"Huff... Huff.."
On a steep rocky cliff, a black clothed man faced off against three people.
Even though three people had ganged up on one man, all four of them were bloodied, sustaining life threatening injuries. It was still uncertain who'd make it out alive, but the three men were assured of their chances.
All around them, mountains had been reduced to nothing but plains and the surrounding rivers had dried up. The result of their battle destroyed the ecosystem. Every single thing, living or not that was unfortunate enough to be anywhere close to the battle site was erased cleanly, their spirit energy serving as more fuel for this battle.
"Heh," The black clothed man chuckled. "I guess I was a fool huh. To think you three would poison me and gang up on me like this." He said, spitting blood as he forcefully bent his body to stand ramrod straight.
"I gave you everything you have now, built you up, and yet you betrayed me." He said as he carried himself even higher, eventually standing straight at his full height of 6'7.
"Tell me, what did you do it for? My power? My Territory? What? The least you traitors could do is to tell what made you do it. What pushed you to the edge? You may be traitors but you wouldn't have taken this risk for a sufficient reason." He said looking past their masks into the eyes of his three assailants.
Finally, the one in the middle sighed, looking at the man wistfully.
"Ghost King, your reign is over. We would do you the honour of dying in battle like you would want instead of the poison. As for what made us finally take this step... Maybe, you should blame yourself for been powerful enough to do the impossible. Seizing the legendary Ghost Emperor's Orb from the most dangerous depth of the spirit sea.
"You are already so strong that three of the most powerful men in the world have to fight you to the death while one of the most vicious poisons in existence flows through your veins. Do you think we and our clans would feel comfortable letting you unlock the secrets of the Ghost Emperor's Orb?"
Hearing his words, the Ghost king squinted his eyes.
The fact the he had obtained the Ghost Emperor's Orb should have remained a secret only those closest to him knew.
He knew how potentially dangerous it could be if it leaked and he kept it a secret to prevent this exact thing from happening. Still, somehow it had leaked.
"How do you know about the Orb?" He asked.
But the person on the right snorted and a feminine voice rang.
"Ghost King, do you think we would really tell you that? We know that our win is all but guaranteed, but we'd be fools to underestimate you for any reason."
Then they turned to the others two.
"We should be done stalling now. At this point, the poison should be in full effect already. Let's end this." She said.
Instantly the three assailants released their spiritual aura and the final mountain where they stood was pulverized to dust.
Up in the air, the three of them readied themselves for the final clash against the Ghost King.
Poisoned or not, the Ghost King was the Ghost King. He was untouchable, unmatched in the world. They couldn't face his with anything less than their all.
All three readied their full power setting up a blast that could take out several countries.
But the ghost King just stood in the air, motionless. It almost seemed like all that animosity wasn't aimed towards him.
No aura exuded from him as he stood still with his back bent again and his black hair falling to his face.
But then he began to speak, and though his voice was low, it seemed to echo in each of their hearts.
"For many years, I have protected my own and my people. I stood untouched as the Ghost King. I made my way, crawling through a path of thorns, making and climbing a mountain of flesh and blood, and I have since been unmatched in the world. But then, at a point, I looked back on my life and discovered that I had no more obstacles left. Even the demons were nothing to me. I had conquered everything. Then my life began to lose it's taste. I had left everything for power, and when I finally got it. I discovered that it wasn't really power that pushed me, no, it was the thrill of domination. Of winning. The unwillingness to lose.
"I had thought that I would never be in a position where I could actually lose again, so thank you for this opportunity."
And then he vanished.
"Not good! Get in a forma-"The green robed woman screamed but before he could finish, a black beam, darker than the abyss shot towards her.
She immediately forsook the power she had accumulated for the final move, skillfully turning it into a hexagonal elemental mana shield.
"Not bad," the ghost king said from her side, she made to turn but suddenly, she felt her vision turning. The last sight she saw before she died was the ghost king standing beside her body, a dagger in hand and a bloodthirsty grin spread across his face.
"One down, two to go." He said grinning. Blood leaked from his eyes and his ears but he didn't care. He had resolved himself to die here if need be. His Life had become too dull to live and now that he was given this chance to enjoy himself, he would happily indulge.
Seeing their counterpart dead, the two remaining assailants backed up each other, a grave expression on their faces.
This was indeed the Ghost King. Even with the poison, the injuries from the earlier fight and his previous wounds from his expedition for the Ghost Emperor's orb, his battle ability seemed to not have taken a hit in the least.
They didn't even see him move before he decapitated her.
They knew of the legends, legends of a crazy monster who revelled in challenges, constantly going up against impossible odds and coming out at the top. Only that they knew that it wasn't just legends... That monster was standing in front of them, blood leaking from his eyes and a deranged grin on his face as he licked his dagger while eyeing the both of them like prey.
They suppressed the shivers running through their spikes, steeled themselves and charged.
...
"Huff.. Huff..." The Ghost king lay flat one what remained of the plains. His bones were twisted in several places, his body was pierced in different locations, and blood leaked from his seven orifices.
No one was supposed to have suffered this much and still be alive, but he was the ghost king for a reason. Even cockroaches would have to bow in respect to his vitality.
Still, even he was coming to the end of his rope. He knew he didn't have long left. He had killed off those traitors. But that hardly accomplished much. They weren't worth much in his eyes anyways and new fools would rise to replace them. What was more important to him was the battle, he finally felt alive once again, and he loved every piece of it.
"Haa.." he muttered blocking the rays of the first morning sun with his hands.
He was dying. He didn't regret the life he lived. He didn't leave anything or anybody behind to care for — he had none in his chase for power.
But still, he felt like there could have been more.
As he closed his eyes, the last wisps of breath fading from his nostrils, a bright green light shone at the depths of his soul from an orb. The light perpetrated into every bit of his soul, changing it, warping it, then the green orb shattered into fine particles before fusing with the soul.