Chapter 175: Chapter 175: The Empress of the Sea:
Poseidon froze, trapped in the dream Jax had created with just a thought. Her body floated in the water, eyes empty, completely defenseless.
Jax walked toward her calmly, expressionless."Sleep."
For a few seconds, everything was silent. Then the sea started reacting. A brutal pressure filled the area, the water trembled, and a low roar echoed from the depths. Poseidon’s eyes snapped open, her power exploding around her, shattering the illusion.
The entire ocean rose with her. The fury of the sea roared, but there was something else in her eyes: fear.
"What... are you?" she asked, stepping back.
Jax didn’t answer. He just looked at her."I don’t have time for you. But when I come back... you better have an explanation."
He raised his fist."And so you don’t think I’m joking..."
He struck the ocean.
The impact was so violent that a line of energy spread for kilometers underwater, cutting through everything. Poseidon’s castle split in two, reduced to ruins. Thousands of her subjects died instantly, crushed by the pressure and collapse.
Silence returned. Only the sound of bubbles and falling debris remained.
Jax looked at her one last time."That was just a taste. Next time... it’ll be you."
Jax vanished, leaving chaos behind, and flew over the sea at impossible speed. Within minutes, he arrived at the battlefield.
There, his clone was being held by the human emperor. The man had him by the neck with pure energy while his clone agonized: arms and legs torn off, body mangled, barely breathing.
Jax extended his hand, and a fragment of his clone flew toward him. He absorbed it instantly, regaining the full memory of what had happened. What he saw lit a fire inside him. Pure rage.
His clone, barely conscious, looked at him and murmured:"You took too long... couldn’t you handle your wives first..."
Jax laughed, a cold, sinister sound like clashing metal.His eyes locked on the human emperor and then scanned the dozens of emperors surrounding him. They all looked at him with contempt, confident in their victory. They thought he was only at the same level as his clone. That he wasn’t a real threat.
Jax said nothing. He just smiled, the tension in the air thickening.
The human emperor disappeared from his position, reappearing in front of Jax in a blink. He struck at Jax’s stomach—the same attack he had used on the clone to separate and severely hurt him.
The strike passed right through Jax as if he were a mirage. Not a scratch.
The other emperors screamed, furious and confused."Stop hiding! Face us! Don’t be a coward!"
They had no idea what was happening. They didn’t realize they were already trapped in Jax’s illusion.
From above, Jax watched. Calm, smiling, as his enemies struggled to break free. Nothing worked.
He was surprised at how easy they were to trap. Poseidon hadn’t lasted long in his illusion, and these guys... not even a second.
"I thought they’d be stronger than her..." he muttered to himself, amused and slightly incredulous.
The emperors kept shouting, fighting against something they couldn’t touch, and Jax just watched from above, enjoying every second of their confusion.
Then, with a smile, Jax released a little gas from his hands. It drifted into the nostrils of every emperor, driving them insane.
The battlefield turned into hell instantly. Each emperor attacked without thinking about alliances, trying to survive and prove their supremacy—but in their minds, they were facing Jax one by one, or thinking their comrades were betraying them to join Jax, making them look insane as they punched the air.
The insect emperor released a swarm of giant beetles that charged at the titan emperor."Prepare to be crushed by nature!" he shouted.
The beetles tore through the titan’s skin, eating him from the inside."Damn it! Get out of my body!" the titan roared, hurling house-sized rocks at the swarm, but it didn’t stop them.
The fire emperor saw the threat and unleashed a torrent of flames, incinerating the approaching insects."These bugs aren’t touching me!" he yelled, his fire painting the battlefield in hellish red.
The lightning emperor targeted the beast emperor."I’ll show you the true power of the storm!"
"Don’t underestimate me, spark!" the beast emperor shot back, summoning giant tigers that tore through the ground and attacked ferociously.
The dragon emperor roared, spewing blue fire and slashing with claws that cut through everything."No one destroys my legacy!"
The ice emperor froze an area, trapping the demon emperor."You’ll stay frozen as punishment for your insolence!" he shouted, while the demon shattered the ice with blasts of black fire.
The shadow emperor appeared behind the goblin emperor, slashing with spectral daggers while laughing."Your tricks won’t save your miserable life!"
"Idiot!" the goblin emperor shouted, throwing green energy balls that exploded on impact, destroying the ground and several goblin minions around him.
The beast and titan emperors collided, their roars and blows kicking up dust clouds and destroying nearby trees and mountains."Don’t get in my way!" yelled a titan, ripping a stone tower to hurl at the beast emperor."You’ll cry like a pup!" replied the other, tearing the earth and sending packs of giant wolves after him.
The demon emperor trapped a group of dragon emperors in chains of black fire."Their bodies will burn as they scream!"
The dragon emperor wasn’t backing down."Your cursed chains won’t hold me!" he roared, blasting blue fire that pushed everyone back.
In the middle of it all, the insect emperor screamed:"Come to me! I’ll devour you all!" as his beetles swarmed anything that moved.
"Enough!" shouted the lightning emperor, firing a massive bolt that struck between two armies, electrocuting everyone nearby.
And above them, in the sky, Jax watched, laughing coldly."Is this all you can do? Not even Poseidon lasted this long... pathetic," he muttered.
None of the emperors realized they were all trapped in Jax’s illusion. Every hit, every attack, every roar... it wasn’t actually harming them. And he could watch their terrified, frustrated expressions with complete amusement.
"Do you really think you can fight me?" the dragon emperor shouted to his comrades, not knowing he himself was trapped."Stop hiding and fight, damn it!" others yelled, desperate.
Jax smiled, watching them tear themselves apart, one by one, clueless that the real danger hadn’t even shown up yet.