Chapter 444: Shurima, Your Emperor Is Back
"Xerath, you..." Azir asked curiously, "How did you become like this?"
He felt an extremely powerful magical fluctuation from Zerath, whose intensity was even greater than that of ordinary god warriors.
But Zerath's situation is very special. He does not have a half-human, half-beast body like ordinary ascenders, nor does he have a deformed and twisted monster body like those Bakays who failed to ascend.
He didn't seem to be an ascender. Instead, he had completely abandoned his body and turned into a pure energy body.
"Is this your witchcraft?" Azir boldly guessed, "You have gained power beyond the gods through your own wisdom?"
There are indeed a very small number of incredibly talented humans who can, through their own research and practice, gain powerful strength that rivals or even surpasses that of the divine warriors.
For example, the mages of the Kingdom of Icathia back then, and the weapons master Jax who tore apart the ascenders with his mortal body.
In Azir's opinion, Xerath must have achieved his current strength through his own efforts and wisdom.
"Uh..." Zeratul felt like he was sitting on pins and needles.
He didn't know how to answer.
Azir smiled to himself: "Xerath, I knew you were a genius!"
"It's a pity that I didn't survive that year, otherwise when I become an ascender, I will definitely make those old stubborn people in the Ascension Cult give in and let you become an ascender as well—"
"You have made so many contributions to the Shurima Empire. You should not be excluded just because you were born a slave."
Xerath: “…”
He was so embarrassed that even the white light on his face turned a little red for some unknown reason.
But Azir was still asking: "By the way, Xerath, what exactly happened that day?"
"Who pushed me at that time? Was it those damn ascended priests?"
"Uh..." Don't ask, don't ask.
“I knew it!” Azir drew his own answer from Xerath’s silence: “These greedy old guys… I just wanted to free the slaves, but they dared to destroy the sacred ascension ceremony and assassinate the king in public!”
"Alas!" He sighed as he thought about it: "I still underestimated the madness of these vested beneficiaries."
"Xerath." Azir looked over again.
"..." Zeratul didn't dare to respond.
"I'm sorry." As expected, Azir dealt a fatal blow to his long-dead heart: "I failed to do what I promised you."
Xerath was even more speechless.
Looking at the desolate ruins and the apocalyptic purple sky, Azir blamed himself: "The sun disk was destroyed because of me, right?"
The explosion of the solar disk was the last thing he saw before he died.
"I should have been more cautious at the time." Azir was heartbroken: "If I had seen through the evil ambitions of those people earlier, Shurima would not have become what it is now."
Although he didn't know what happened exactly afterwards, Azir could imagine how much of a disaster the explosion of the sun disk would bring to the empire.
“It’s my fault that I have implicated you, Xerath.” Looking at Nasus, Renekton and the others who were struggling to stop the school of void fish, he directly regarded Xerath as a tragic hero who protected the Shurima Empire until the last moment:
"It must be hard to clean up the mess I left behind, right?"
Xerath: “…”
"Why haven't you spoken a word?" Azir finally noticed something was wrong with his good brother.
Zerath was almost exhausted. He didn't dare to answer.
And just at this moment...
"Xerath! What are you daydreaming about!" Levi finally freed his hands from the team battle and turned around to scold his teammates who were AFK in the back.
Even if your Arcane Missiles don't hit anyone, at least fire a few to help block their movement!
Levi was about to curse, but when he turned around he saw: "Azir?"
"Azir?" Nesser also looked over in the direction of the voice.
Then they saw Azir and Xerath holding hands, reminiscing about the past like good brothers.
Levi: “?”
Nasus: “?”
Renekton: “?”
Even the half-crazy General Renekton was shocked by this scene.
“What’s wrong?” Azir frowned. He felt that the expressions of Nasus and the others seemed to be more than just shocked by his resurrection.
"This..." Xerath was so embarrassed that his arcane core was about to explode.
Fortunately, Belvis provided timely assists at this time.
With one blow, she blew away the stunned Levi and others, led the surging school of void fish to break through the defense line, and rushed towards Zeratul with murderous intent.
"It's too late to explain..." Xerath immediately took off like a rocket, away from Azir's affectionate gaze.
He drove the dazzling arcane energy regardless of anything, as if he wanted to turn himself into a human nuclear bomb and crash into the tide of void beasts and die.
"Xerath, be careful!" Seeing his good brother "protecting" him so selflessly, Azir was even more moved.
Levi, Nasus and others were speechless.
However, Belvis's attack was too fierce. Seeing that the team's core mage Xerath was about to be swallowed by the endless school of void fish, they had no time to correct Azir's misunderstanding.
"Eye of the Storm!" Goddess Janna took the lead and covered Xerath with a layer of storm barrier.
The rapidly swirling air currents were like millions of invisible blades, easily strangling all the void flying fish that approached Xerath.
But this still couldn't stop Belvis. Her pair of manta wings were like the strongest shield and the sharpest sword in the world. Not only could the storm not hurt her roots, but it was also torn apart by her casual blow.
Belvis penetrated the storm, opened her huge mouth that looked as ferocious as a carnivorous plant, and pounced towards Zerath.
"Arcane Pulse!" At the critical moment, Xerath burst out with all his strength.
He raised his arms and blasted out a huge beam of light as wide as a river. With this blazing light that changed the color of the sky and the earth, he completely engulfed Belvis who was rushing towards him.
The two sides are so close that they can release skills right at the face without worrying about missing.
Belvis's body paused, and he retreated several meters under the high-energy impact of the pulse beam.
"Soul Flame!" Nasus chanted the ancient spell and cooperated with Xerath to release the surging soul fire.
"Swift Wind Slash!" Levi condensed his energy into a sword and slashed out a wind blade hundreds of meters wide.
Light, flames, and strong winds enveloped Belvis at the same time.
Even if the thick walls of the Immortal Fortress were moved here, they would be crushed to dust by the violent magic bombardment. However...
"Go to the Abyss!" The light of the explosion had not even dissipated, and a huge manta ray tail tore through the wind and fire, ruthlessly slashing towards Xerath in front.
The two sides were so close that there was no way for Xerath to escape.
"Bang!" After a deafening bang, Zeratul was like a glowing ball that was dunked, soaring from the sky and falling heavily.
His body continued to move forward after landing, sliding backwards for hundreds of meters until it plowed a deep ditch on the ground, and finally stopped.
"Xerath!" Xerath was knocked back to the ground by a blow, and his position was not far from Azir.
Azir rushed forward in a hurry, only to find that the light on Xerath's body was much dimmer than before, as if he had suffered a serious injury.
At the same time, the strong wind and flames surrounding Belvis finally dissipated.
There were charred marks on Belvis' body from being burned by high temperatures, as well as wounds from being cut and torn by wind blades, and he looked rather disheveled.
But that was all. Xerath, Nasus, and Levi combined, but they were unable to inflict any serious damage on her.
In just a few breaths, the wounds they had left on Belvis with great difficulty slowly healed in the pale purple void energy.
"This..." Levi felt heavy-hearted.
Not enough, still not enough! Their strength was still not enough to defeat Belvis, and they were not even sure they could escape.
They need more help!
The first person Levi thought of was Tam. But the bastard seemed to have anticipated that Levi would ask him to fight the void again, so he ran away and disappeared.
Then, the only ones who are qualified to participate in this kind of battle are...
"Azir?" Levi looked at Azir who was waiting beside Xerath.
But Azir was still very weak. He had just been resurrected and was not able to ascend to the sky as Levi had hoped. With his current strength, he could not help at all?
"What should I do?" Levi felt a headache. The story had completely changed. He couldn't call Sivir over and stab her on the spot, could he?
And just when he was anxious and confused, Belvis launched her attack again.
"Malzahar, stop them!" Belvis ordered his loyal believers.
At the same time, the endless schools of void fish also followed her wishes, roaring and rushing towards Levi and others, delaying their actions.
And Belvis once again puffed up her manta ray wings, fluttered and dived towards her most valued prey, Xerath.
“We can’t let her succeed!” Nasus called out anxiously.
Although he hated Zerath, if Zerath was defeated first by Belvis as a breakthrough point, they would have no ability to deal with him at all.
So, Levi, Nasus, and Renekton all tried their best to rush towards the group, trying to block Belvis' attack for Xerath.
But this is not so easy to do.
"Don't even think about getting close to my lord!" Malzahar flew forward fanatically and used his body to block Renekton.
"Grip of Hades!" He desperately got close to the burly body of the ascended warrior and shot out a beam of light filled with void energy with all his strength.
This attack actually temporarily suppressed Renekton, preventing him from advancing even a single step.
On the other side, endless void flying fish also gathered into groups under the command of Belvis, and charged towards the majestic body of Nasus without regard for their lives.
Facing endless void creatures, Nasus was like crashing head-on into an ocean.
Although the seawater could not hurt him at all, his movements were completely hindered by it. Not only did he have to spend a lot of effort to take each step forward, but he was also often hit by the strong waves that rushed towards him, making it difficult for him to stand steadily.
In the end, only Levi and Janna successfully broke through the blockades and provided support to the injured Xerath.
But they couldn't stop Belvis.
"Void Torrent!" Belvis dodged the wind blade that Levi cut down easily with a flash.
With another heavy whip, Levi was hit hundreds of meters away. He staggered for a long time before he finally stood firm.
"It's time to end it." Belvis' tone finally showed a hint of fatigue. But the murderous intent in her eyes also reached its peak.
Xerath was not good at close combat, and he was injured by the previous attack.
Facing Belvis who was determined to devour him, it seemed that he had no way to escape.
"Bastard!" Xerath roared in despair.
He had finally obtained the power of an ascender and had finally broken free from the 3,000-year seal. He didn't want to die just like that.
So Xerath had to overload his magic power, using all the arcane energy in his body to condense a long sword flashing with lightning in his hand, and with a determined attitude of fighting with his back to the wall, he launched a final charge towards Belvis.
"boom--"
Xerath's arcane electric knife and Belvis's void bat wings collided in the air, creating a dazzling light.
The explosion emitted endless light and heat, and also set off a fierce gale.
"Xerath!" Azir tried hard to keep his body steady in the strong wind and looked up at his friend anxiously.
Then the storm subsided and the light faded.
Belvis had another burn mark on his body. And Zerath...
His ethereal energy body was actually firmly bound by several tentacles extending from Belvis' body.
Belvis's head, disguised as a human, slowly split open, revealing her hideous mouth full of fangs and tentacles, a void creature's ferocious mouth.
"Asshole, asshole..." Zerath struggled with all his might. But the light on his body became dimmer and dimmer, and the tentacles that bound him became tighter and tighter, making it harder and harder to break free.
Levi, Nasus, and Renekton were unable to provide support at this time.
Everyone could only watch him being bound by Belvis' tentacles and slowly sent into the bloody mouth that was flashing purple light.
Xerath felt an unprecedented despair. He did not expect that his painstaking planning and backstabbing of his best friend would end up with such a ridiculous and tragic ending.
"Azir..." At the critical moment of life and death, Xerath's thoughts couldn't help but go back to that day 3,000 years ago.
If he had not backstabbed Azir and destroyed the ascension ceremony, the Sun Disc would not have exploded and collapsed, and the Shurima Empire might have remained strong to this day, preventing the Void from invading.
But he killed his best friend with his own hands and brought himself to a dead end.
He abandoned all his hard work, but all he got in return was 3,000 years in prison and a tragic death.
"Could this be..." Xerath thought of a concept often mentioned by Ionians: "Retribution?"
He smiled bitterly in his heart.
At this critical moment of life and death, he finally regretted it.
"Azir, I'm sorry." Finally, Xerath closed his eyes in despair, waiting for his death.
And at this critical moment...
"Put him down!" a roar came from the ground.
Belvis glanced at him coldly, his eyes as indifferent as if he was looking at a bug.
In front of the Queen of the Void, Azir is now as weak as a bug.
But he still stood up resolutely.
"I said - put my brother down!" Azir roared angrily.
He tried his best to squeeze out the little ascension power left in his body, controlling the huge waves of yellow sand to sweep towards Belvis.
With Azir's full strength, his attack actually unleashed some of the power of an Ascendant, which slightly moved Belvis and forced him to temporarily stop swallowing Xerath.
But what is the price?
The price was that Azir exhausted his last bit of ascension power.
His human body, which had finally recovered its shape, was like a sand sculpture that kept disintegrating in the wind. It began to age and decay at a speed visible to the naked eye, and then drifted away into a piece of yellow sand in the wind.
"Azir!" Xerath was stunned. Of course he could see that Azir was risking his life to save him.
"Are you crazy? You're going to die if you keep going like this!"
But Azir's expression remained firm.
His body continued to disintegrate like sand, and gradually even his face became blurred.
But he still didn't let go of his broken hand.
"You...idiot!" Zeratul cursed angrily, "You don't understand me at all! I...I am not worthy of your saving!"
“No,” Azir replied, his voice becoming increasingly unclear. “You are my brother, Xerath.”
"You are always worth risking my life to save."
Xerath: “…”
He really wanted to tell the truth now, but Azir's suicide could not be stopped.
This once great desert emperor, with the exhaustion of his ascension power, has now completely transformed into the most abundant thing in his territory - sand and gravel.
"Enough!" As Azir fell quickly, Belvis finally impatiently got rid of the harassment of the yellow sand.
She couldn't wait to taste Xerath and incorporate the energy, knowledge, and memories of this ancient wizard into her world.
No one can stop the Queen of the Void anymore.
And Xerath has gone from being angry and desperate to being numb and even stupid.
He looked at the handful of "ashes" left by Azir on the ground, his face so gloomy that only a gray light remained.
And just at this moment...
An extremely blazing beam of light suddenly fell from the sky.
The light was like a sharp sword of God piercing from the universe, instantly severely injuring Belvis who was standing in its way.
"Ah——" For the first time, Belvis let out such a shrill scream.
Her immortal body, which even the four demigods working together could not cause serious damage to, was burned to charcoal in an instant.
Belvis had to immediately abandon her prey, wailing to avoid the beam of light, and hid aside in embarrassment.
"Who? Who is it?" Belvis looked up at the sky nervously.
She didn't know which god had made the move, and how he possessed such vast and terrifying power.
But when she looked up, she saw...
"The sun?" Belvis was stunned.
That flaming beam of light was actually shooting down from a distant star!
She... was attacked by the sun?
No. Belvis soon discovered that something was wrong.
The target of this beam of light was not her, but...
"Azir?" The pillar of flaming light was like a spotlight shining on the stage, and all the eyes of the audience were focused on it.
The light shot down from the star and accurately enveloped the ashes called Azir.
Then, the ashes quickly condensed into a human form, and the sand was reshaped into flesh.
Azir was reborn from the flames under the beam.
And his fragile human body was also rapidly transformed in this light.
His figure became extremely tall, like a little giant in a legendary story. His body was covered with shining golden armor, and his head also transformed into a majestic falcon.
"This is..." Zerath looked over with mixed emotions, "Ascension Ceremony?"
