"Noble words, but nobility means nothing when you're dead!" the Emperor bellowed back. More arrows were sticking out of his back, but his health wasn't dropping so quickly anymore.
"Van! We've got a problem here!" Sang shouted. Van glanced down to see that the ocean was beginning to vanish. The ground was shaking, and the very sand itself was beginning to collapse into nothingness. Sang was running alongside of the beach as chunks began to break off and fall into nothingness. The world was really ending.
"Don't you see? How much time do you think we have left before the sky itself collapses and we are smothered into nothingness?" the Emperor said.
Sang was trying her hardest to escape the collapsing landscape, but the ground was relentlessly crumbling. She yelped as she stumbled and fell backwards into the darkness. Van flew down to get to her, but he wasn't as fast as the Emperor was, rushing down and snatching her up before she fell into oblivion.
"Not so quickly!" the Emperor bellowed. "You see what's going on? Free me and you can both leave!"
"Never!" Sang said. "I might be a little more rough around the edges than Van, but he's right. We aren't going to let you escape this place!"
Van could feel an icy coldness wrapping around his body as he hovered above nothingness. This darkness was different from the manufactured darkness of nighttime. It was entirely unnatural, and he felt himself growing weak.
"What's the matter, Van?" the Emperor shouted as he flew up to Van and slashed at him with all of his might. "You don't like being in a deconstruction zone?"
The damage didn't even register on Van's UI. He snapped out of his funk and glanced over at the mountains nearby. They were still part of the starting area, and they weren't crumbling to pieces yet. Van flew away from the Emperor, trying his best to get out of the deconstruction area before it tore him to pieces.
"Hahaha," the Emperor laughed.
Van could hear the strain in the creature's laugh, though; it was nothing more than a front meant to intimidate Van. The Emperor was downright terrified of what was going on and Van knew it. They reached the mountain peaks and Van could feel the cold northern wind against his body. It was nice to feel the wind – being in that black, empty mass had been too unsettling for his taste.
Van spun around and waited for the Emperor to catch up. His warhammer was demanding more violence, and the Emperor's health was almost low enough for him to use his special attack. But as soon as the attack was used, Van would be dropped right back down to Level 1. It was sort of ironic that he would be brought down to such a low level, in the beginners' area of the game.
"Waiting to kill me, no doubt!" the Emperor said as he flew high above Van. Sang was still in his hands, but she wasn't fighting to get out of his grasp. It didn't appear that he was crushing her. Van hoped that she wasn't fooled by him having saved her. The Emperor's charity was nothing more than a feeble attempt to save his own life. If he'd had the power still, he would have ensured that both Van and Sang were dead before he escaped.
"But I won't let you!" the Emperor said. "You have no idea what I survived to get to this place. I watched my own flesh and blood murder my brother, just because he was vocal and different. I brutally ended anyone who realized that I was an independent thinker, expertly masking the reason they died with my clever tongue. I rose to the top of my race and I will rise to the top of the universe! Everyone will bow before me someday – even you! You wretched humans think that you're special, that there's some guarantee that your stories will have happy endings, but it's pathetic. I didn't even know the concept of a happy ending until I encountered your culture. The real universe doesn't care about your stories! You will not survive this, Van! You will not be the hero!"
"That would be way more intimidating if you were anywhere remotely close to me!" Van shouted back.
"I'll kill her!" the Emperor said as he held two fingers over Sang's head. "One squeeze and she's dead!"
"You and I both know you need her!" Van shouted. He glanced at Sang and noticed that she was slowly moving her hands around, manipulating code.
"Bah, I cannot even use the life of another human being to convince you to spare me?" the Emperor asked. "So be it! So be it, Van. You are going to die now and I will deal with her after this. Just know, as you go to your grave, that you chose to throw everything away and, in the end, it didn't matter! You will die, Van!"
"Right back at you!" Van replied as he prepared his weapon for the charge. The Emperor rushed forward towards Van, this time extending only his head and opening his jaws wide. As Van readied himself for the attack, he noticed that the Emperor's right hand was busy motioning… as if he were casting a spell.
"Greater Dispel!" the Emperor shouted as a beam of bright white energy struck Van and immediately cancelled out the power of his Flight.
"Ah, crap!" Van shouted as he began to fall towards the earth. He lost all semblance of control as he hurtled to the ground. He was spinning rapidly from the sudden loss of flight and he couldn't get his bearings, but he could see the big red dragon's jaws lunging towards him, ready to devour him. Van tried to swing his weapon to defend himself, but he was falling too fast.
Right before the red dragon's jaws closed around him, a gigantic streak of black crashed into the side of the Emperor. There was a loud roar, and Van recognize it as belonging to Jet.
"Jet!" Van shouted as he felt a claw grab his leg and pull him atop the black dragon's back. "I thought you were dead!"
"Someone brought me back to life!" Jet replied as he turned to face the Emperor. "I do not know how."
Sang waved at Van from the ground; apparently she had managed to get loose of the Emperor's grasp and was now readying her bow for more attacks. She shouted at the top of her lungs, "I found his code and discovered the thing preventing Jet from respawning! We don't have a lot of time left, though – this place is falling apart! Kill him, Van!"
"Nice work, Sang!" Van shouted as he finished securing himself in Jet's saddle. The hammer in his hand was still burning with a righteous fury and he could feel the rage building up within him, as well. This would be the end of it. With Jet's help, there was no way the Emperor stood a chance.
"Xevov!" the Emperor bellowed. "You wretched creature, am I never to be rid of you cowards? Fighting your battles through other races, always telling them how to win the war, but never gaining victory. How does it feel to be a perpetual failure, Xevov?"
Jet said nothing; he merely hovered in the air and watched the Emperor with a quiet determination. Van could feel the tension in the air. The Emperor knew that he was in trouble now. If he tried to flee, Jet would run him down and attack him from behind while Van ran amok, attacking with his hammer. If he stood his ground to fight, it would truly be a life or death struggle.
"So this is how it is to end for me," the Emperor said. "Trapped within my own world, watching it fall to pieces and usurped by those whom I once believed would be my servants. My only regret is not telling my people to kill themselves before I die. What a wretched species we are, to suppress individuality, to hate free will. Nothing would give me more glee than to know that the Draco would be extinct someday, but alas, with my death, that will not be the case. If I am to die, though, then I will ensure that you both will, too."
"How many?" Jet suddenly screamed as he lunged forward. "How many people have you destroyed?" The black dragon's claws tore at the Emperor's face and Van could see that the Emperor hadn't been expecting a sudden outburst of violence. The Emperor fought back, his slashing equally as fierce. Van held onto the reigns of the dragon hard, knowing that he would have to wait for a fly-by before he could attack with his own weapon.