The world burned.
Flames roared across the shattered city walls, consuming the stone in a crimson blaze. The sky itself seemed to weep fire as the ground cracked open under the weight of destruction.
Amid the inferno, two figures clashed — Anna and Tang Hak.
Their battle had long surpassed human limits.
"Ugh… you… are you even human?" Tang Hak gasped, his body trembling, his breath ragged.
Anna, in contrast, stood composed and cold, as if she'd merely brushed off dust from her sleeve.
"I have nothing to say to you," she said flatly. "So shut up."
A wave of blue mana surged from her palm, spiraling into a vast magic circle that blazed across the air. The light pressed down upon the world like divine judgment.
Tang Hak instinctively summoned his defensive aura, layers of poison and qi wrapping around him. Yet, the difference between their power was insurmountable.
Anna clenched her hand into a fist.
"Kneel."
The command split the heavens.
A thunderous boom erupted — the ground fractured like glass, the entire battlefield sinking into a massive crater. Tang Hak's defenses shattered; his body convulsed as if crushed by an invisible mountain.
He barely survived, but it was over.
"It's finished," Anna said coldly, stepping to the edge of the crater.
Tang Hak let out a bitter laugh. "I expected a difference in skill… but not this overwhelming."
He smiled faintly, more out of disbelief than pride. His greatest poisons — Earth-Crushing Venom, Tenfold Death Toxin, Heaven-Slaying Poison — all useless.
"You could never have defeated me," Anna replied with certainty.
She had long since studied every poison known to man to reclaim the heart once consumed by her own magic. There was nothing Tang Hak could conjure that she could not neutralize.
Her voice softened — but her eyes remained icy.
"This is your last chance. Surrender."
Tang Hak met her gaze. For a fleeting moment, sincerity wavered in his expression — before it curdled into mockery.
"…Fine. I lost," he said quietly. But the glint in his eyes told another story.
"Did you know," he continued, "that battles are not decided by foot soldiers like us? The outcome depends on the emperors who command us."
His lips twisted into a grin. "You may have won this fight… but the war belongs to us."
Anna's answer was a scoff. "You really think so?"
"The Blood Emperor you serve is not what he once was," Tang Hak said sharply. "He's tormented by his own demons — a shadow of his former power. Against the new Heavenly Emperor, he'll fall."
Anna's gaze didn't waver. Her voice cut through his words like a blade.
"You're an even greater fool than I thought."
Her tone was calm, yet each word struck like thunder. "If you truly knew him — if you'd ever understood Lee Seong-jun — you'd never have dared betray him."
For a moment, silence lingered between them. Tang Hak faltered as Anna turned away, her cold smile the last thing he saw before despair took root.
Within the ruined palace, another battle raged — one that would decide the fate of empires.
Lee Seong-jun and the Silent Emperor clashed in a storm of power that shook heaven and earth.
"SSS+ skill activation: Seonghae Wolchwi," the system's ethereal voice rang. "Holy Book of Knowledge — effect amplification active."
A golden aura wrapped around Seong-jun, flooding him with divine strength. His senses sharpened — and in the next instant, his fist tore through the air.
The blow struck Mukhwang's abdomen with explosive force.
"Y-you—!" Mukhwang coughed blood, but Seong-jun was already moving. A second strike crashed into his chest, followed by a third, then a fourth — faster than the sound of thunder.
The Silent Emperor reeled under the barrage, his face twisting with pain and fury.
"You damned brat!" he roared.
The ground cratered as Mukhwang's body slammed into it. Pride burned hotter than his wounds. He had been humiliated — and by one he deemed beneath him.
"You think that's enough to defeat me?!"
Mukhwang's energy flared, his form blurring as he lunged forward. The two vanished into blinding speed, shockwaves erupting from every clash.
Yet again, Seong-jun's movements were sharper — faster. His right arm flowed like water, deflecting Mukhwang's fist, slipping past his guard, and striking deep into his flank.
"Heavenly Soul Palm."
His blood energy rotated and compressed, bursting forth as his palm connected.
A deafening blast tore through the air — internal organs shredded, crimson energy flooding Mukhwang's body from within.
"Gah—!"
He spat blood, staggering but not falling. Black energy burst from his core, repelling the invading force.
"Do you think… you can kill me so easily?" he snarled.
Seong-jun withdrew, eyes narrowing. He's stronger than expected.
Indeed, Mukhwang was once an emperor — a warrior who had conquered dimensions. His power was undeniable. But Seong-jun's heart burned brighter.
They faced each other in silence, breathing the same charged air.
Mukhwang's gaze hardened. "Very well. You are no mere man. You are an emperor — a Demon Emperor."
Then, something changed.
From his chest, black light pulsed — a sigil of six stars igniting upon his skin. His flesh turned the color of midnight. From his back sprouted wings woven from pure darkness.
The world trembled. Fear seeped into every living being. Even the air seemed to kneel before him.
"I am the Emperor of Silence," he declared, voice echoing like a death knell. "Ruler of darkness… sovereign of injustice."
But Seong-jun's expression remained cold.
"You've fallen too far."
He could feel it — the countless souls trapped within Mukhwang's power.
Human sacrifice.
The strength he wielded was not earned through mastery or will — it was stolen from the dead.
"To think you'd descend lower than a beast," Seong-jun murmured, his crimson eyes burning with wrath. "I'll end you myself."
And as divine gold met abyssal black, the two emperors collided once more — their battle shaking the heavens, their clash deciding the fate of the world.