Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

If there was no way out for him, he would at least make his enemy's victory as bitter as he could. This was the decision Porco Bello made, moments before he concentrated all his power and fired a suicide attack into the ground. He decided to destroy as much of what they tried to protect, as possible.

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The Flame of Burning Skies had eaten away too much of his strength to take down the whole city, but he felt a sense of satisfaction when he saw the yellow magma bubbling up and rising around him. It warmed his heart, so to say.

Lyca, the Amazon, had to back off, evading the rising tide. Even someone with her strength couldn't just walk around in molten stone like it was nothing. Porco Bello himself could feel it singing his hair and cooking his skin. A demonic scent of bacon filled the air.

His power was exhausted, and he was close to death. He could only welcome the blade of the only one thriving in this changed environment. The little golem had no disadvantage, fighting in a field of magma.

The great demon didn't even resist, when the unfinished blade it wielded sliced his flesh and pierced his heart, burning it with the Flame of Burning Skies. His last moments were filled with the searing pain of the flame pouring into his body, Still, there was an ugly smile on his face.

“I may fall here, but don't think this is over,” he whispered maliciously, before sinking to his knees, his corpse submerging in the lava. he left a last, disconcerting message with Bazilith and died.

...

---Chrona, Capital Chrona, Imperial Palace, a few days later---

Warm sunlight fell in through the large windows, in the back of the wide desk. The office tinged in the golden light of the evening sun was spartan in furniture and decorations, but what was inside was of the highest quality and craftsmanship.

Sitting on the desk, with the sun shining on his back was a young man with shoulder-length blonde hair, glittering in the light. With an amused frown, a smile somewhere between dissatisfaction and malice, the man read a stack of paper that came together with a display orb.

Plans couldn't always work out perfectly. Like last time when he sent pursuers after the champions of Minas Mar that had entered the System World to gain acclaim. Miraculously, they all managed to escape the people sent after them and the schemes set up to fell them. The people of Urth seemed like poison to elaborate plans.

The only one suffering a major injury was the man who gained the name of the Beauty Sword. Reportedly, the agents managed to sever his leg with the System Blade, meaning that there was no way for him to recover it. But this was the only achievement that came out of that plan.

But this time, Ponze Leon Chrona, third born of Leander Cornelius Chrona, the Emperor of Chrona, couldn't help but smile in sadistic anticipation. Of course, not everything went as expected. Did he expect for Minas Mar to be actually able to deal with the legend and his forces they had ushered in from the adjacent world?

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No. That even Bragmomal's subordinates would be unable to stir much trouble was also against his expectations. What he wanted was for Little Gamma to be razed to the ground and the whole Pathworks to watch as it happened. Why else would he have pulled some string to allow the broadcast to reach as far as possible?

Instead, only the temporary settlement surrounding the arena had suffered damages, part of it vanishing in a pool of magma. The guardian god of Gamma made a cinematic entrance onto the world stage, reportedly defeating a fresh legend right after its ascension. The alliance of cultivators that invaded was repelled or captured, and a great demon was slain. Great news for them.

Still, the reason he couldn't help but smile, was because he already imagined the future. Right now, they were so happy, flaunting their victory and garnering praise. In the meantime, none of their actions had thwarted the original objective.

The fact that Urth no longer rejected the entry of legends was now public knowledge for all to see. it wasn't just that a foreign legend had entered their world, but everyone saw the appearance of a new god live on TV. Nobody could deny it anymore.

Among the stack of paper in his hands, was also the official statement of Spatia concerning this topic. Spatia stated their claim to Urth under the name of the Durnham Family and their intent to defend this claim with with the use of legends. Everything was as they agreed on.

Ponze couldn't help but laugh inwardly, about how fruitful this cooperation had been so far. He had taken quite the loss during the Evaluation, as the people under him lost most of their promising talents to Natina Durnham. However, yesterday's enemy was today's friend.

Following the incident during the Evaluation, Spatia had actively intervened on Urth and approached him for an alliance he had yet to regret. he was able to push out Hardwig, the favorite son of Leander, frame and estrange Leana from the capital and get closer to the seat of the Emperor, all for the small price of a single, small world.

Now, all the requirements were met, and all pawns were in place. He could finally hold up his end of the deal.

...

“Are you really leaving already? Why don't you stay for a little longer? I want to show Delta to you!” Mina whined, trying to convince Lyca to stay. A few days after the tournament and the Pythian games ended, Lyca shared her intent to leave Urth and keep traveling. Seth would have also asked her to stay, but he doubted he would be more convincing than Mina.

Of all the people that were leaving, he wanted her to stay the most. After all, she was someone of comparable power level to Al'Zalsar. However, the Amazon was in the middle of a ritualistic journey to explore the world. he could only try to understand her circumstances since he didn't have the means to make her stay.

Most of their temporary allies recruited during the tournament intended to leave soon. Even Polter! he was sad, but he could understand that he wanted to go home, after such an exciting adventure. After all, Polter's home world was also a new one and not exactly peaceful either.

The urgent situations had been dealt with. Although the northwestern part of the Pythian Village had turned into an expansive pool of lava and many buildings across the city were damaged or destroyed, there was a minimum number of casualties.

Not many remnants of the sect alliance managed to flee in the battle following Python's intervention, rendering the imminent threat of cultivators negligible. As for Python... the guardian god of Little Gamma was currently curled up under the guardian tree, digesting her gains from the battle.

After Python vanished with Yoma Ma, there was no notice of either of them until the early hours of the next day, when Seth got two distinct messages, pertaining to her deeds.

As for what exactly this meant, he had no idea, since Python stayed curled up and didn't react. As mentioned, she was busy digesting the influx of power she gained, not just from Yoma Ma, but also from the announcement that she was a freshly ascended lesser god who was able to slay a legend.

As for the public opinion after the battle, it was unexpectedly good. maybe it would have been different if people knew that they had willingly taken some risks, but as for now, Minas Mar was known as a growing force from a new System World, that was able to grow in record time,to the point they were able to defend against a legend and a huge army of high-level enemies.

The publicity was visible in the Power of Existence the members who managed to play their part on the big screen reaped. not so much for Seth, since the whole battle slightly overshadowed the whole story about the legendary price. Still, it grew, too.

Seth himself, had been busy helping in dealing with the aftermath for the past few days. Now, that things calmed down and visitor were quickly flowing back to their own homes, he finally had the time to take care of the next step in their plan.

“Hello Dowloon, I'm glad we are finally able to meet. Come, take a seat. Let's talk about your prize.”