The Heavenly Martial Empress Returns: An OP Xianxia Returnee LitRPG

Chapter 222: The Tragic End Of The Ruler

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Complete and utter chaos consumed the battlefield as the two sons of the Great Emperor of Floor 74 glanced at the scene in utter disbelief. Former friends went crazy, laughing maniacally as their faces suddenly gained clown-like faces, as if someone had painted over them.

Yet Claudius couldn’t feel any malefic magic power at work; this felt like a curse, yet there was no curse being used either; it was as if the more they laughed, the more this strange sickness that took over them spread!

After Atticus was confronted and overpowered by Caesar, he was quickly forced to remember why he was doing the things he was doing to begin with, and by doing so, as he came to the realization that something weird was happening, this entire thing started.

It was as if something within his mind had already been tampered with, and the only clue Caesar could think about was that “clown” that Atticus had killed.

“GYAHAHAH!”

As their eyes began spinning around, Claudius’ soldiers laughed manically, rushing towards him and pointing their weapons at their lord. Caesar panicked as he saw his brother, already having taken great damage, surrounded and about to be unexpectedly betrayed.

“Claudius!”

Caesar rushed to help his brother, as he saw his own soldiers attacking him from every angle. His Golden Divine Aura protected him, but the attacks were rapidly weakening it; if this continued, Claudius might end up dying.

“What…! What kind of strategy is this, Caesar?!”

However, Claudius thought it was Caesar’s plot, even when Caesar was also being attacked by his own men!

“I am not doing this! Something’s wrong with everyone, with Atticus! He… he somehow infected everyone with laughter, and they turned into… clowns?!” Caesar was confused, as he reflected the blows of his soldiers, kicking and punching them away to not fatally harm them.

“This is ridiculous! And my head keeps hurting! It's some kind of mental attack, something strange that magic cannot exactly stop!” Claudius screamed, grabbing his head.

“We have to get out of here, brother!” Caesar extended his hand towards Claudius as he struck down the soldiers that had turned against his brother, blowing them away with his immense Aura.

“What?! We were just fighting to the death!” Claudius quickly threw away his brother’s hand; he had no intention of becoming his ally, even less friends now.

“But this is a problem that goes beyond our battle!” Caesar said. “There must be a third participant, another enemy! We must temporarily ally our forces and-"

“Dammit, you bastard…! Don’t look down on me!” Claudius used his blade, cutting through his own soldiers and slicing them to pieces as he went on a crazed rampage.

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

The bloody screams mixed with laughter of Claudius’ soldiers echoed through the battlefield as Caesar’s brother covered his sword with the blood of his own soldiers.

“You think I’ll fall for your trick?!” He screamed angrily. “I’ll kill you; this territory shall be mine!”

Driven by madness and unable to accept his defeat after facing his brother’s true power, Claudius was possessed by his greed, doing the unthinkable instead of accepting reality.

CLAAASH!

“Stop it already, Claudius!” Caesar clashed against his brother, even as they were being surrounded by crazed soldiers aiming for their lives. Their swords released sparks as their Auras continuously clashed against each other fiercely.

“I won’t stop until I win, Caesar!” Roared Claudius. “You dare offer me mercy?! You dare become my ally after you overpowered me?! I will never yield! So you better kill me, because if you don’t, I will claw my way through victory!”

“You’re mad!” Screamed Caesar. “Please stop it! I would never dare kill you! You’re my dear brother! Do I really need to do this?!”

“This is no longer about brotherly bonds, you foolish weakling!” Claudius screamed as blood came out of his mouth. “It’s about who can become the next Emperor! The path towards the throne is one full of blood! Our father set this up from the very beginning…! All his children must fight to the death! Only the one that remains at the end shall inherit the throne! Do you understand now?! I will never defeat that monster unless I do this! I must do it! I must kill him!”

“We can do it together! You don’t have to fight me to death, Claudius! Please! You’re dying!” Said Caesar, intercepting his blows while using his aura to release shockwaves, sending away the incoming clown-faced soldiers.

Meanwhile, Atticus stood there, glancing from afar, drooling, as if he had become nothing but a mindless drone. Someone else was watching the scene through his eyes, someone that Caesar slightly felt.

“Atticus…!” He muttered. “He’s the center of this infection! We have to take him down!”

He had quickly noticed that Atticus was the only one that wasn’t attacking them after beginning to laugh and transforming into a “clown face." There was most likely something about him that spread this.

“Claudius, we have to-”

“{Divine Golden Domain}: {Holy Durandal Rain}!”

However, Claudius didn’t want to listen to Caesar anymore, spreading his Golden Domain and summoning hundreds of golden spears out of it, firing them towards Caesar at once.

The power of the Divinities he had devoured from Gods while conquering Worlds and Territories exuded at full power.

“DIE, CAESAR!”

With a crazed scream, Claudius fired as many projectiles as he could; he knew he was more of a magician than a swordsman, and after confronting Caesar, he also knew that he could never win a battle of swordsmanship.

Therefore, he decided to just tear him into shreds by raining as many swords as he possibly could, with all his rage and power put into it!

“Claudius! Stop this!”

Caesar screamed back as he swung his black sword while trying not to lose focus on where Atticus was, but the clown-faced soldier was already running into the crowd, spreading his laughter everywhere.

“D-DAMMIT!”

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Caesar was being pushed back; not only did the Durandal Projectiles possess great piercing and slashing power, but they also exploded upon making contact, dealing even more cumulative damage.

His armor was about to shatter into pieces, and although his physique was immensely strong, this wouldn’t allow him to just tank these attacks without being wounded more than he would like to.

“You’re forcing my hand, brother!”

Caesar gritted his teeth; he had to end this quickly or else Atticus would get away and even more people would die pointlessly after being infected.

“{Abyssal Dragon Soul Blade}: {Heaven-Splitting Dark Claws}”

Caesar’s Aura erupted, surging into the skies, resembling a massive black dragon made out of his own Soul and the Abyssal Darkness Ki he had cultivated.

RUMBLE!

A massive pair of draconic claws manifested beside his sword as he swung it upwards, an ascending attack that aimed to split the heavens themselves and stop his brother once and for all.

TRUUUM!

The skies warped as two massive black claws slashed and destroyed the raining golden blades and reached Claudius, crushing his body with tremendous strength the same way it happened before.

CRAAASH!

“Uuuaagghh!”

Claudius tried using his Holy Aegis Shields made out of his Golden Aura to resist, but they were shattered, and the force of the attack reached him, blowing him away with a huge explosion.

BOOOMMM!!!

He fell from the skies, his golden aura completely gone, his body covered in black flames, consuming his internal energy and weakening him even further.

“C-Claudius!”

He quickly swung his blade again, gritting his teeth as he cleaved through soldiers as they came. He was unable to stop them; even if he threw them away or broke their limbs, they would stand up against all odds to go against him.

He had to take them down!

SLAAASH! SLAAASH! SLAAASH!

Dozens of dismembered bodies flew away, both enemy soldiers and allied soldiers. Caesar shed a tear of regret as she rushed towards Claudius, catching him before he was to get crushed by gravity as he fell from so high.

“C-Caesar…?!” Claudius muttered, vomiting blood; his eyes were bloodshot as well; there was a huge wound on his chest, where more blood was coming from. “Why do you… humiliate me even now?”

Caesar held his brother in his arms, shedding tears. To him he wasn’t an enemy; he was his brother, and no matter how insane Claudius had become, to Caesar, this fact would never stop being true.

“Because you’re my brother…” Caesar muttered. “…I don’t know what you’ve gone through since you went away—perhaps too many things. You’ve grown so strong, but you’ve also suffered a lot, haven’t you? For someone as gentle and kindhearted as you to become this way... you must have lost someone you loved dearly.”

“Y-You….!” Claudius muttered, and while his lips trembled, tears started falling from his golden eyes as he glanced at his little brother, now all grown up. “You’ve sure… grown… Caesar…”

Caesar took out all the Elixirs he could, pouring them over Claudius wounds, while retrieving the Curse Ki that was stopping his regeneration.

“Uugh…!” Claudius groaned, feeling the elixirs pour into his wounds, slowly forcing his wounds to close. However, the blood he lost wasn’t coming back. “That’s enough…! Stop it!”

“I won’t…” Caesar muttered.

“Stop this already, you bastard!” Claudius screamed, kicking Caesar’s face and throwing him away with the little strength he had left.

CRASH!

The elixirs and potion bottles fell to the ground, shattering and spilling their contents into the grass.

“But brother! Do you want to… Do you truly want to die?!” Caesar asked, rushing towards Claudius.

“Leave me die with my pride, at the very least…” Claudius muttered. “I’ve had enough of this… Of all of this! Since I lost her… Since I lost them…! I don’t want this cursed life to continue anymore, Caesar!”

He slowly stood up, manifesting a golden sword and pointing it at Caesar with fury in his eyes, despite everything.

“I simply don’t understand…” Caesar muttered. “We can solve this peacefully… We can-”

“There’s no such thing in the tower,” Claudius muttered. “There’s no such peace, no such friendship. Familial bonds don’t matter. The only thing that… that matters is… strength, Caesar…. You need… strength!”

“I don’t want to fight you anymore…” Caesar muttered. “I really don’t want to!”

“You fool…” Claudius smiled lightly, his eyes full of despair and sorrow. “Me neither… No matter how hard I try, I cannot beat you… Caesar, if you won’t take this victory, I will make you do it.”

He swung his sword as Caesar gasped, rushing to stop him.

“STOP!”

CRASH!

The golden sword pierced Claudius’ own neck, blood splattering everywhere. As he vomited blood, he fell to his knees and then to the ground.

“Claudius! No!”

Caesar screamed, crying and raging at what his brother had done to himself.

“Why?! WHYYYY!”

The golden sword disappeared as Caesar held Claudius’ lifeless body in his arms, his tears constantly falling over his brother’s face.

“Father…! Whatever you did for Claudius to become this way…! I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU! I WILL KILL YOU! EVEN IF IT’S THE LAST THING I DO!!!”

Caesar knew he was watching that their almighty father, a God, was watching this scene, his crimson eyes piercing through dozens of worlds, glaring at Earth.

Resting his head in his hand, his cold, red eyes seemed to be pleased.

[The Tower God {Golden Lion Crimson Emperor} acknowledges your resolve.]

[He says that you’re welcome to try challenging him at any time.]

“Bastard…!” Caesar muttered, still crying. “Claudius was right… Being born as your son is nothing but a curse…”

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