Chapter 48: The Consolidation of Power
Silence descended upon the battlefield like a shroud.
After witnessing the casual annihilation of Hua Ye's ultimate weapon, every combatant struggled to process what they had observed.
The fundamental laws of reality had been bent, twisted, and ultimately discarded as mere suggestions.
Han Sen had always known the Emperor possessed incredible power and mysterious capabilities.
Yet he had never conceived that His solution to an artificial black hole would be to simply... tear it apart like parchment. Converting space-time itself into a two-dimensional plane, then destroying it entirely.
Lena, Liu Chuang, and the other members of the Xiong Bing Company stared in slack-jawed disbelief.
Such methods transcended even their understanding of advanced physics, making these enhanced soldiers, these beings who called themselves gods, feel like primitive tribesmen wielding stone axes.
The surviving angels participating in the battle, Zhixin, Lingxi, and their sisters, remained equally stunned.
Heavenly King Hexi had fallen into critical stasis attempting to counter Hua Ye's artificial singularity weapon. Yet this human called the Emperor had simply erased it from existence.
Sumali, Ruoning, Titan, and Mutou, all those pledged to Hua Ye's cause, felt ice crystallize in their veins. An overwhelming sense of futility washed over them, deeper than any they had experienced facing even cosmic-tier entities like Holy Angel Keisha.
The Emperor's methods defied comprehension. They operated beyond the constraints of physical law itself.
This was divinity made manifest. This was what it meant to be a god.
Hua Ye swallowed hard, his confidence cracking as he forced a smile.
"Indeed, you are the one Karl fears. Truly terrifying."
"It seems I can no longer afford restraint. Witness now my ultimate technique."
Hua Ye extended his hand, pupils flooding with cascading streams of data, zeros and ones interspersed with complex runic algorithms.
Another lightless void began forming before him, expanding with predatory hunger.
The Emperor's stance shifted, preparing to erase this second manifestation of gravitational weaponry.
Then the black hole transformed. Darkness gave way to brilliant radiance as the singularity became something else entirely, a wormhole gateway pulsing with escape velocity.
Hua Ye spread his wings and dove through the portal without hesitation.
He abandoned everything, his subordinates, his invasion fleet, even the Heavenly Palace that had reached the system's edge. Naked retreat was preferable to annihilation.
Sumali and the other loyalists stared in shock for precious seconds before following their master's example. With such overwhelming power defending Earth, victory had become impossible. Survival demanded immediate withdrawal.
"Don't let them escape!"
Lena recovered first, her voice cutting through the stupor gripping her comrades. She punctuated her command with a searing beam of stellar energy that vaporized a fleeing male angel entirely.
The others snapped to attention and resumed the pursuit. With their leadership fled, the remaining enemy forces proved no match for the Xiong Bing Company's coordinated assault.
A crisis that could have extinguished human civilization was resolved through the simple expedient of the Emperor's return.
After the rout concluded, Liu Chuang, Chen Yaowen, Zhao Xin, and others swarmed around the Emperor. They bombarded Him with questions about His absence, His wellbeing, the reasons for His prolonged silence.
"I'm Sorry" Lena approached differently. She offered no queries, only an apology weighted with months of anguish.
"This is all my fault for being too presumptuous. Everything that happened on Emerald Star, my mistake."
The Xiong Bing Company members exchanged glances, falling silent at her words. The Emerald Star incident remained Lena's deepest wound, having driven her to the brink of self-destruction before her comrades pulled her back from that abyss.
"Do not apologize, Lena." The Emperor moved through the gathered warriors to stand before her, placing one massive, gauntleted hand upon her shoulder with surprising gentleness. "This matter was not your failing. You simply underestimated our enemies."
"Furthermore, Emerald Star's destruction had no lasting impact upon Me."
"If anyone should apologize, it is I, for departing without word and causing such distress."
Lena looked up, her eyes bright with unshed tears. For countless days and nights, the Emerald Star incident had consumed her thoughts.
When Earth faced invasion from multiple civilizations. When North Star became a charnel house. When Xiong Bing Company comrades made their final sacrifices.
When desperate people remembered better days under the Emperor's protection.
Self-recrimination had been her constant companion.
The Emperor's return and absolution finally allowed her to release that burden. Suppressed emotions flowed freely.
"I knew you wouldn't die, you impossible man! You had us all terrified!"
Returning to the Xiong Bing Company's void-based stronghold, Du Kao's excitement at learning of the Emperor's return was palpable. The old commander ran to greet Him, a display of emotion rarely seen from the veteran officer.
Du Kao clenched his fist and threw a celebratory punch at the Emperor's chest. The impact against golden power armor left him shaking his bruised knuckles ruefully.
Earth's Super God Academy had relocated to the same void station for security. News of the Emperor's return brought faculty members streaming from their quarters, eager to meet the legendary figure who had emerged from their institution.
The Emperor surveyed the assembled academics, noting one significant absence.
"Where is Principal Kilan?" He asked Ruisz directly.
The elderly survivor of the God River Civilization had provided invaluable assistance during His time at the academy. Humanity's successful genetic enhancement programs owed much to the principal's guidance.
Now the Emperor had returned with matters of cosmic significance to discuss.
He intended to establish a Human Empire within this universe as well, a foundation that could eventually merge with its counterpart through interdimensional channels.
As the Raven had eloquently explained it: "Create enough Human Empire offshoots, then synthesize them all together, and you'll get one really impressive Multi-Universe superpower."
The Emperor planned to convince Principal Kilan to rally the scattered God River remnants and assist Earth's civilization in building this imperial foundation.
Ruisz's expression darkened with sorrow.
"After the Emerald Star explosion, when you vanished without trace, life or death unknown, Principal Kilan took it badly. He became deeply depressed."
"Eventually, he concluded that the struggles between civilizations were meaningless. He chose to dedicate himself entirely to exploring universal truths, transforming into Cosmic Consciousness."
The Emperor's expression tightened slightly. He had not anticipated His departure would trigger such consequences. Future interdimensional travels would require more careful preparation.
"Can we still establish contact?"
Ruisz nodded slowly.
"It's possible, but difficult. We can usually only communicate when he chooses to manifest. If he doesn't wish contact, there's typically no response. But for you, Principal would likely make an exception."
"Arrange the meeting," the Emperor commanded. "I have matters of utmost importance to discuss before My next departure. Everything must be properly ordered."
Hua Ye and his surviving loyalists fled until they reached the Dark Nebula before daring to stop.
The shadow the Emperor cast over them was absolute, a being who could casually tear apart black holes would find their destruction trivial.
Such battles could not be fought. Such enemies could not be faced.
"Why are you here already?"
Karl regarded the disheveled Hua Ye and his retinue with confusion. The Solar System engagement should have lasted much longer according to his calculations. No word of defeat had yet reached him.
Hua Ye bore the expression of one who had glimpsed the abyss and barely escaped.
"If I hadn't fled immediately, I would never have had another chance."
"That accursed Earth harbors horrors beyond imagination. No wonder Liangbing withdrew her demon legions after eliminating Keisha."
"Karl, you duplicitous wretch, were you intentionally setting me up for destruction? You called that thing merely 'concerning'? In the known universe, nothing approaches that level of terror."
Karl's mind raced, processing implications. If Hua Ye had been routed so completely, so quickly, then his calculations regarding the Emperor's capabilities had been catastrophically inadequate.
The game had changed. The Emperor was no longer merely a variable to monitor.
He was a force that could reshape the cosmic order itself.
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