Chapter 569: Lazarus’ Trump Card

Biron raced forward, his massive body hidden behind a violent golden shockwave as he rapidly closed the distance. The air around his golden fur distorted under the sheer force of his charge, while the spiked ball at the end of his tail dragged through the darkness and sent ripples through the ground beneath him.

Rin immediately opened his massive jaws, white flames surging violently from his throat.

"Cocky beast, you think you can take us down alone?" Rin roared.

At the same time, Abel’s dragon head emerged from the darkness beside Damian, its crimson eyes burning as black flames rumbled within its open jaws.

"It is I’ll be educated in due time!" Abel declared before unleashing his flames.

The black and white fires erupted together, forming two enormous torrents that collided with the approaching golden shockwave.

BOOOOM!

Black, white and golden energy exploded across the battlefield, and the combined flames managed to slow Biron’s advance considerably, but they could not stop him. His golden body continued pushing through the torrent, forcing the flames apart as he steadily approached Damian.

Above them, Damian shot through the dark clouds, surrounded by a sea of black flames that surged around him like a turbulent ocean. The Abyssal fire twisted violently around his body, responding to every movement of the black lantern chained to his arm.

Suddenly, a golden beam tore through the darkness and raced straight toward him. The black sea parted as the attack forced its way through, leaving Damian directly in its path.

"Hmph!" Damian stepped forward and swung the black lantern toward the incoming attack.

BOOOM!

The lantern collided with Lazarus’ golden fist, and an incomprehensible amount of black flame erupted from the point of impact.

Damian and Lazarus remained suspended in midair as golden and black light violently clashed around them, the pressure of their confrontation causing the surrounding darkness to ripple.

Lazarus’ face twisted with rage. "DAMIANNNNNNNN!!!!"

Damian sneered disdainfully, his eyes burning with darkness as he held the lantern against Lazarus’ fist. His free hand slowly formed a seal while his demonic force surged through his body.

"CALL OF THE DARK KING!"

Damian roared like a wounded beast, his voice rippling across the Realm Zero and reaching into the endless darkness above them.

Lazarus’ gaze snapped upward, and his pupils immediately dilated. The clouds above them began twisting violently as red lightning flashed through the darkness, accompanied by deep rumbling that seemed to come from beyond the world itself. Then the clouds parted.

A colossal black whale emerged from the darkness, so enormous that Damian and Lazarus looked like insects beneath it. Its body descended from the clouds like a falling continent, its enormous jaws opening as it plunged directly toward Lazarus.

"Chaos beast... You have gone this far with the Abyss? How are you still in control?!" Lazarus gasped in disbelief.

He understood better than most the danger of wielding an inheritance beyond one’s ability to control. Even as a God, he had yet to completely control the entirety of his Greed Inheritance. The Abyssal Inheritance was something far more dangerous. A human at the demigod level should never have been able to develop it this far without losing himself to its influence.

BAM!

The Chaos Whale’s jaws snapped shut around Lazarus as its enormous body continued diving toward Biron below. Damian watched from above while maintaining his grip on the black lantern.

"How I control the power of the Abyss while maintaining my sanity... You should be more worried about your life!" Damian hissed as he swung the black lantern over his head, causing a violent storm of black flames to spiral above him.

More chaos beasts began pouring from the endless clouds, creatures of countless shapes and sizes descending into Realm Zero with murderous instincts.

Some resembled gigantic serpents, others had multiple limbs, wings or distorted bodies that defied any recognizable biology. Their only common trait was the overwhelming chaos energy radiating from them.

"Worry about my life? What does a dead man have to fear?!" Lazarus’ roar suddenly erupted from within the Chaos Whale.

Swish!

A golden blade of light ripped through the enormous beast from within, splitting its body cleanly in two. The severed halves froze in midair before rapidly turning gold. Moments later, they dissolved into liquid gold and began flowing downward.

Damian’s eyes narrowed as he understood what Lazarus had done. Without his Partial Territory fixed around a specific area, Lazarus could not simply turn living creatures into gold through his Midas Touch. He had killed the Chaos Whale first, then used his power on its corpse.

"Demonic Weaponry: Golden Dragon Glaive!"

Lazarus emerged from the dissolving remains of the whale, standing amid the streams of liquid gold with a massive weapon in his hand.

The glaive possessed a golden dragon head for its hilt, its jaws forming the base of the weapon while an enormous golden blade extended from its mouth.

The power radiating from the weapon alone distorted the surrounding darkness, and a golden hue spread through the space around Lazarus as though the weapon itself was contaminating the realm.

"Demonic Armament: Golden Emperor’s Robes!"

Golden light wrapped around Lazarus’ body as an extravagant set of golden robes materialized around him. His long golden hair whipped violently through the air while the robes flowed behind him like the garments of an ancient emperor.

His aura continued rising as he raised the glaive toward Damian.

"IF FOR A MOMENT YOU THOUGHT WHAT YOU EXPERIENCED EARLIER WAS MY TRUE STRENGTH, THEN YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A FOOL! THE POWER OF GREED IS AS BOUNDLESS AS ITS DESIRE... DAMIAN HILL, YOU WILL BE THE ONE WHO WILL LOSE HIS LIFE IN THIS ENCOUNTER!" Lazarus sneered.

Damian’s hair whipped violently as the black flames around him intensified. His eyes remained cold as he stared at the golden deity.

"You overestimate yourself!" Damian hissed. "End this fool, Chaos Beast!"

Lazarus sneered disdainfully as a golden ripple exploded from his body. "In case you don’t know, the flesh and soul of a God is a delicacy almost no Chaos Beast can hope to taste in its entire life... Which one of you would be the lucky one?"

"Desire Control: Extreme Greed!"

Buzz!

A strange golden wave spread across the battlefield. The hundreds of Chaos Beasts charging downward suddenly froze in place. Their movements stopped as golden light flashed within their eyes. For several seconds they remained motionless, their chaotic instincts seemingly being overwritten by another desire. Then they slowly turned toward one another.

Damian’s eyes narrowed.

Without warning, the Chaos Beasts attacked each other. The creatures tore into one another with savage ferocity, claws ripping through flesh while jaws clamped around throats and limbs. Some were crushed beneath the weight of larger beasts while others were torn apart by creatures they had been fighting alongside only moments earlier.

Damian’s expression twisted with genuine shock. Even he had not anticipated Lazarus being capable of turning the Chaos Beasts against one another so easily.

Amid the chaos, golden tendrils suddenly tore through the heavens. Hundreds of them pierced the bodies of the battling Chaos Beasts, impaling them before they could react. Their roars echoed across Realm Zero as their bodies went limp, and the moment they died, their flesh transformed into gold before dissolving into liquid.

The golden liquid joined the streams already surrounding Lazarus, rapidly accumulating until an enormous golden sea began forming beneath him.

Lazarus slowly raised his glaive, his golden eyes fixed upon Damian. "Why would I go all out against an opponent who has shown nothing but restraint and the desire to run? I knew that as long as I played along, your tricks would eventually be revealed. I just never expected the Abyss to be part of the equation..."

His grip tightened around the Golden Dragon Glaive as his aura continued rising. "Now I know. You will fall to this God!"