"I wanted to continue watching this show quietly, but you bastards are too fucking noisy! If this keeps up and my wife is angered awake, even I can't predict what will happen, and I'm her damn husband! Fuck!"
Asmodian, Uranus, Elyos, Veranda, Human Sovereign, Elf Sovereign, and Beast Sovereign.
Everyone stared blankly at the man who sat on a not-so-faraway asteroid.
He was a man that seemed to be middle-aged with a fair complexion, bright and deep brown eyes, short black hair, and long black robes that fluttered gently in this vacuum of space.
"Handsome brother over there, what is the matter?" Veranda smiled enchantingly, appearing right next to Eternus a moment later, leaning against his body with her boneless frame as her slender arms wrapped around his shoulders.
Her violet eyes flashed brightly with curiosity, followed by confusion as she tilted her head.
"Uh miss, I just said that I'm a married man you know?" Eternus smiled bitterly as he noticed a pair of fluffy breasts push down on his arm. Then, with a sigh, a formless aura spread from his body, forming a dark hourglass n the void behind him.
As the hourglass began to turn, specks of black sand fell from one end to the other.
Under everyone's shocked gaze, wrinkles began to appear on Veranda's enchanting face at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"Ah!"
Veranda shrieked loudly as she tore through space and rushed back into her original position, horror filling her violet eyes as the tips of her hair grew white. A few seconds later, the aging stopped, but time had already left wounds on her body.
She now looked like a woman in her early forties, when she was a woman in her early twenties not too long ago.
This wasn't all of it. They didn't know, but she knew that this change in appearance was simply a reflection of the changes that occurred on her original body, planet Veranda, countless light years away.
It was as though the planet had gone through thousands of years in the blink of an eye, though no one on its surface was aware of the changes all around them and deep underground. However, she could feel that the vitality of her Sovereigns had sharply dropped, causing her heart to drop.
If she lost her Sovereigns, the entire cultivation population would descend into chaos.
"This handsome brother over there, I was wrong, please pass my greetings to beautiful big sister-in-law!"
With that, she turned around and left without hesitation, not even sparing Uranus and Elyos a glance to explain the horrors of her experience.
Her thoughts were simple, she would simply wait until the vitality of those two was damaged before swallowing them up.
Veranda's sudden appearance and even more abrupt departure shocked the three Sovereigns into stunned silence.
Eternus looked at the Elf Sovereign with a smile, "Old grandma, it could be said that there is some karma between your Forest of Eternal Spring and my young master, you come here and rest with me for a bit while I entertain these uninvited guests."
Young master?
Human Sovereign and Beast Sovereign gave the Elf Sovereign a bewildered look, but the former quickly connected the dots and blurted out, "That child Leonardo?"
"Hey! Don't disrespect my young master like that— ugh forget it, he doesn't even know about my existence, let alone the fact that his memories are temporarily sealed so don't give him too much face." Eternus was about to snap before he quickly realized the little issue, waving his hand awkwardly.
"Child, this is no fight for mere ants like you to get involved with!" Asmodian finally snapped, his anger boiling over.
One hindrance after another popped up, ruining his plans that stretched for millions of years. Because he was already mad, and he could be considered young compared with Elyos and Uranus, he didn't pay mind to the change in Veranda's attitude.
Thus, the two old men silently blended into the background and watched the developments unfold.
"Although my core is a bit crippled, handling a mere incarnation of a will shouldn't be too difficult. All I need to do is stall you for a little bit after all."
Intentionally or unintentionally, the corner of Eternus' eyes glanced in the direction of Grace Imperial Palace, an unknown light flashing through his eyes.
The three Sovereigns exchanged looks, then they flashed, arriving behind Eternus silently.
The Beast Sovereign no longer had his massive body. However, despite his long white hair, his physical build was akin to a professional bodybuilder with years of experience under his belt.
Uranus and Elyos exchanged a glance, shock evident in their eyes. Since when did humans have cores as well?
As for Asmodian, he thought Eternus was talking about something else entirely, and since he didn't have any misgivings about killing someone who wasn't a Sovereign, he clapped his hands together.
BOOM!
A muffled explosion erupted as a ripple of destruction spread, the opposing forces of his left hand and right hand cracking space-time, and in no time at all, another black hole that seemed to swallow the universe bloomed.
No matter how powerful a cultivator in the middle realms is, their comprehensive limit would always be half-step divinity. Thus, if nothing unexpected went wrong, a black hole of this mass would surely prove devastating for this brat.
The three Sovereigns had ugly expressions as they could feel an even greater power in that flat black hole than the one from earlier; this was a true world-ending attack.
"Child, be careful," cautioned the Elf Sovereign, visible cracks on her walking stick, and the vegetation no longer following in her footsteps. She wanted to take a step forward, but Eternus waved his hand impatiently.
"Just a little trick, the struggles of a weakling!"
As Eternus spoke, the flying disc-shaped black hole suddenly began to slow down as it was approaching their group of four. Then, it came to a complete stop in space.
However, looking carefully, the black hole was still advancing at a speed that could rip space apart, but it seemed as though countless layers of space were being generated in between.
Not an illusory phenomenon, but an actual physical, invisible wall of space that trapped the black hole. Then, under everyone's eyes, the black hole began to scatter and dissipate silently.
Although no one understood what happened, Eternus simply rewinds the time imposed on the attack, having it revert back to a static state of inception. Then, due to the lack of enough energy to excite the black hole, it naturally dissipated.
However, in everyone's eyes, Eternus waved his hand and destroyed such a fearsome attack, making others speculate at the depths of his power.
While Asmodian was shocked, the wall of corporal space wound around his body, trapping him within. Shocked and infuriated, he let out a roar and began to crazily attack on all sides.
However, his attacks seemed to dissipate silently, and his voice never made it past a few miles from his original body. This display shook everyone to the core, while Eternus sighed.
"Some peace at last, this way my wife won't wake up."
As he spoke, he wiped off some cold sweat on his forehead, seemingly very exhausted. While everyone else thought that he was being sarcastic, he was truly very exhausted.
If the other two were to attack now, he would have absolutely nothing to stop them with. Hence, he tacitly acted as though he didn't notice them and turned his head to look at this wise and old Elf Sovereign.
"So grandma, you have some naughty children down there, don't you think?" Eternus was obviously talking about Richard, who assassinated his brother Reinard and usurped the Elven Throne, only to draw this catastrophe on Arcadia and its people.
"I made the senior laugh at me," Elf Sovereign coughed lightly, bowing her head in shame.
"How am I in the mood to laugh when that brat almost sent my eleven-year-old daughter and sixteen-year-old son to meet their ancestors? Haha. Say, I recommend you go back and clean your house before my young master wakes up and decides to take the cleanup into his own hands," Eternus spoke in a light and joking manner, but even the other two Sovereigns quivered, let alone the Elf Sovereign.
The Elf Sovereign and the Human Sovereign exchanged a look, the former then decided to take a step back and travel all the way to the Forest of Eternal Spring to take matters into her own hands.
Moreover, she could clearly feel that this battle has long surpassed their power levels as Sovereigns.
If Arcadia was already mature, then she would have to fight this battle alone. Sadly, however, she was still an immature will of a celestial body.
"Senior, are you going to kill them?"
The simple Beast Sovereign inquisitively asked, his eyes glowing with an unknown light. Far off, the two incarnations also perked up their ears, curious.
Eternus raised an eyebrow. "Me? Kill them? That's too much work! There will naturally be someone to kill them soon… Oh, she's on her way as we speak."