Chapter 12: My Brother, Go Seek Your Freedom!

Horror was written all over Tarakudo's red mask.

The nine Oni Generals were but a single step away from their goal, yet they could not advance an inch. The black orb emitted a faint, invisible repulsive force, walling off their lifelong ambition.

They went into a frenzy, wailing and howling as countless shadows converged to throw themselves against the barrier. But the black sphere remained motionless.

It seemed as though nothing in existence could shake it. Even with the shadows of the entire world gathered together, it held the Shadowkhan pinned firmly behind its shield.

Immovable.

This was a power of magnificent proportions.

Tarakudo stared at the orb in despair, sensing an aura of evil identical to his own. He cried out in anguish, "Why?!"

There was no explanation, and not even a prelude.

The black sphere trembled slightly, as if stretching. At first, a gentle wave of repulsion pushed Tarakudo and the nine generals away from the summit. Then, the sphere expanded in an instant, detonating outward.

A majestic, irresistible force swept everything aside.

Ultimate Darkness?

Pffft. Nothing more than the pipe dream of a few Shogunate generals confined to a small island nation. Even at their peak, they had only ruled Japan, a mere corner of the world.

Had they crossed paths with Shendu during the ancient era when he ruled all of Asia, the nine masks would likely have ended up as mere curios in his treasure vault, never daring to release their so-called "Ultimate Darkness."

Fortunately for them, they had missed a peak Shendu by a wide margin of time. Unfortunately for them, they had now run into a fully restored Tso Lan.

In the blink of an eye, the darkness wrapping the Earth was peeled away. The repulsive force pushed it all back, as easily as tearing the wrapper off a piece of candy.

The Shadow Kingdom, which had nearly enveloped the globe, vanished in a heartbeat.

The shadows originating from the masks scattered like broken willow catkins, drifting away as they were sealed back into the fractured masks by the force. The wreckage of the masks wobbled on the ground, reassembling into their demonic visages.

One cry of despair after another rang out, unable to reach the moon.

Tarakudo's eyes were bloodshot; his grand ambition had evaporated in an instant. Even he was pinned to the ground by the spatial tremors, unable to rise.

At the same time, the ancient incantation characters in Uncle's mind began to recede. The radiance behind him had been one step away, just one step, from completion. But the stripping away of the Ultimate Darkness had halted the process. The ancient spell was stuck on the final character, unable to manifest.

"Why?!" Uncle's face was full of shock.

"The world's will is a machine; it only follows the program," Zoran chuckled, making a casual squeezing motion toward the void of space.

The Demon Chi he had released toward Earth was instantly recalled, as effortless as a brief stroll. Within a finger-snap, he could release and retract his power at will. This was the ultimate state of a Demon Sorcerer from the dawn of time.

He was complete!

Nothing in this world could stop him now. If the world wanted to brew a new force of righteousness, it would have to wait quite a while. A miss is as good as a mile, that was the reality of it.

"My brother... you... you actually did it!" Shendu lay on the lunar surface, staring at Zoran with eyes full of shock.

He could clearly perceive Zoran's current state. This was exactly how the demons who ruled the world millions of years ago were supposed to be!

"No, there is still one step left." Zoran's gaze was like fire.

He was waiting. Waiting for a notification.

In the next second, the cold, mechanical voice echoed in his mind.

[Mission: Moon Landing complete. In one minute, the host will depart this world in his completed state.]

A golden hourglass appeared before him, the countdown set to one minute.

"What is this?" Both Shendu and Uncle were stunned.

Zoran raised his hand, lifting Shendu from the lunar dust and letting him float comfortably. His voice was elegant and composed. "Shendu... my brother. I am leaving. And you... I believe you will succeed."

The old dragon's pupils were blown wide with shock as he stared at Zoran. The joy in his heart was beyond words. Simultaneously, a sense of envy rose within him. Tso Lan had succeeded; perhaps he could too.

The grains of sand fell steadily; thirty seconds had passed.

Uncle was still struggling, his Chi Magic reaching unprecedented levels. In the next instant, the entire lunar surface shook as a wave of pure, celestial energy rippled through the air.

"This is—!" Zoran suddenly looked toward the lotus bud he had long since forgotten.

At this moment, the lotus bud was enveloped in the magic spell, its petals slowly unfurling. A spectral human figure gradually became visible, manifesting into a physical form.

"Are you kidding me?!" Zoran couldn't help but curse.

The world really wasn't even trying to hide it anymore. After Zoran had interrupted the ancient spell by repelling the Ultimate Darkness, the world was bound to react to his restoration. He just didn't expect the reaction to be this fast.

If the previous attempt was "not trying to hide it," this time it "didn't even care to pretend."

The Immortal Noble Sage, He Xiangu!

She slowly stretched as she emerged from the lotus bud, her exquisite face lifting from the emerald-green light. She looked as if she had just woken from a dream.

With arched brows and almond eyes, she looked like a celestial being even without makeup. Dressed in light gauze with bare feet, she radiated an otherworldly aura. Upon waking, her beautiful brow furrowed slightly, and green light flowed around her like ripples on water.

This was a true Immortal Sage, one who had long vanished from the river of time! The eternal heavenly general who had once personally sealed the completed Moon Demon, He Xiangu!

This sudden turn of events caused everyone present to widen their eyes. Especially Shendu, who immediately began looking left and right, appearing terrified that a certain sword-wielding figure might also appear.

"Tso Lan." Upon awakening, He Xiangu called him by name; she seemed to already understand what had happened.

She extended a slender, jade-like wrist and turned it gently. A lotus bud overflowing with five-colored light appeared in her palm, drifting slowly toward the Moon Demon.

At the same time, the emerald scroll snapped open in the void of space. The Demon Portal roared open! The crimson vortex was twisted and hideous, surging with a massive gravitational pull directed at Zoran.

Her first move was her strongest; her purpose was singular: to set the world right!

In this moment, Zoran actually panicked. He didn't expect the world to be such a sore loser. Seeing that the mortals were useless, it had simply summoned a heavy hitter.

The lotus bud drifted toward him as if floating on water. Zoran commanded his Demon Chi, trying to wall it out. But the glowing bud merely swayed gently and passed straight through the violet-black energy as if it weren't there.

It was like a law etched into the Syllables of Time, an eternal axiom. It could not be hindered; it could not be changed. The swaying lotus bud seemed to pierce through ten million years of history, descending with the same suppressive force as it had in the past.

This was his nemesis! This was exactly how she had suppressed and sealed him thousands of years ago!

Seeing that blocking it was hopeless, Zoran looked at the hourglass.

Almost there. Only one second left!

It's done!

His face lit up with excitement as the last grain of sand fell silently. The lotus bud landed on him, and the five-colored radiance instantly bound him.

He Xiangu gently raised a pale finger, but a trace of confusion flickered in her eyes. She actually couldn't push Tso Lan back into the Demon Portal?

Frowning, her beautiful face showed a look of urgency. She rose and pressed her palm directly against Zoran. "I shall capture you myself, just as I did before," she said with a note of anger.

As the final grain of sand settled, a brilliant golden gateway snapped open.

[Task complete. Host, please return.]

An irresistible force of universal rules instantly enveloped Zoran, moving his form toward the golden gate.

With a joyful heart, Zoran looked back and teased, "Haha! He Xiangu, I'll be taking my leave now."

With his hands behind his back, his posture was ethereal and full of spirit, indescribably free.

"How dare you!" He Xiangu was furious. She had answered the call of the world's will, vowing to capture Zoran as she had in the past. Seeing the demon about to escape, how could she allow it?

Her ribbons fluttered as she chased after Zoran like a goddess ascending to the moon.

Knowing she would not succeed, Zoran sighed with a smile, "Why persist? There's no need to see me off."

So what if He Xiangu was his nemesis? He had already "graduated." Was there anything that could withstand the power of the System?

A joke.

At that moment, a wave of fire swept across, intercepting the space between Zoran and He Xiangu.

Shendu had acted once more, intent on ensuring Zoran could leave this world. The dragon inhabiting Valmont's body was incredibly weak compared to the current Zoran and He Xiangu.

But within Valmont's eyes, the gaze of that ancient dragon was firmer than anyone's!

The golden gateway slowly began to close. Zoran finally gained his freedom. Through the final sliver of the closing gap, he looked back one last time.

Shendu stood alone and silent on the lunar surface, a look of relief on his face. Uncle's massive beam of Chi Magic was sweeping toward him.

That was a sealing spell from nine hundred years ago, its origin tracing back to Lo Pei, the Sacred Warrior who had originally sealed Shendu. Facing the current "Archmage" Uncle, there was no way for him to dodge. It was a radiance that never missed!

Compared to Zoran, Shendu clearly had far more weaknesses and nemeses.

Yet at this moment, he merely tilted the corners of his mouth upward. Facing the spell he once hated with every fiber of his being, he didn't care at all. He waited with relief for the ending that belonged to him.

As the last crack sealed shut, a final voice carried through the gap, raspy and lonely.

"My brother... go seek the freedom that belongs to you."

This dragon of terrible character, who had never kept a promise in his life...

In front of Zoran...

Kept the only promise he had made in nine hundred years.