586: Japan, total annihilation

Toyama Prefecture, Eastern Sea, Doomsday Fortress.

Naruhito, the current Emperor of the Eastern Sea, gripped the table cast into the ground with both hands, looking at Koizumi beside him with a grim expression.

“Baka! How could such a strong earthquake occur in Toyama Prefecture?”

“And why is the tremor so intense and lasting so long without ending?”

Koizumi crouched on the ground, clutching the thick table leg, his face filled with terror.

“Mount Fuji has erupted.”

“According to information from our personnel in Tokyo, Mount Fuji has erupted.”

“And this eruption is more violent than any recorded one.”

“Furthermore, our people said they couldn't contact those Heaven-Grade powerhouses on Mount Fuji.”

“They might have met with an accident.”

“Baka!” Naruhito cursed again.

“Didn’t the research institute say that Mount Fuji couldn’t possibly erupt in a short time?”

“If I had known Mount Fuji would erupt, I would have…”

He paused, then glanced at Koizumi.

“If I had known Mount Fuji would erupt, I would have taken you away from the Eastern Sea and sought refuge outside the island as soon as I received news of the Machina crisis ending.”

It could only be said that Naruhito was indeed not foolish; even at this point, he was still trying to win people’s hearts.

As for giving a mere Transcendent Realm Late Stage the title of a Heaven-Grade powerhouse?

It was purely because they had little land and even less knowledge, completely unaware of how powerful true powerhouses were.

On the other side, Koizumi, upon hearing Naruhito's words, immediately showed a look of gratitude.

“Your Majesty…”

Before he could declare his loyalty, a crisp snapping sound suddenly echoed in his ears.

Then he realized he was getting further and further away from Naruhito.

Dazzling sunlight broke through the sudden massive crack, casting a beam of light into this underground fortress that seemed as if it would never see the light of day.

A faint scent of sulfur wafted up from deep within the earth. Koizumi, trembling all over, tightly hugged the twisted table leg and came to the edge of the crack to look.

Then came a dizzying sensation.

Nearly a thousand meters beneath the earth’s crust, fiery red magma was churning, surging, constantly rising in powerful tides, as if about to erupt.

Seven meters from Koizumi, Naruhito looked at the chains coiling and writhing in the magma, a hint of greed in his eyes.

“When heaven and earth change, divine objects must appear.”

“I am destined by fate. This time, the Dragon is in shallow waters, and even heaven and earth cannot stand by, wishing to birth a divine object to help me.”

“Koizumi-kun.” Naruhito stood at the edge of the crack, pointing at the chains of Dao condensed by Yang Dian.

“Now is the time for you to fulfill your loyalty.”

“Jump down and bring the divine object back for me.”

Koizumi Junichirō stared blankly at Naruhito.

Although he held the title of the strongest below the Heaven-Grade, he was not Heaven-Grade after all, and could not fly.

If he climbed down the incredibly smooth crack, would he even be able to climb back up alive?

Naruhito was telling him to die!

Just as he was wondering whether to be loyal to the imperial family, like his father, the chains floating in the magma suddenly tensed.

The moment the chains tensed, Koizumi suddenly felt something, turning his head to look towards the source of the crack.

Vaguely, he seemed to see Mount Fuji through the boundless earth, and also the figure on the sacred mountain, holding the chains of Dao and severing the earth’s plates.

“Kacha~”

With another crisp snap, the perfectly straight crack, as if cut by a long blade, instantly fractured, and countless fissures spread from this crack, extending to both sides of the earth.

The land was rising, the world was sinking.

Countless magma surged upwards at a visible speed, and the sea unleashed overwhelming, immeasurably tall tsunamis, threatening to destroy the world.

“Boom~ Boom~ Boom~ Boom~”

With his heart beating rapidly, Koizumi Junichirō felt his whole body heating up, and all his blood began to rush to his brain.

The world began to clear, and the passage of time slowed.

Looking at the sunlight shining down from the sky, illuminating a dazzling dust cloud with the Tyndall effect, Koizumi reached out and touched his chest.

“I, awakened my ability?”

“Is my ability to have a pair of eyes that can see the essence of things through their surface?”

He subconsciously looked at the chains.

Then his gaze crossed over two hundred kilometers to Mount Fuji.

He saw the source of the chains of Dao.

He also saw the person holding the chains of Dao, igniting the underground fire veins of the Eastern Sea, severing the island’s continental shelf, and causing the catastrophe.

“Sō desu ne~”

In a flash, endless magma erupted from the depths of the earth.

As it shot into the sky, it also poured into the Doomsday Fortress.

Koizumi, who had just awakened his innate ability... Emperor Naruhito, born of close relatives... and countless members of the Eastern Sea royal family and important ministers brought by Naruhito into the Doomsday Fortress... even the entire Eastern Sea island... were wiped out.