Chapter 182: Divine Retribution

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With the unimpeded advance of time, 60 years flew by in the blink of an eye.

Due to a number of Physique's that Azmodeus acquired over the long years of farming in the Astral Plane and Boundless Void, his talent spiked up over and over again. This allowed him to reach the precipice of the Comet's Passage Realm ahead of schedule.

However, on the day that his breakthrough was on the verge of commencing, he received baffling news that the Ruler of the Vermillion Phoenix Providence was on the move. Apparently, he planned to send out the Heroes and 'Vermillion's' ahead of time, all of whom were in and above the Platinum Rank!

It was quite obvious that they were planning to wage war with the Azura Kingdom after figuring out that they were progressing far faster economically than they thought they would.

However, the moment that Tai Qui, the 'Phoenix Conqueror' made it to the barrier between their 'Black Square' and the Azura Kingdom's 'Red Square', they were prevented from passing through due to the time not being ripe.

Following this prevention of advancement, Tai Qui flew into a rage and destroyed massive segments of his own territory while spouting profanities like 'I should've let Xinyi Hai and Xia Mu to do whatever they wished with that accursed Duke's daughter while I had the chance!'. There were also a couple curses like 'That damn Goddess and her games!!!'.

The Phoenix Conqueror ended up killing dozens of his own Platinum Rank Warriors while in such a fury-fed state. And it was this action that led to his own vassals turning against him.

Because of this, the Azura Kingdom was able to gain some respite from those who were allowed to pass through the barrier between Squares.

One might wonder how it was possible for people to go through a barrier that was previously deemed 'impassable', but the truth was that the barrier was only active for those who surpassed a certain level of strength.

For those below the Later Stages of the Early-Platinum Rank, like where Azmodeus was while he was fighting at the Battle of Riveredge Pass, there was no such 'barrier' and simply looked like the rest of the air.

A great rumbling and shaking occurred not even a few days after the Phoenix Conqueror caused chaos in a fit of rage.

The result of this quaking was a massive crater that stretched on for as long as the eye could see.

The crater was festered with ludicrous amounts of the Mid-Mortal Law of Shock, and sparks could be seen flying around the area where the Royal Capital of the Vermillion Phoenix Providence used to be located.

That day, a great figure possessing strength nearing the peak of the Middle-Platinum Rank died a begrudged death. Along with his untimely demise, the rest of his territory devolved into chaos, as their strongest ruler had died and he wasn't coming back to give them salvation.

The economy and stock market of the Vermillion Phoenix Providence hit an all time low as the social classes fell apart, people rose up in rebellion, and their world as a whole was on the verge of collapse.

All because a single man with a short temper decided to go against the will of the gods...

Azmodeus was unsure if this was all a ploy by the Goddess of Light meant to intimidate him, but if it was war she wanted, then war she would get.

From that day onwards, he held nothing back in his pursuit of points for his Physical Existence Rank. He killed everyone and everything that didn't affect the economy of his money-making country—a country in which he had already achieved a position surpassing even the King's father and Ancestor's.

20 years ago, after making innumerable contributions to the Azura Kingdom and improving literally every aspect of the kingdom, the King, his father, and a few living ancestors in the Middle-Platinum Rank figured it was only right to make him the 'Supreme Azura Overlord'.

This unanimous decision made by them made it possible for Azmodeus to once again sink his claws deeper than ever inside the kingdom he lived in.

It was unknown how far he could claw away at the Astral Plane before it had nothing left to give, but he sure as hell planned to find out...!

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