.

Biographies of famous figures.

And texts describing the major factions of the world.

Azrael selected a large collection of books and sat down.

Then he began reading.

Gaia sat beside him.

At first, she tried to follow the books he was reading.

But before long, she found herself doing something else.

She would look at the books.

Then at Azrael's face.

Then back at the books.

Eventually, her eyelids grew heavy.

And before long...

She fell asleep beside him.

Azrael continued reading.

One book after another.

Hour after hour.

Several hours passed.

Finally, he closed the last book.

He raised his head and let out a quiet breath.

"Now I have a general understanding of this world."

He had lived one of his previous incarnations in this world for twenty-one years.

Yet that life had given him almost no genuine knowledge of the world.

The fragment of his soul that had lived that life had remained with a simple tribe and had never traveled more than a few miles from it.

Everything he had known about the outside world had come from the old man who had saved and raised him.

The old man.

The moment Azrael remembered him, a strange emotion surfaced within him.

Sorrow.

He had shared no blood relation with that old man.

Yet that man had done something his true family had never done.

He had saved him.

Raised him.

Fed him.

Sheltered him.

He had given him a home.

He had given him a family.

And because of that, the fragment of his soul that had lived that life—whom Azrael could call Dugon—had always regarded the old man as his true family.

His death while protecting him...

Was something Azrael could never forget.

He lowered his eyes.

"I will bury the Rain Empire alongside him."

He spoke quietly.

"Once I possess enough power."

Silence filled the library.

Then Gaia moved.

She slowly opened her eyes.

Still half-asleep, she looked around.

Her gaze eventually landed on Azrael.

Azrael noticed her staring.

He turned toward her.

Her appearance was slightly disheveled from sleep.

Her long red hair was somewhat messy, and her golden eyes were only half-open.

And for the first time in a very long while...

Azrael smiled.

It was a faint, unconscious smile.

Gaia froze.

Her eyes widened.

This was the first time she had ever seen him smile.

She had never expected his smile to be...

so beautiful.

After several minutes, Gaia finally became fully awake.

Then she realized that Azrael was still looking at her with that faint smile.

Her cheeks reddened slightly.

Azrael turned toward her and said,

"Gaia."

She froze.

It was the first time he had called her by her name.

"I need you to tell me everything about this world."

The traces of sleep disappeared from her eyes.

She was surprised once again by his request.

She gathered herself and asked seriously,

"What do you want to know?"

Azrael looked at her.

"Tell me about the strongest factions in the world."

Gaia thought for a moment.

Then began:

"The strongest faction without a doubt is the Heavenly Council."

Her expression became serious.

"But the Heavenly Council isn't a single faction in the conventional sense."

"It is an alliance formed by the strongest factions of various races."

"Together, they are known as the Guardians of the Races."

"They have taken it upon themselves to maintain peace throughout the world and punish those who commit crimes."

Azrael listened silently.

Gaia continued,

"There are also the Nine Immortal Families."

"They are nine ancient families that possess numerous Immortals. Some of their ancestors have even reached the Divine Ascension Realm."

She looked at him.

"Once a cultivator reaches the Immortal Realm, they aren't required to ascend to the Divine Realm."

"They can remain in the mortal world."

"However, advancing further becomes much more difficult because of the scarcity of resources."

Azrael gave a slight nod.

Gaia continued:

"There are also the Three Ocean Clans."

"They are located in the eastern region of the world, and each of the three clans rules over a portion of the Eastern Seas."

"Each clan is ruled by a Divine Ascender."

Then she said,

"In the Northern Continent, there is the Barbarian Tribe."

"It is ruled by an ancient beast that has reached the final stages of the Divine Ascension Realm."

"He is known as the Great Barbarian King."

She paused before continuing.

"There is also the Heavenly Serpent Empire."

Azrael looked at her.

"Your empire?"

Gaia nodded.

"Yes."

"It has an ancestor who has reached the Divine Ascension Realm."

She continued,

"Then, in the Central Continent, there is the Central Empire."

"It is the strongest human empire in the world."

"It is ruled by the Empress of Ur."

Azrael's expression changed slightly.

Gaia continued,

"She is said to be the only person in the entire Mortal World to have reached the peak of the Divine Ascension Realm."

She then added,

"In the Southern Continent, there is also a massive bandit organization."

"But it should not be underestimated."

"They possess a Divine Ascender, as well as several Immortals."

Gaia fell silent.

Azrael remained quiet.

The information began to assemble inside his mind.

The Heavenly Council.

The first word he had managed to grasp when he attempted to trace the threads of fate and karma.

Then...

God.

The second word.

Azrael slowly raised his eyes.

If the Heavenly Council was connected to the gods...

Then perhaps what had happened to him had not been an accident.

Perhaps the Heavenly Council had been one of the parties responsible for splitting his soul.

But that was merely an assumption.

He needed more information.

So he asked:

"Can the gods descend into the Mortal World?"

Gaia shook her head.

"According to the legends, no."

"After the Primordial War and the division of the world, the Will of Panguya intervened."

"It sealed the other two dimensions in order to protect the Mortal World."

"Because of this, the gods cannot personally descend into the Mortal World."

She paused.

"However..."

"Their divine consciousness can descend through their messengers."

Silence filled the library.

Azrael said nothing.

But his eyes had grown deeper.

Gods.

The Heavenly Council.

Perhaps he had finally found the first genuine thread leading him toward the truth.

Now...

He only needed to become strong enough to pull it.

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