The two pillars of light stained the world white, while two aura's within the lights climbed and climbed, as if there was no end to the power coming from within. The Astral Emperor and Asura stared at the lights with narrowed gazes, while the four others stared at the lights with grim regret.
The lights eventually faded away, returning the world to its normal color. The fading light revealed the Honorable Alliance leader and the Grand Elder, both shining brightly with a multitude of colors, as if they had become the multitude of Dao's themselves.
Both gave off a powerful aura, far above what they were capable of unleashing before.
"What's this?" the Asura scoffed, "another futile gambit to survive?"
Crack!
A cracking sound rang out amidst the silence, catching the Asura's attention.
Crack!
Another cracking sound rang out, and then another. Soon, a cacophony of cracks drowned the land, and then…
Bang!
The defensive formation exploded, sending formational energy blasting out in all directions. The formation barrier then disappeared. The Asura grinned at the sight. The formation had finally fallen.
Its gaze then shifted to the distance, as if it was peering hundreds of thousands of miles away. Its smile widened into a horrifying grin, like that from nightmares. To the side was Thunderzen, now standing on the head of Raijen, the Alliance leader standing on Raijen's back. It ignored them.
"Time to feast!" it said, and then flashed forward, ignoring the others.
The world all around them suddenly changed, not visibly, but something had changed. The Asura narrowed its gaze as it felt a strange energy press down on it, as if trying to restrict it from moving. The energy was far from strong enough to do that, but had definitely slowed its movements some, making the Asura feel as though it was moving through water instead of air. It was far from enough to stop the Asura, but was enough to allow Raijen to keep up with its movements.
Standing atop Raijen's head, Thunderzen felt an incomparable power surging through his body, flooding him a might he had never felt before. But there was no smile on his face from feeling this power, no satisfaction. There was only pain, a pain of knowing what this power he felt meant.
Thunderzen raised his hand to the sky, towards the swirling storm high above. The storm had greatly strengthened as soon as the pillars of light had appeared, like transforming from a normal storm to that of a hurricane. The winds blasted mountains into ruin, washed away lakes as large as oceans, and devastated everything in its path.
The lightning flickering within the storm had also intensified and become stronger, as if the heavens itself had descended to join the battle.
Boom!
A blast of lightning surged down from the clouds, blasting against Thunderzen's outstretched hand. The lightning coursed through him, and he augmented it, intensifying it further. The augmented lightning combined with the new power he felt strengthened it even further, to a level that had transcended anything he was ever capable of before.
His hand then slammed down onto Raijen's head, sending the horrifyingly powerful lightning directly into his companion. Raijen roared loudly as the lightning infused into its body, which began to emanate a might far stronger than it had revealed before. It breathed in, sucking lightning from the air as well, making it appear like a celestial star of lightning had formed in the sky.
Powerful blasts of lightning flickered off its body, slamming into the earth below and the sky above. Raijen roared again, its roar proud like that of an indomitable king.
Raijen then appeared like a ghost before the Asura, its hulking figure blocking the way forward. Thunderzen stood on Raijen's head, appearing like an ant compared to the creature. The Asura sneered at the pathetic attempt to stop him.
Its saber slashed outwards towards Raijen, who had unleashed a claw attack towards the Asura. The ruinous lighting coated every inch of Raijen's claw, heightening its power and durability to an entirely new level. The Asura scoffed as its saber landed against the claw.
Boom!
The world trembled from the collision, the earth shaking violently for tens of thousands of miles. Mountains crumbled, rivers drained, and valleys formed. The power faded away, revealing Raijen's claw pressed against the Asura's massive sabers, both locked in a struggle. The sabers were dug into the claw several feet, although such a wound was small when compared to the claw as a whole.
The Asura's gaze narrowed as it stared at the claw before it, which was so large that it dwarfed its massive body. Its sabers had sliced into the claw like before, but much shallower. At the same time, Raijen had not been knocked backwards as it had been before, its strength now capable of withstanding the Asura's casual sword strikes evenly.
The Asura roared furiously, its roar shaking everything. Thunderzen felt his body become wracked in pain from the roar alone, but firmed himself against the pain, standing firm. He drew in another breath, sucking energy from a source of power behind him, one that seemed to be infinite.
But he knew it wasn't.
The Asura slashed out again, its horrifying might blasting Raijen's claw back this time, sending the dragon backwards through the sky. But yet again, the damage was minimal, as if Raijen had nearly stepped into the same realm as the Asura. It couldn't beat the Asura, but it could keep itself alive much longer than before.
The Asura narrowed its eyes at the beast, and then shifted its gaze to the beast's back. There he saw it. The Honorable Alliance Leader, glowing brightly like a star, infusing Raijen with an incredible source of Qi. The Qi also flowed into the nearby Thunderzen, filling him with a might he could not display on his own.
It was as if Raijen and Thunderzen had become formations, the Alliance Leader the spirit crystals from which they drew their power. At the same time, the movement restriction, like that from a formation, stemmed from the Alliance Leader as well. The Asura finally realized what was happening. The Alliance Leader was the source of this incredible change.
"Giving your life to strengthen your allies?" it sneered, its deep voice clearly filled with agitation. Being stifled again and again by such puny existences was a blow to the Asura's pride, although it had yet to go all out, as they had not been worthy of such a thing before. Now that had changed. "Show me then! What your pathetic sacrifice is capable of!"
And then it flashed forward, once more ignoring Raijen, speeding towards the flying ship that was fleeing away from them. Raijen appeared before the Asura once more, blocking its path, unleashing an attack towards the Asura. Lightning blasted down from the sky above, slamming into Thunderzen, and then into Raijen.
Like this, a storm moved across the land, carving a path of apocalyptic destruction through the Divine Martial Continent. Mountain ranges were eradicated, oceans emptied, nations, empires, and sects unlucky enough to be in the path of carnage completely destroyed. Thunderzen felt his heart sink with grief as their battle ruined the land, but the sacrifices were necessary to ensure the salvation of the world. The storm moved onwards towards the continent's edge, carnage falling upon the land like the beginning of the apocalypse.
