Azazel and Azaron stood with glasses of wine in their hands as they stared at the gala happening below.

"What do you want, Azazel?" Azaron asked with the same flat and indifferent tone.

"You’ve been here for over a day, and you didn’t even bother to look for me," Azazel spoke with a tired sigh, as though he was growing weary of the one-sided friendship.

"You aren’t my wife," Azaron replied with a shake of his head.

"Whatever. We talked about you visiting the Velkarin Empire the last time, but you didn’t, which I forgive you. But I sent you letters and invitations to my daughter’s first birthday party, which you didn’t attend, and that I can’t forgive," Azazel spoke with a tired smile.

Azaron shook his head. "I remember you suggesting the idea of me coming to the Velkarin Empire, and me rejecting the idea. As for your daughter’s birthday party invitation, I never got it. It must have been stuck in transit. And in regard to your forgiveness, why would I care about that or need it?" Azaron replied as he sipped his wine.

Clearly, the dynamic of their friendship was a bit... special.

Azazel was the guy who kept the friendship alive and did what he could whenever he could, while Azaron was the friend who simply did nothing, or the bare minimum, if that accounted for something.

"Tsk. I attended Malrik’s first birthday party, and you couldn’t attend my daughter’s. I should knock some sense into you," Azazel clicked his tongue.

"And I don’t ever remember sending you an invitation, and I still wonder to this day how you got hold of the invitation and date," Azaron followed up immediately.

From their conversation, it was clear that they had known each other for quite some time now.

Azazel and Azaron had first met over a century ago, and at the time, Azaron wasn’t a Crownstar Life Ranker yet. The two of them had met in battle, and they had both fought over an artefact they had found, neither of them giving the other an inch.

They had fought for the artefact, and shockingly enough, the battle had ended in a draw.

But later on, Azaron escaped with the artefact as he simply vanished using his Nebula affinity, leaving Azazel stranded and empty-handed.

Since that day, Azazel had simply pestered Azaron, showing up unannounced at various places. Examples included Malrik’s first birthday party, Azaron’s wedding day with Lily, and random appearances within Wargrave Territory. Most of the time, it was Lily, Azaron’s wife, who attended to him, as Azaron wasn’t really the friendship type of guy.

And through his decades of pestering Azaron, Azazel had gradually grown on him, making himself tolerable and, to some extent, a true friend.

It was due to Azazel always visiting Azaron within the Zarethorne Empire that he eventually found a wife, whom he stayed in the Zarethorne Empire for an entire month for before finally leaving and returning to the Velkarin Empire.

And needless to say, both Azaron and Azazel were familiar with each other’s wives. After all, the two women had become friends through Azazel. And with Azazel’s wife being a native of the Zarethorne Empire, Azazel simply had even more reason to visit Azaron.

But Azaron, on his part, never once visited Azazel. He simply never bothered to. Although Azazel had invited him many times, Azaron saw it as a waste of time. Spending days on a single journey was simply too... stressful. But of course, he had told Azazel that he was simply too busy as a Noble.

And as for Arianna’s birthday invitation, he had gotten it, but Azazel had already guessed that Azaron wouldn’t be attending, as he wasn’t a man for such events.

After they had both stepped into the Dust Crownstar Life Rank, they fought again, which was also over a century ago, and they had fought to a draw yet again.

At this point, Azazel Haellight was regarded as Azaron’s only equal. Although many said that wouldn’t be the case anymore, after all, over a century had passed since their last fight, and clearly, Azaron was no longer the man he once was. His power, his ridiculous physique, everything about him was simply above what a Crownstar Life Ranker should be capable of.

But a few also speculated that the same could be said for Azazel. After all, within the Velkarin Empire, he was practically undefeated and had long since become a living legend.

Many even claimed he was more talented, arguing that Azaron had been born a Wargrave, possessing the bloodline, the physique, and the soul-bound indestructible weapon, while Azazel had been nothing more than a commoner who rose to his current level with no bloodline ability or legacy to support him.

But of course, the Velkarin Empire had tried to bestow Azazel with a Ducal title to match his prowess, which Azazel immediately rejected. To him, such things would only limit his freedom to travel and go wherever he wanted. Besides, he personally couldn’t be bothered dealing with subordinates and administrative matters.

What privileges did Nobles enjoy that he didn’t? The answer was simple, none.

Power was all that mattered, not a Noble title.

An example of this was the Overlord of the Thalvorn Empire, who had also risen to her current height with nothing but her own hands. No bloodline. No legacy.

But although she was considered equal to Azaron and Azazel, one had to understand that she was centuries older than them, while Azaron and Azazel were barely a century and a half old. So she wasn’t exactly on their level. After all, one had to consider how powerful those two would become by the time they reached Cynthia’s age.

But that was beside the point.

To the upper echelons, the most anticipated event wasn’t this Inter-Empire Competition. No, it was the eventual battle between Azazel and Azaron. If those two gave the word, the Inter-Empire Competition would be postponed just so people could watch them fight. It was rumoured to be a battle that would literally destroy the world, although the rumours were, of course, greatly exaggerated.

But alas, neither of them had found the time to fight each other again.

When Azazel’s wife had died, the whole of the Velkarin Empire had cried. Although she was a foreigner from the Zarethorne Empire, she was still loved, as she was a cheerful and caring woman who had immediately embraced the culture of the Velkarin people and adapted to it rather than acting ignorant of it.

Although she wasn’t as talented or overpowered as her husband or Lily Of The Abyss, she had won Azazel over with her love.

She had grown up within the Zarethorne Empire, and she had died there. She had died in a battle that Azazel couldn’t reach in time.

Of course, needless to say, after hearing about her death, Azazel hunted every Rank 9 and Rank 10 Emovirae he could find. The man went on a literal rampage, destroying landscapes, obliterating landmasses, and turning his grief and rage into bloodshed.

And of course, the Emovirae saw this as an opportunity to wage war against the Zarethorne Empire. After all, Rank 10 Emovirae weren’t exactly flies that could be killed however one pleased and by just anybody; with the sole exception of Azaron Wargrave, of course.

Azaron had to step in to stop Azazel at the time, as the situation might have escalated to an entirely different level.