"He fought with honor," Wukong said, his voice carrying genuine respect for his fallen opponent. "More skill than I've ever faced. But honor in service of tyranny is still just—"
"SILENCE!" The Jade Emperor's roar shattered the cosmic substrate around them, his perfect composure finally giving way to something that might have been grief, or perhaps simply the recognition that some infections could not be cured through gentle treatment. "You dare lecture me about tyranny? You, who brings nothing but chaos and destruction wherever you tread?"
The Emperor's form continued to expand, his robes becoming clouds of stellar matter, his crown a constellation that rearranged itself with each word he spoke. Power radiated from him in waves that made space itself seem fragile, reality bending to accommodate his will like a courtier bowing before absolute majesty.
