The Lesser Planet of Hani had transformed after the battle between Zero and Arthur. The resulting crater that Arthur formed had sweeping effects on the rest of the world, causing a large scale tectonic shift that threw the entire planet into turmoil. The world itself collapsed and reformed, transforming into a jagged, edged Exotic World that no longer resembled the planet it had before.

Hundreds of thousands of sharp mountains covered the land now, bereft of life. The World Bridges that connected to Hani had broken off or were whittled down, only the bare minimum still connecting. Some of them even hovered hundreds of meters above contact, no longer fully connected to the planet.

The weather had turned erratic, wind and rainstorms sweeping the globe.

In the depths of one of these random mountains…

A small spark of light began to flicker.

Then it flickered again. And again.

And again.

Gradually, dozens of sparks flickered. These sparks rapidly began to condense as they flickered at a fast speed until, finally, they combined to form a humanoid body.

Gradually, the light faded away, leaving the figure of a man sitting alone in darkness, in the depths of a random mountain range.

Up above, a sweeping storm of wind flowed, setting the air back and forth haphazardly. This storm didn't seem to affect the lower regions of this valley, leaving the newly formed man in a state of silence and peace.

After a while, the man spoke.

"Father… I am free at last…" A deep, enthralling voice echoed from the speaker.

Gradually, light began to flicker once more, this time around the man's head. A myriad of colors that eventually stopped changing, settling on a single color.

A deep, beautiful red.

This flickering light slowly stopped flickering, resolving into a solid, tangible image.

A complete, glowing Angelic Halo.

"To achieve the Angelic Class is to step beyond the Laws of the Universe, in preparation to Ascend…" Zero spoke the words aloud, a smile appearing on his face,

"To step beyond the Law of Annihilation… I chose to experience annihilation." His eyes began to glow with red light,

"It was a risk. My body and soul almost died permanently there." Zero's words echoed out softly,

"If I failed to immerse myself in the Laws of the Universe as I burned my soul, merging my consciousness as it was shredded, if I had taken even a single misstep as I broke into the Angelic Class, if I had been unable to handle giving up everything as my life flashed before me…" He reflected out loud to himself, flexing his arms and legs. He was currently in the Humanoid Form of his unique Divine Golden Lion body.

"But I succeeded. I have stepped beyond annihilation and returned. My will, Father, is just as indomitable as yours… and I will not be shackled. Not even by you." His voice took on a cold edge,

"Foolish Zero who let himself get trapped by the Wizard King, foolish Zero who was sent fleeing by your comrade Sun Wukong, foolish Zero who mindlessly slaughtered Dragons to absorb their Growth Energy, all according to the subtle whispers you sent through my soul…" When Zero said the last part, his voice gained a slightly uncertain tone.

Yukeli's touch was so incredibly fine, Zero wasn't actually sure if he was correct. He felt that he was, but he wasn't actually able to sense that. He had only guessed it.

"How could a fool like me outsmart you?" His smile became grim.

No one answered Zero as he sat alone, forgotten.

Gradually, the sweeping windstorm above began to die down, the clashing sounds fading to the background.

Throughout all of this, Zero refused to move. Instead, he maintained a state of meditation, drawing energy towards his body as he focused on his health.

He may have returned to life and successfully broken through to the Angelic Class, but he had still suffered from apparent annihilation. He was able to come back thanks to his overcoming the Law of Annihilation by his breakthrough, but the horrifying injuries he'd suffered, in both body and soul, were so devastating any other being would've already perished anew.

For an Angelic Class Divine Golden Lion who had access to near infinite natural energy from his surroundings, however…

His unique disposition mitigated any chance of death, allowing for a full recovery, given enough time. Considering the state of his body and soul, returning to his full strength would take anywhere from several days to a couple of weeks.

"I am your slave no longer." Zero whispered, his words full of intent,

"I will absorb all of the Bloodlines you left for yourself…

"I will allow you to scrape together those split soul fragments, combining as one….

"And then I will annihilate you, once and for all.

"For only with your death will I truly be free of the chains you have set upon me." The air around Zero exploded with light as a majestic, Angelic Aura rippled into the air.

"You are not the only one that has found their purpose, Father."

.. .. .. .. .. ..

Back on Blizzaria…

Crunch

Crunch

Crunch

The sounds of ice crinkling echoed out methodically as a particularly strong Grakon plodded its way towards the entrance to the Great Road to Icicar. Particles of ice and stone dust flicked into the air as it moved, slowly falling to the ground behind it.

Abruptly, this Pseudo-King Class Grakon froze. It cocked its head to the side as it looked down the dimly lit cavern that opened up before it, as if curious.

A few scant seconds later, a familiar, demonic figure burst free from the cave, yelling out loud while rapidly spinning and holding on to two gargantuan greatswords.

"Wooooo!" Dorian spun around like a tornado as he whipped the two ridiculously large greatswords around, slashing them through the air.

If the undead Grakon had been alive, its jaw would've dropped in surprise as the extremely odd sight.

Before it could react further, Dorian arrived.

SHKKK

Dorian was no genius swordmaster, but the raw power behind his spinning was enhanced by both his Perfect Body Ability and multiple powerful Laws.

The Pseudo-King Grakon didn't stand a chance.

It was blown apart, ripped to shreds as its scales cracked and shattered. Shards of bone flew out into the air as the corpse literally fell to pieces, killed in a single blow.

"Huh." Dorian stuttered as he kept spinning, blasting past the corpse.

"Wo-woah!" His rapid spinning had thrown off his concentration, even more so with the extremely large, and extremely heavy, blades he was spinning.

Dorian skipped forward, his arms going out wide as his two greatswords began to slam into the ground. The erratic vibrations that arose as a result finally sent the huge weapons tumbling from his fingers, where they rapidly returned back to normal size, and him tumbling to the floor.

thud

thud

Dorian skipped off the stone ground, slamming into it twice before he managed to right himself, laughing all the way.

"Ahahaha." He shook his head as he skidded to a halt, looking back at the dead Grakon and his still sliding swords,

"That went a lot better in my head."

After he wiped out the group of Grakons that had ambushed him, destroying them all with ease, Dorian made fast progress down the Great Road. He got lucky, or unlucky, depending on one's perspective, and didn't encounter any treasure hunters or expedition forces out exploring Blizzaria.

Instead, he was able to quickly race down the road at a fast speed, blowing past any and all opposition.

Literally nothing seemed able to stand in his way. He was unstoppable, wiping out enemy after enemy with absolute ease.

It was such a stark difference from his first time here, he couldn't help but celebrate.

And now…

He had arrived at the exit of the long cavern.

The cave entrance opened up into the enormous chamber that housed the grand city of Icicar, a chamber known as the Cavern of Ice.

This cavern stretched for dozens of miles into several directions, with long stalagmites and stalactites dispersed throughout, creating a huge, relatively open plain. Ice and frost covered large portions of the ground, as did the Pourmaline Crystals, lighting the area up.

A large number of ruins were built into the walls of the Cavern of Ice. Dorian eyed them as he looked to the left and right. He recalled first seeing the King Class Giant he was looking for in this area.

"Hmm…" Dorian rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He waved his hand casually after a moment.

'Lesser Magnetic Manipulation.'

WHOOSH

The two blades he'd taken from some of the Grakons he defeated flew up into the air and shot towards him. He snagged both of them skillfully, storing them in his Spatial Ring right after.

He then began to jog off to the side.

The cave exit ended in a large outcropping that had a long stone path that lead off towards Icicar. Dorian jogged along the edge of this outcropping, towards the stone ruins built into the side of the cavern wall.

When he reached the edge of the outcropping, he jumped up high into the air and transformed into his Sun Eagle form.

The frigid cold could barely be felt as the natural heat of his Sun Eagle form brushed it off, a small layer of steam rising from his feathered body. Dorian flapped his wings hard, flying to the edge of the roof of the cavern, several hundreds of meters up in the air.

And then… he began to search for his target.

He covered ground at a very fast rate, able to avoid interacting with any enemies as he scanned his environment, flying high up. Even if the trail of flames he left was visible, it was quashed out so quickly by the cold he was practically unnoticeable.

For the next hour, Dorian went on patrol, searching every large passageway he saw, following various potential trails in the Cavern of Ice, scanning everything.

At one point, he looked over the city of Icicar once more, remembering everything that happened here.

Icicar had been an expansive city, with tens of thousands of stone buildings. All of them were oversized, meant for beings quite a bit taller than regular humanoids. Dorian could make out several collections of buildings built into various stalagmites and stalactites, some high in the air while others low to the ground. There didn't seem to be any ground access to the buildings built up into the hanging stalactites.

Most of the buildings were a faded grey color, and in ruins, often covered with ice.

At the center of the city was the magical stream of liquid ice Dorian was very familiar with.

It was a waterfall of Gworen Ice, mysterious, magical ice that was frozen to a temperature far below freezing. Just getting too close to the river could freeze a creature to death, let alone getting in it, as he well remembered.

It was in this area that he had those fraught encounters with the Shades, with Arial, with the King Class Grakon.

The last time he was here, Icicar had suffered a huge amount of damage from a massive explosion that ripped part of the city to shreds.

Now, however… everything was magically restored back to its normal self.

The mysterious curse that modulated this land seemed to defy time itself.

To his partial dismay, Dorian wasn't able to find the King Class Grakon that had caused him so much trouble here. While the city had been largely restored, the deadly Grakon that had caused half of his problems was nowhere to be seen.

It didn't matter too much, in the end.

His target was still the same.

The infamous, undead, One Armed Iron Giant of the fallen Giant Race.

The Giant was, according to the research he did long ago, a masterful swordsman that, even in death, was still able to grasp hold of the Law of Cutting, and wielded a gargantuan sword made out of Thorin Iron. The undead creature was extremely powerful, a terrifying enemy that towered to an absurd height.

Dorian felt confident that if he could find it and take it down, he would get exactly what he needed to Evolve.

And as the hour of hard work and flying finished up…

Dorian's effort paid off.

Dorian had just emerged from one of the massive side tunnels, taking sharp turns and twists at breakneck speed, relying upon his greatly enhanced reflexes to survive unscathed.

Right as he exited, he was greeted with a rather terrifying image.

A massive, towering figure that stood a bit more than 200 meters tall, so unfathomably large it made any other creature look diminutive in comparison. The Expanded Grakons, even Dorian's Expanded Dragon or other large forms, would look like infants when compared to the massive figure that towered before him.

This figure, as Dorian studied it closely, was a one-armed skeleton covered in ice. Dorian made out a collection of long, pointed horns, and a strange blue glow that was emanating from the eyes of the creature.

Wielded in its lone, right arm was an extraordinarily large black blade, at least 100 meters long and a half dozen meters wide, with a huge chunk of frozen ice and rock stuck to the end of it.

When Dorian fully recognized it, a huge smile appeared on his face, as did a feeling of anticipation.

-

Species: Giant-Four Horned Variant (Desiccated)

Class: King Class (Late)

Maximum Energy Level: 2,458,882

-

"Why, hello there."

He had found his King Class Undead.

.

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