As Shang continued to focus on his swordsmanship, the Emperors and Kings became tenser and tenser.
They weren't completely sure when Shang was supposed to die, but it should happen within this millennium.
This meant that the Lightning Emperor would probably try something soon, which could very well end with a huge number of deaths.
The Emperors knew that Gregorio had gone all-in on Shang, and since Shang wasn't allowed to become a Sword King, he had to try something to make him one without the permission of the other Emperors
The Emperors were readying themselves for a final battle against Gregorio.
When they inevitably found out the way that Gregorio pushed Shang to become a Sword King, they would have to fight him.
Over the past millennia, the Emperors had also visited the Archivist several times.
Just because the Archivist was bound to his island didn't mean that no one could Visit him.
The Emperors were already trying to gain some favor with the Archivist. After all, when they fought Gregorio for the final time, Gregorio would most likely free the Archivist.
At that point, their lives would be in the Archivist's hands.
Yet, after the 20th visit or so, the Archivist grew annoyed.
"Do not foolishly believe that my senses are as bound as my body," he said with a warning tone. "I have seen and heard the truth. I am only a political bargaining chip. None of you truly want to see me freed. At least show some respect and don't talk to me like I am a naive child. I'm older than all of you combined."
The Emperors felt awkward but also nervous.
Some of them actually got the courage to ask the Archivist what he would do when he was freed.
The Archivist only said one thing.
"That's none of your concern."
This only managed to increase the Emperors' anxiety.
Because of all these things, the Emperors and Kings were extremely nervous.
They had to fight Gregorio when he inevitably helped Shang to advance!
Otherwise, Shang might become so powerful that all of them would die!
Certain death.
Probable death.
These were the only options.
No matter what happened, the chances of death were extremely high for everyone.
These were the longest thousand years for the Emperors.
Every day, they asked their Kings about the Beast Kings and whether or not one was missing.
Of course, the Mage Kings were just as nervous. If their Emperors died, they would very likely also die.
Ironically, the weaker someone was, the higher their chance of survival was.
Ancestral Mages?
Why would Shang or Gregorio care about that? Ancestral Mages barely had any Mana.
Why would the Archivist care about them? They had no power to help him.
The only true danger was if King Sanctified Death won, but that was a piece of information that these weak Mages weren't powerful enough to learn.
So, while the Mage Kings and Mage Emperors felt terror, the Mage Lords only felt a bit of pressure, and the Ancestral Mages barely felt anything that was different from normal.
As the years passed, the Emperors kept demanding more stringent measures of checking the population of Mage Lords, Beast Lords, and Beast Kings.
By now, there was a delegation from every Empire sitting on every single beast island, just watching it.
Nothing was happening.
Additionally, all the Mage Kings were required to check in with the Empires regularly to make sure that none of them were secretly sacrificed for Shang.
There were people fully focusing on nothing but measuring the density of Mana all across the continent to make sure that it didn't drop.
The Mana density was slightly higher than usual, but that was normal.
Sometimes, beasts fought in great battles and just died.
Additionally, the Empires weren't concerned with the Mana density rising but dropping.
How could someone become more powerful and also raise the Mana density of the world?
That made no sense.
Eventually, 1,000 years passed since Shang had transformed.
The Emperors watched with almost bloodshot eyes at every part of the world.
Gregorio had to do something!
Now was the time!
And then, another 100 years passed.
Nothing was happening.
Another century.
Nothing happened.
Another century.
Nothing happened.
By now, the Emperors almost dared to relax, but they were still careful.
Many of them started to talk to Gregorio in an effort to find out what was going on.
Obviously, Gregorio was very cold and curt towards them.
However, he also said some sentences that evoked a very contrasting mix of emotions in the other Emperors.
"You won," Gregorio said coldly. "I allowed Shang to become this powerful so that he might kill Abaddon in the future. We all know what he plans, and we all know what is going to happen."
"Yet, instead of just letting them fight and kill each other, you were hellbent on supporting Abaddon and stopping Shang."
"When Abaddon inevitably becomes a Mage Emperor, I hope you are all ready to die."
"Because I'm not going to free the Archivist, and I'm not going to help you against him."
"You all decided to doom us."
"And now, you will reap what you have sown."
These words evoked many emotions.
Hope: So, Shang was actually dead?
Dread: What if Gregorio was right, and Abaddon actually wanted to kill everyone?
Shock: Wait, Gregorio was willing to just die?!
The Emperors were so relieved that Shang was finally dead, but for some reason, that relief almost felt pointless.
It was like killing Shang had achieved nothing.
As the Emperors saw one danger vanishing into nothingness, they couldn't help looking at another danger becoming more prominent.
Abaddon.
Now, there was no more doubt.
Abaddon would win the tournament.
While Shang had been alive, the Emperors had been able to focus on him and ignore Abaddon.
But now, there was no running away anymore.
They had to deal with Abaddon.
The closer the tournament came, the more they felt like Abaddon might truly represent the end of the world.
In the past, they had decided to bet on Abaddon.
And now, their bet had paid off.
But they weren't sure what they should feel about that.
This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦