The Central Plains burned.
Smoke swallowed the horizon, houses crumbled into ash, and the wails of the dying mixed with the roaring flames. Bodies lay scattered across the ruined streets—warriors, civilians, even children—none spared from the calamity that had fallen upon Murim.
At the center of the devastation stood a lone man, calm as death itself.
Axcel.
The Heavenly Emperor Demon.
A figure who should never have existed in the mortal world.
---
Karim, the Fist God and one of the Five Kings of the Central Plains, staggered through the rubble, blood dripping from his fists. His eyes burned with fury.
"How dare you!" Karim roared. "How dare you slaughter our people and destroy the peace of Murim! What is your intention, Axcel!?"
Axcel looked at him with detached amusement, as if the destruction around them was nothing more than a passing inconvenience.
Karim gritted his teeth. "I, Karim of the Five Kings, will take you down! Dragon Fist Lightning!"
He vanished—moving so fast that dozens of afterimages split across the battlefield—and unleashed a flurry of blows. Fists infused with thunder crashed toward Axcel like falling meteors.
But Axcel simply tilted his head.
Every strike missed.
"You're amusing," Axcel said lightly. "Is this truly the limit of one of the Five Kings?"
Karim's rage boiled over. "I'll kill you, Axcel!"
He gathered his qi once more. "Second Dragon Fist—Lightning Collapse!"
BOOOOOOM!
The impact ripped a crater into the earth, shockwaves flattening the burning remains of nearby buildings.
Karim panted heavily, staring at the smoke cloud. "You arrogant bastard… Let's see if you're still alive!"
But as the smoke thinned…
Axcel was standing exactly where he had been, unharmed.
With his arms casually crossed.
Karim's eyes widened in terror. "You… you blocked a Dragon Fist with your bare hands… What are you? Are you even human? Or have you already stepped into the Transcendence Realm…?"
Axcel stepped forward, his expression bored.
"Is this all you people of this world can do?" he said softly. "Perhaps even your gods have abandoned you."
Karim trembled. "Y–You monster…"
Axcel tilted his head. "Monster? Maybe. Or maybe I simply don't belong here."
---
A sudden ripple of qi cut through the battlefield.
Axcel paused, eyes shifting toward the four presences approaching.
From the smoke and ruins emerged four legendary figures:
Sword Emperor Ryujin
Heavenly Blade Shifu
White Sword of Mount Hua, Karem
Undestructible Body of Shaolin, Meepo
The Four Pillars of Murim.
Axcel smiled faintly. "All four of you? It has been a long time."
Ryujin's sword hummed with killing intent. "Axcel, Heavenly Emperor Demon… today, your reign ends."
Axcel spread his arms, as if welcoming them.
"I am Axcel, Ninth Heavenly Emperor Demon and Patriarch of the Demonic Cult. And the reason I kill you all… is simple."
His smile faded.
"I'm bored."
The wind turned cold.
"And… I want to go back."
The four masters exchanged confused glances as Axcel pointed toward the sky—toward the distant stars barely visible through the smoke.
"You see, I'm not from this world. I come from somewhere… far away. Maybe one of those distant stars."
His eyes dimmed, grief flickering beneath the monstrous aura.
"It has been one hundred years since I last saw my home."
He clenched his fist.
"If you want to blame someone, blame your god. He trapped me here. He took everything from me."
His voice dropped to a whisper filled with sorrow and rage.
"I just want to go back…"
Power rippled from his body, cracking the earth.
"That is why I killed half your population. Out of vengeance. Out of despair. I lived quietly… and your god dared to imprison me in this world."
He raised his eyes to the heavens, laughter echoing through the ruins.
"So now… let us see."
His voice thundered across the destroyed plains.
"Will your god finally show himself?"
"You crazed madman… we're going to kill you!"
Heaven Sword Slash!
A blinding arc of light tore across the battlefield—bright enough to split mountains, a transcendence-level technique once known only to the Sword Emperor.
SWIFFFF—BOOOOM!
Smoke burst outward, swallowing the entire Murim in a roaring haze. Through the dust, the warriors rushed forward, searching for Axcel. They knew—instinctively—that he was still alive.
"Hand of the Buddha!"
Meepo unleashed his forbidden technique, a colossal palm of qi descending from above and flattening the ruins beneath it.
Another explosion thundered out.
Axcel shot into the air, leaping high enough to escape the suffocating smoke.
"Demonic Blood Slash!"
SWIIIF—BOOOOM!
Yet another violent blast echoed across the land.
"Get out of here!" someone shouted. "We can't survive in this battlefield!"
Countless people were trapped beneath the rubble—civilians who had tried to hide, only to be swept away by the clash of titans. Screams rose in every direction. A child wailed over her father's lifeless body, lost in agony.
Sword God Ryuji raised his qi, the force strong enough to push the smoke aside.
"Karem White Sword," Ryuji muttered, brows tightening, "if we drag this out any longer, even more people will die. Casualties will only keep rising."
"There's something wrong," he added quietly. "his companions aren't here. I can sense it… we're being surrounded."
"Rowen!" he called sharply into the air.
A figure appeared instantly, descending like a shadow given form.
"Send for reinforcements," Ryuji ordered. "Guard the west and south gates. All of them. And deliver a message—tell them we need help immediately."