Chapter 401: Gods Save Those Who Save Themselves

"I think I know why he calls himself Night Raven," the Dragon King muttered, staring blankly at the cold, pale jaw visible beneath the half-mask. "Perhaps to an existence like him, nothing in this world is worthy of representing him. As long as it is him, even a crow in the dark of night can command legendary divine beasts."

Originally, the Dragon King had assumed the Sanctuary Leader's codename would be a divine beast even mightier than the Azure Dragon or Qilin. But after seeing Night Raven, he finally understood. No matter how powerful a divine beast was, it was still just a beast. It was not a God!

"Pride, stop. There is no meaning in fighting any further," Night Raven's calm voice rang out.

Pride sneered dismissively. "Meaning? Meaning is granted by the gods. If I say there is meaning, then there is."

With that, Pride struck once more.

The great battle between the two erupted in an instant. This time, their figures seemed to ascend to an endless height, growing blurred and indistinct. No matter how hard the crowd strained to look, they could only faintly make out two streaks of light—one black, one red—constantly colliding above the boundless dimensions.

With every clash, the void above the firmament visibly warped and annihilated itself.

In truth, this was just Su Mu deliberately blurring the illusions to save his mental strength and minimize any flaws.

It was the exact same logic as lowering a video's resolution online to save data.

The Seven Kings wanted to keep watching the peerless battle between the two gods, but the Nine-Headed Human-Faced Serpent that had entered the fray earlier was already charging at them.

As the seven strongest individuals on the battlefield, the sheer vitality radiating from their bodies had drawn the serpent's attention.

The Nine-Headed Human-Faced Serpent's massive body crashed down toward them like a collapsing mountain.

The expressions of the Seven Kings changed drastically. They quickly drew their Royal Power Artifacts and met the attack, unleashing a terrifying torrent of power into the ocean.

Worth noting was that the Undead King, who had been slacking off the entire time, still had not brought his Royal Power Artifact. The same went for King Chi, though she could not have drawn hers even if she wanted to.

The other Gold Kings were not fools. The Undead King and King Chi failing to bring their Royal Power Artifacts the first time could barely be justified, but showing up empty-handed again made it obvious that something was wrong. Even a fool could see it.

In normal times, a problem with an Empire's Royal Power Artifact would be a signal for war. However, they were past the point of internal conflict, and the group had no choice but to work together.

Unfortunately, this Nine-Headed Human-Faced Serpent was clearly a bit stronger than the Faceless Angel. Even with their recent improvements, the Seven Kings were still being suppressed and beaten back.

One of the Nine-Headed Human-Faced Serpent's massive heads suddenly unhinged its maw, spewing a geyser of foul, oily green venom at the Undead King. The Undead King let out a miserable shriek as the venom corroded his entire body, nearly reducing him to a bare skeleton as he plummeted into the sea.

But he quickly flew back out of the water. Flesh and blood regenerated madly over his frame, and pale skin slowly covered the new muscle.

"Damn it!"

The Undead King's eyes flickered. Seeing his teammates steadily losing ground, a flash of hesitation crossed his face. Just as he was about to make a decision, the void in the far distance suddenly tore open.

The next moment, six figures draped in Black Feather Cloaks emerged from the rift.

It was the members of Sanctuary!

Indeed, Su Mu was just that considerate. Seeing that the Seven Kings were about to lose again, he had no choice but to step in and save the day.

The leading Sanctuary member, Azure Dragon (Hongye), rode the wind forward and joined the Seven Kings' battle without a word. With the addition of another Gold King, the pressure on the Seven Kings dropped significantly.

The other members of Sanctuary set their sights on the Nightmare Creatures continuously pouring out of the ocean. They could not interfere in the Seven Kings' battle, so they could only deal with the Gold Nightmares.

Even though the Evil Buddha had not descended, the nightmare channel opened earlier had never been closed. Hordes of Nightmare Creatures surged through it with every passing second.

The human Transcendents and soldiers regained a bit of morale as well. The main reason was that Pride, their greatest source of terror, was actually being held back today. This ignited a spark of hope in their hearts.

Some who had long since fallen into despair even began to view Night Raven as a savior, sincerely placing their faith in him.

Night Raven's appearance perfectly aligned with human expectations. When Pride brought despair to humanity as a world-destroying evil god, most people instinctively hoped for a benevolent god to save them. Now that this benevolent god had appeared, he instantly gained a massive following of believers.

Hiding in the shadows, Su Mu was somewhat surprised. He could clearly feel the progress bar of his Heaven-Deceiving Bagua skyrocketing. At the same time, the Primal Divinity within his body was actually growing stronger.

Is this... the power of faith? Su Mu looked around. He saw several heavily wounded, dying soldiers staring devoutly at Night Raven's blurry silhouette in the sky, offering their prayers.

I didn't expect such a pleasant surprise. The power of faith they provide can actually be absorbed by my Primal Divinity. Wait, then why was the faith of the Primal Cultists useless back in the Primal Divine Cult?

After a moment of thought, he arrived at the answer. The Primal Cultists did not worship him, the Divine Envoy, but rather the Primal Angel that the envoy represented. These human soldiers and Transcendents, on the other hand, worshipped Night Raven—the phantom avatar he had created himself.

This chaotic battle raged on for a long time. It lasted from the sun hanging high in the sky until the bright moon rose in the east, only then gradually coming to a close.

Though the Nine-Headed Human-Faced Serpent was powerful, its sheer size made it too cumbersome and inflexible. Facing the siege of eight Gold Kings armed with Royal Power Artifacts, it was eventually whittled down and killed.

And so, Su Mu controlled Pride and Night Raven to stop fighting.

The two gods confronted each other from afar beneath the high moon, the cold lunar light illuminating their silhouettes.

Pride glanced at the Nine-Headed Human-Faced Serpent's corpse floating in the sea and said coldly, "I raised you for so many years, only for you to end up being a piece of trash."

The dead Nine-Headed Human-Faced Serpent could only offer a silent protest.

He shifted his gaze to Night Raven. "Night Raven, we have fought for years without a victor. Why don't we use the living beings of this world as the board and play another game?"

"I will oblige you to the very end," Night Raven replied calmly.

Pride gave a disdainful smile. "Then I am truly... overjoyed."

As his words fell, Pride's figure slowly faded, eventually vanishing completely from the world.

Only that Black Feather Cloak remained standing in the firmament.

Night Raven's tranquil gaze overlooked the masses. He looked at the heavily injured, panting Seven Kings and the human soldiers staining the sea with their blood. His deep eyes held neither joy nor sorrow.

"Gods save those who save themselves, fortune descends on those who do not reject it," he said flatly. "Look after yourselves."

Those calm words echoed across the horizon, lingering in everyone's hearts for a long time.

Night Raven paid the crowd no more mind. Instead, he pointed a finger into the void toward the nightmare channel created by Pride. The despair-inducing channel, which seemed to connect straight to the Abyss, snapped shut in an instant.

Soon after, his figure slowly faded away from where he stood.

The other members of Sanctuary departed alongside him.

However, no one noticed that before leaving, Sanctuary's Azure Dragon (Hongye) silently slipped a Silver Ring off his finger.

The Silver Ring plummeted from the sky, reflecting a glint of silver under the moonlight. It traced a faint arc before finally dropping into the sea.

The Silver Ring entered the water soundlessly and sank toward the ocean floor.

After sinking for a while, the Silver Ring began to move laterally through the water as if it were a living creature.

Soon, it locked onto a shark in the deep sea. It instantly transformed into a streak of light and darted straight into the beast's gaping maw.

The shark, which had been swimming aimlessly just moments before, abruptly changed course. As if manipulated by an unseen hand, it began swimming directly toward the Chiyan Empire.