Chapter 1917 - 1916: The Wrath of the Gods

"Are you going to chastise me again with these intangible senses of responsibility and morality?" Sulan gazed at He Ao, sneering, "Are you going to stand on the moral high ground and point fingers at me, calling me a lapdog again? I’m quite good at being a lapdog; I don’t think there’s any problem with it."

"I remember, you have relatives living in Kovotra as well. After returning to Kovotra, I stopped them from settling accounts with your relatives. You’re much younger than me, and many of your relatives lived up to that day," He Ao gazed at him calmly, asking the same question again, "Do you regret what happened back then?"

Sulan fell silent.

The lonely cold wind blew across the earth, sweeping over the illusory figures below.

The phantoms of obsession standing below slowly turned their gaze towards Sulan.

"If I regretted it, I wouldn’t have come this far," the Crimson Giant raised the massive blade in his hand, his tone calm and hoarse, "I have never regretted the path I walked, nor do I consider myself a good person. Those who died by my hand eventually became the resources for advancement. Without them, I wouldn’t have reached this day."

His palm brushed over the crimson blade, and intense flames ignited on the blade instantly, "I have always been grateful to them, grateful for their contributions to my advancement."

He looked up at He Ao, "If you want to judge me, then show me your power, let me see if you, this old man of righteousness, have the ability to judge me."

"I have no desire to judge you, nor am I here to uphold justice," He Ao looked at Sulan, speaking hoarsely, "I think you’ve always misunderstood me. I’m not some partner of righteousness; I simply do what I believe is right. There is a rightful head for grievances, a rightful owner for debts, and that’s all."

The purple eyes in the mist of the sky seemed to realize something, becoming more fiercely agitated, trying to rush towards Kovotra below.

Meanwhile, strands of purple brilliance were gathering in the sky, seemingly trying to open cracks, creating a passage to leave Kovotra.

Sulan below didn’t seem to see those opened passage cracks, nor did he seem to care about them.

He only brushed his palm over the flame-covered giant blade, his lips curving into a slight smile, "But ultimately, you’ve come to take my life."

He raised his gaze, looking at He Ao, "Big brother, this seems like our first direct confrontation. I ambushed you during the last coup, but you still managed to escape."

The flaming crimson blade brightened before him, and he gazed at He Ao, laughing hoarsely, "This time, I won’t let you escape."

Sky’s purple eyes grew more restless, while gray-white eyes more quickly confined the purple eyes’ actions.

"Is that so?" He Ao looked at him, also gripping the black blade in his hand.

The dazzling purple light pierced the sky.

He Ao’s figure at this moment transformed into a pitch-black stream of light.

[Netherworld]

[The twilight deep and song faint, the Netherworld dark, no return for those gone.]

[Usable time: 00:00:03]

"Come on!!!"

Sulan watched the incoming black stream of light, raising the crimson giant in his hand, the muscles of his entire body tensed, and great and twisted pressure emanated from his body.

The phantoms below trembled.

The sky turned dark, with dazzling Thunder coursing through the clouds.

The mountains and clouds, the earth and firmament, seemed to bow before him at this moment.

The fierce wind answered his call, rampant Thunder at his front.

He was the sole Monarch of this world.

The Monarch wouldn’t confess to the traitor, nor would he regret anything previously done.

The giant brilliance entwined with Thunder, carrying a unique grandeur, spilled from the firmament.

The pitch-black sword light remained silent, making no sound as a fleeting ray, piercing the sky, darting through the clouds.

Crossing paths with the crimson brilliance, both seemed to pause slightly at this moment.

The world fell silent.

Thud—thud—

Two intense booms struck the earth.

That was the body of a colossal Red Giant, split in two.

A pitch-black, diminutive figure solidified in the sky, suspended before the immense red giant.

The descending purple brilliance from the firmament finally arrived at this moment, but it came a bit late.

Noticing the Red Giant’s body, it unhesitatingly changed direction, rushing toward the pitch-black figure.

Buzz—

At this moment, a gray-white brilliance pierced the sky, blocking the purple brilliance.

The two rays quickly entangled.

But the pitch-black figure below didn’t seem to notice the two rays, only suspended in the air, his whole body motionless.

He lowered his head, looking at the massive body split below, speaking calmly, "Now it looks more like a Monarch."

"Hah," Sulan’s head tilted upward, looking at He Ao in the sky, coldly laughed, "Pretentious, victory or defeat, just like this."

His eyes widened, glaring at He Ao and the sky, staring at the purple brilliance entwined with gray-white brilliance.

Ultimately, he slowly lowered his head, glancing at the ancient, barren city below.

The intangible phantoms still stood quietly there, raising their heads to gaze at him.

At this moment, he seemed to see that once glorious and prosperous city, saw the bustling streets within.

He coughed, his voice deep and hoarse, "That’s fine···"

This is the beginning of everything, the end of everything.

Boom—

With the end of the Crimson Giant’s life, the purple brilliance spreading over Kovotra’s land collapsed at a visible speed.

The core of the entire massive ritual began to collapse.

Above in the sky, the slowly descending massive canyon also retreated visibly.

The Netherworld mist shrouding the canyon quickly dissipated.

The forces drawn by the ritual were losing their pull.

Sulan was the core point linking everything, and with his death, the whole ritual was in collapse.

The purple eyes in the mist grew more furious, seeming to split power to maintain the ritual’s operation, all held tightly by the gray-white eyes.

The mist in the sky shook, trying to grasp any chance it could, penetrate into the retreating canyon, while struggling to hold onto the ritual, maintaining its operation.

Thud—

A clear sound fell to the ground, crashing into the crevices of the ancient city’s rocks.

It was a butterfly-shaped purple gemstone.

That was Ai Luoti’s talent sequence.

He Ao naturally couldn’t so easily eliminate Sulan, who had been strengthened by the Grim Reaper. He forcibly activated the power of Ai Luoti’s talent sequence, and in that moment, interfered with Sulan’s soul, using it as a breakthrough point to alter his memory.

However, it seemed He Ao had no chance to retrieve that crystal now.

He lifted his head and looked up at the sky.

Above the intertwined gray and purple beams of light, a sudden intense radiance lit up the firmament, a surging purple brilliance spreading throughout the sky.

Boom——

The originally suspended graceful purple figure in the sky instantly shattered, and a massive shadow, nearly covering the entire firmament, gathered in the sky.

He Ao no longer looked at the sky but lowered his head, gazing downward.

A cold wind swept over the land, gathering the cold aura upon it.

The resolute illusions standing on the ground also lifted their heads, looking at He Ao.

He Ao looked at them and slightly bowed to them.

They also lifted their heads, slightly bowing to He Ao.

One by one, figures dissolved into mist in the illusion.

The pervasive world coldness at this moment seemed drawn away like flowing water, rapidly receding.

Even the body of the Crimson Giant, in this withdrawal, gradually dissipated, turning into scattered mist.

The power of the New Netherworld gradually receded.

At this moment, amidst the intertwining brilliance in the sky, in the dense mist, gray and purple eyes simultaneously stopped, lifting their gaze to the giant shadow above them.

It was a purple body that shrouded the heavens and darkened the day, a blurry radiance covering it, making its outline indistinguishable.

Only the incessant flashing radiance, and the surging power, expressed its furious emotion.

He Ao stared at that surging flashing radiance, stared at the two somewhat ’surprised’ eyes in the sky.

This was the moment!

A pitch-black radiance instantaneously surged from below the ancient city, like fine blades, tearing apart a part of the still faintly flashing array.

The purple eyes in the sky quickly reacted, turning their gaze, but by then, it was too late.

The ritual that had begun to collapse at that moment seemed to lose a segment cliff-like in an instant.

Above the firmament, the giant city covered in purple radiance flickered violently for a moment.

Then, the radiance covering the city shattered in an instant, and the entire city flickered once again, and like it was erased, vanished within this space in a moment.

As the ’fuel pool’ for the ritual, Vissen completely detached from the ritual at that moment.

And on the land of Kovotra, the arrays related to ’sacrifice’ and ’fuel’ had long since been eradicated.

The focal point of those strips of pitch-black radiance was to destroy this part of the array.

And it was only at this instant that they could destroy these arrays.

Because only at that moment, the Grim Reaper would be attracted by the furious Witch of Desire, and with the obstruction of a good friend, momentarily could not make a move.

At other times, even with the help of a friend, He Ao couldn’t so easily destroy these arrays, as obstacles from the Grim Reaper inevitably ensued.

These arrays possessed a strong regenerative ability; as long as they were not destroyed in an instant, the Grim Reaper could completely regenerate them.

At this moment, it was the best and only opportunity, since the beginning of the battle with Sulan, He Ao had been setting up these forces.

He looked up, gazing at the sky, with Vissen’s instant disappearance, the remaining parts of the ritual began rapid collapse at a speed visible to the eye.

But the Grim Reaper no longer had time to care about this, as the colossal power of the Witch of Desire was continually rushing into this area.

He Ao’s gaze was fixed on the giant purple shadow in the sky, feeling the power brought back by the splintering soul, and a slight smile curved at the corner of his lips.

Vaguely, he saw a hint of gray radiance behind that purple shadow.

That radiance was almost imperceptible, as if it existed, and yet it didn’t.

He Ao had a feeling this was the gray radiance intentionally allowing itself to be seen.

’Holy Master’ was also very angry.

Of course, He was angry because in the array He gave to He Ao, it was all traps. During normal use, these arrays functioned properly as He claimed.

Once He Ao returned with the ’Dreamer’ talent sequence, these arrays would quickly turn into a meat grinder, shredding both He Ao’s body and soul simultaneously.

Ultimately, leaving only the ’Dreamer’ talent sequence He wanted, as well as He Ao’s talent sequence.

Normally, his design was a sure-death scenario; once He Ao returned to that ’body’, he would be torn to pieces, completely unable to resist.

But he didn’t expect He Ao to choose not to return to his body and instead rely on some special ability to directly extract his soul from that space—effectively ended the use of the character card.

Thus, He Ao bypassed his trap and took the Dreamer’s talent sequence away.

The Witch of Desire in the sky didn’t care where He Ao directed his gaze; She lowered Her head, gazing at He Ao, not pausing at all, lifting Her hand, in which a resplendent radiance gathered, and shone above the firmament.

This radiance almost instantly sealed the entire ritual, sealed the entirety of Kovotra, immense power like an exploding star traversing the whole area.

And He Ao merely watched everything calmly, taking a slight breath.

[Returning...]

At that moment, time seemed to still.

He Ao felt his soul being extracted from his body at that instant, viewing from a higher perspective, looking around.

Distorted power rained down from the firmament, terrifying radiance traversing the entire world.

The purple eyes struggled to force the mist into the valley overhead but were blocked by gray-white radiance.

The orange and yellow radiance deep within the mist were escaping at a speed visible to the eye.

The massive purple body stayed at the center of all the contention, igniting a fiery radiance.

And at this moment, the giant purple body triggering the explosion, slowly turned its gaze, looking towards He Ao’s direction, towards He Ao’s soul.

And those other glistening radiances, embodying divine glances, seemed to faintly look towards He Ao’s direction as well.

Some invisible force seemed to spread from the depths of time and space, intending to entwine He Ao’s soul.

At that moment, a streak of gray-white radiance flashed across the sky, filling He Ao’s view.

[Returning to the original world...]