Nurah and the rest found themselves frozen in their places with a single glare from Pharaoh Azhukar... they glanced at each other with a tint of fear in their eyes, realizing that nothing else was going to save them. No amount of lies or praise was going to work anymore.
How could he let them live after seeing his hideous appearance?
However, just as the Emperor was about to finish them off, a loud crack rang out from a distance... It was loud, weird, and echoed like it resounded from across dimensions. Then, earthquakes followed, shaking the entire pyramid nonstop.
"What’s going on?" Pharaoh Azhukar frowned.
Nurah took the chance to shout at him that the planet’s dimensional membrane was fractured, and if he kept letting his spiritual aura run wild, it would shatter completely, dooming his planet and empire once and for all.
When he heard this, Pharaoh Azhukar didn’t seem fazed or bothered... it was like the moment he found out the truth about his appearance and his failed ascension, he stopped caring about anything else.
"Isn’t this your birthplace?! Your planet? Why are you forsaking it!" Evangeline shouted at him as well.
Pharaoh Azhukar scoffed and allowed his spiritual energy to run unchecked. The moment he did this, the dimensional membrane continued cracking nonstop, each one resounding louder than the last until... RUMBLE!
The dimensional membrane had shattered at last... the energy disturbances finally took it out.
Immediately after, the earthquakes grew in intensity, shaking the most stable structure in the universe like it were built out of bamboo sticks.
Yet, this was only the start of the apocalypse.
Boom! Boom!...
Stones, pillars, and the entire structure of the pyramid started flying apart, collapsing from the bottom up like something was pulling them upward! Yet Azhukar and the Daywalkers stayed firmly on the ground thanks to his spiritual energy.
When the ceiling flew away, exposing the sky, everyone glanced upward with great difficulty, incapable of moving their heads.
Oh... how they wish they didn’t look.
The beautiful starry sky and the yellow ring were gone, nowhere to be found... in their place, a deep, dark void remained... It was like someone erased the sky from existence.
Arthur and the others couldn’t move... Their legs refused to step back, their arms hung uselessly at their sides. But their minds were screaming for them to run away.
Before they could even question the sight before them, Azhukar’s proud voice resounded in their ears.
"Primordial Tree of Death... You can take my empire, my planet, everything... but you will never take me... I shall join the People of the Stars. That is my destiny, always was, always been."
’Is that the Primordial Tree of Death’s root?!’
’What... the void is actually a mere piece of the Tree of Death’s root?!’
’How can something so massive exist?’
Arthur, Tyrese, Evangeline, Shia, and the rest felt their hearts hit the bottom of their stomachs in pure horror... the Tree’s root loomed above them, enormous enough to blot out the stars and the ring, casting a shadow that felt alive, pressing down on their thoughts like nothing else ever did.
Even Azhukar didn’t scare them as much as knowing that the void before them was a mere tiny portion of the Primordial Tree of Death’s roots extending across the Chained Universe.
Yet... the real scare arrived a few seconds later.
Out of nowhere, the void started tearing up from the center... a gaping rip along the root, splitting the sky in two.
Rumble! Rumble!
The entire planet trembled intensely as ruins, the Corrupted, deserts, and debris were pulled toward it... Simultaneously, it was releasing a massive cloud of dark, corrupting mist blotting the sky entirely... It started falling in the direction of the ground as a rain of pure corruption!
Every Daywalker’s chest tightened... Fear took hold of them and refused to let go.
All of them shared similar thoughts... Is this our end? Is this how our story concludes? Witnessing the Primordial Tree of Death devour a planet right before their eyes?
Who in their right mind would hold a hint of hope in their hearts at this ludicrous apocalyptic scene? Not even the planet could survive the clutch of the Tree of Death; how could they?
Just as they were falling into despair with their partnered nightcrawlers alike, Pharaoh Azhukar raised his hand into the sky and uttered, "I have yet to finish with them... don’t interrupt me."
From the tip of his fingers, multiple orange tethers emerged and slithered in everyone’s direction, connecting straight to their foreheads... though one tether ignored them and went through the door, leaving Arthur and the girls on their toes.
Jasmine!
They could tell that Azhukar had found out about Jasmine a while ago, and he just didn’t bother with her at the time.
As expected... the orange tether passed through the corridors at insane speed, reaching the hidden treasury at the depth of the pyramid in no time.
Having no idea about it, Jasmine was seen using an inked construct of a latch affixed to the ground... she had it wrapped around her legs, helping her avoid getting thrown into the gazing abyss above.
’How did the dimensional membrane collapse so fast... Nurah and the others must be in trouble.’ Jasmine thought to herself, ’I have to save th...’
Before she could carry on with her thought, the tether made contact with her forehead... in an instant, her body blinked out of existence just like the rest of the Daywalkers.
Back to the exposed throne chamber... the Emperor and the rest were nowhere to be found. However, a gigantic tree was left behind.
It was set ablaze in orange flames, appearing like a tree that was caught on fire, but it could never be extinguished... always burning, always there.
Its illumination was strong enough; the entire capital basked underneath it... one last glimpse of life before the planet embraced its eventual demise...
Meanwhile, inside Azhukar’s dominion, the sky radiated with a beautiful light orange with some clouds spread here and there... Above the clouds, a sun appeared in the shape of a spinning pyramid, turning slowly in every direction while casting flashes of light over the land.
The ground below was a vast desert of orange sand that stretched endlessly, making the atmosphere as dry as a grain of sand.
Arthur and the others were teleported near the center of the dominion in a straight line. All of them had gloomy expressions as they gazed behind the Emperor, who was standing near the far end of his dominion.
Their pupils reflected a similar massive tree wrapped in flames... The fire burned bright but never consumed the tree. The flames climbed high into the sky, reaching toward the spinning pyramid-like sun, resembling a finger stretching to divinity, but failing short.
"Jasmine!"
Shia, the girls, and Arthur immediately rushed toward Jasmine after noticing that she had also gotten teleported inside... Jasmine met them with a grim expression, using signs to express her concern about the situation and asking about Levi’s whereabouts.
However, just as Nurah was about to respond, Azhukar clapped his hands and separated everyone... putting them inside a beam of flames. No one dared to touch it, forced to stay still in the middle, in fear of getting burned alive.
But some of them weren’t too fond of this situation.
"If you’re going to kill us, just get it over with," Tyrese uttered indifferently. "Why are you doing this? Aren’t you too old to be playing with children?"
"Play? Maybe I have been alone for a long time, and I can’t get myself to get rid of you." Before Nurah and the others could feel a slight tingle of hope arising, Azhukar chuckled and added, "Ah... the sweet look of innocence on your faces."
Hearing this, everyone realized that the f*cker was just messing with them for the love of the game. But then, their expressions turned desperate after hearing the next part.
"You see... I have some good news and some bad news." He paused, "The good news is that only one of you is going to live."
This time, no one reacted much, understanding that the mad Emperor was never going to let anyone live after seeing his appearance.
As expected...
"The bad news is... the one who lives will serve as my honored slave." Azhukar smiled, his freaky face making his smile appear as sinister as a demon. "I can’t roam the world like this... I need to restore my former noble appearance, and I am not comfortable with this new era yet... now, let’s see who’s the honored one."