Zuko noticed the lightning that had faded away suddenly flare up again with an unprecedented madness, and his heart rate sped up as a ghastly thought crossed his mind.

‘Did I go too far? He won’t try to take both of us down will he? Why is that electric seaweed-for-legs suddenly going crazy? Just go away already!’ Zuko panicked as he watched the Sea Emperor suddenly act up at this .

Before he saw the White Tribulation Circle, He had a slight, very slight bit of confidence that if Bilibu suddenly lost regard for everything and pushed both of them towards the pit of death, he might actually survive the ordeal. After all, it was defence that was his strongest feature and it was this very same feature that was the Jellyfish Emperor’s weakest point. In a contest of endurance, even with their gap in cultivation, he would at the very least be on par.

Coupled with the fact that he could survive with most of his body destroyed, he had felt quite bold. Not nearly enough that he welcomed the situation, he was very, very likely to still die. But of the million doors of possibilities, he really believed that 1 or 2 existed where he survived. There was still hope.

‘Was’ being the key word.

Now, if Bilibu really threw all caution to the waters and wanted him dead at any cost, there would only be 1 door of possibility and it was titled ‘Death’. A White Tribulation Light, 3 of them at that, was not something he could withstand if it was boosted by Bilibu. He would perish on the very first one.

‘This accursed mouth of mine.’ Zuko chuckled wryly as he remembered some of the things he said. ‘What even happened? I’ve never said things like that before and certainly not so.. Smoothly. Wow, even just now I had to prevent myself from saying ‘eloquently, what’s going on?’

Although Zuko would never call himself dumb, it was true enough that he wasn’t the brightest pearl around. Words like the kind he had inflicted on Bibliu was not like him at all. Perhaps the toxicness of it all was like him, he knew himself the best and he knew how vengeful he was, but the brutal efficiency at which they had been used was not him at all.

He was a fighter, a very good fighter, but he wasn’t a talker.

Now, at this critical moment, he had unlocked a hidden skill that he was able to use on his enemy, and what marvellous results it had! Come, come, all dwellers of the Sea! Look and marvel at the Great Lord Zuko’s words! The lines are so toxic and the moral boundary inexistent! Just look at the effects! A Sea Emperor is so angry that he might seek death! He really might do it! Come, come! Don’t miss out!

‘Kaka! What ‘great luck’ I have.’ Zuko thought with mixed emotions ‘I actually provoked such a situation at such a critical moment.’

*Flash* The Second Tribulation Pulse.

Zuko felt like laughing at himself. It had felt good at the time to talk down on a stronger enemy who had caused him so much stress and fright, but now look at the situation. The haziness going on in his brain must have messed with his decision making or something.

At the same time, although he could blame his stupidity for taking such a risk, he could not blame himself for underestimating the risk. In which Sea would you see a Sea Emperor give up his life because of mere words, even if the words possessed a peculiar viciousness? It just couldn’t happen.

Perhaps a weaker creature would do it if they were forced and had no way out, or maybe they would just do it because with their inferior cultivation, they lacked the intelligence that came with it along with the control they gained over their primal instincts. But a Sea Emperor? No way!

And as if to agree with him, Bilibu suddenly calmed down just as quickly as he had flared up. In fact, despite all thoughts that had managed to pass through Zuko’s mind in the same time frame, Bilibu had only exploded for about 4 seconds before calming down once more.

‘That’s what I thought.’ Zuko let out a small sigh as his heart rate began to calm. ‘Keke, in the end he couldn’t do it…That was quite scary though. Things could have been- …euh?’

Bilibu abruptly swam away. He actually just up and left, only leaving a few trails before they too disappeared. Just like that.

‘What’s going on-’

*Flash*

‘It’s here!’ Zuko inwardly exclaimed before forcing all of his attention on the bright Tribulation Circle and throwing the Sea Emperor out of his mind.

He reactivated his Metal Enhancement but left the Water Enhancement. The defence W.E offered him was rather insignificant and was better used for the last shot or any change in the situation. However, he still had the Divine Lunar Enhancement activated so he was feeling pretty confident about surviving at least the first 2 Tribulation Lights.

Unfortunately, even he couldn’t convince himself into thinking that it would remain for the last Light, and what was worse was that it would leave him extremely tired and with little energy to resist afterwards. What a terrible situation to be in.

‘This is going to be-’

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

“KYIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIH!!!!!!!” Zuko keened in pain as the Tribulation Light struck his body from above undefendable might. His body which had been coiled tightly loosened and recoiled backwards. He was even twitching.

‘W-what.. from the… Depths… was t-that..?’ Zuko wondered with fright as the state of his dizzy mind worsened. This was pain of the kind he had never felt before. It had straight up bypassed his carapace and flesh like as if they were illusions and struck something within him that he didn’t know existed but could now feel like acid on exposed nerves.

That question had taken him a whole 20 seconds to ask himself, and the only answer was a bright flash.

*Flash*