Chapter 558 - 542: The Sun Rises Again

Chapter 558: Chapter 542: The Sun Rises Again

A colossal pillar of light, surpassing all bounds of common sense, erupted fiercely from the bow of the Ten Thousand Miles of Sunshine, thirty thousand meters in the air.

The Sky Vault was like a piece of cloth violently torn apart, instantly split in two by the beam of light.

"No—"

Baal’s mountain-like body didn’t even have a chance to struggle the moment it touched the pure white light. His indestructible Demon Body, faced with the mighty power of matter annihilation, was like residual snow beneath a scorching sun—it rapidly melted, disintegrated, and returned to nothingness.

Yet the pillar of light’s residual might remained undiminished! After piercing through Baal, it ruthlessly blasted into the earth of the Crystal Crown.

The continental shelf, rich in blue crystals, let out a mournful wail. Starting from the beam’s point of impact, a full fifth of the entire Plane Continent’s territory—along with its mineral veins, plantations, Demons, and Alchemy Factories—was utterly erased in this anti-matter annihilation Storm.

RUMBLE!

The delayed, deafening explosion finally tore through the dead silence. A terrifying shockwave crushed outwards in all directions at supersonic speeds. A dozen Floating Islands within a hundred kilometers of the blast epicenter had their shields shattered like fragile bubbles the moment the shockwave hit. The exposed main bodies of the islands were violently pulverized into fragments, raining down upon the earth like a meteor shower.

Amidst this apocalyptic scene of world-ending destruction, the Netherworld Guide, Thanatos, quietly emerged from the depths of the Shadow Realm.

It raised its Bronze Lantern, its Soul Concealing Cloak billowing in the void. A pitch-black chain pierced through space, securely hooking Baal’s soul and dragging it into the Soul Furnace before it could completely return to Purgatory.

The soul of yet another Dawn Star Level Demon Monarch was safely secured.

High in the sky, Hercules lowered his spellcasting hands. Watching the blinding pillar of light fade in a flash, he couldn’t help but let out an exclamation of awe. "Wow!

"Incredible. This can practically be considered the strongest destructive power below Moonlight."

At the other end of the battlefield, witnessing Baal instantly vaporize in the white light and a corner of the earth collapsing from the blast, the Greedy Monarch Mammon’s arrogance—propped up solely by avarice—crumbled in an instant. Reason once again seized the high ground in His mind.

"Lunatics! You Wizards are all lunatics!"

Mammon’s dozens of arms flailed wildly, desperately tearing open the spatial barrier. His massive body suddenly curled into a ball as He squeezed toward the cross-realm passage like a stray dog scrambling for its life.

On the other side, the Lustful Monarch Asmodeus was equally pale.

"Retreat! Retreat!"

His Illusion Domain collapsed on its own. Transforming into a streak of pink light, He fled frantically right on Mammon’s heels.

With the two Monarchs fleeing, the remaining army of a million Demons on the ground instantly routed. Like retreating fish and shrimp trapped in an ebbing tide, they trampled and tore at each other as they surged toward the spatial rifts, their wails and roars weaving into a chaotic din.

Just as more than half of Mammon’s body merged into the cross-realm passage, extreme terror, coupled with the fury of seeing all His efforts go up in smoke, caused the Greedy Monarch’s composure to completely shatter. He abruptly turned His head, glaring deathly at the black warship thirty thousand meters in the air. Amplified by Evil Energy, His voice echoed like rolling thunder across the entire fractured Plane:

"Allen Wesren! You ruthless scum who’d eat a Demon alive without leaving a single bone!

"You were the one who hired us! You’re a Wizard traitor! You paid us fifteen million Soul Coins!

"I’ll remember this debt—!"

Along with this final, venomous roar, He abandoned His troops and was the first to escape.

The smoke-filled battlefield fell into an eerie, deathly silence.

Mammon’s parting revelation was like a heavy bomb, slamming ruthlessly into the hearts of Kaspar and Hercules. The two men turned their heads in unison, their gazes fixed on the Ten Thousand Miles of Sunshine as it slowly descended.

The cabin door opened. Allen Wesren, wearing a spotless black Wizard Robe, tread upon the void and walked over to them at an unhurried pace. His face showed not the slightest hint of panic at being exposed on the spot, nor did he display any indignation at being slandered.

Facing the scrutinizing gazes of the two Morning Star Wizards, Allen came to a halt. He tilted his head slightly, a teasing smirk playing at the corners of his lips.

"Gentlemen," Allen said, spreading his hands with an innocent expression. "Do you believe Him?

"Could an Alchemy Wizard who just advanced to Morning Star like me simultaneously hire three Dawn Star Level Demon Monarchs and make them obediently follow orders?"

The air stagnated for a second.

"Haha!"

Hercules was the first to burst into laughter. Shaking his head, he agreed in a tone that suggested he saw through it all. "These damn Demons, they really are too wicked.

"To think they would use such a cheap trick to frame you before fleeing, trying to sow discord among us. Kaspar, we can’t fall for it."

Demons were notoriously chaotic and greedy; even Demons couldn’t fully control other Demons. A human Wizard hiring three Demon Monarchs with money? To any Wizard with common sense, this was as absurd as a mortal claiming they had bought the sun. Not to mention, Allen had just blasted one of those Monarchs to death with a single shot.

What kind of employer would pay to hire someone, only to blast their employee into ashes? This was clearly a vicious scheme concocted by the Demons after seeing their plans ruined, an attempt to divide the Wizards from within!

Allen smiled and nodded, his dark blue eyes full of candor. "The Minister is entirely correct. You can’t even trust the punctuation marks when a Demon speaks."

The muscles on Kaspar’s face twitched uncontrollably. His expression flickered between dark and light, entirely unable to force a smile.

Mammon’s roar echoed repeatedly in his mind like a demonic whisper. Logic told him it was impossible, but his gaze drifted past Allen, landing on his own once-prosperous territory. Half of it had been reduced to scorched earth under the iron hooves of the Demons. Nearly a fifth of its area had been turned into an eternal Abyss by the light of "salvation" that he had paid ten billion Magic Stones for. His richest underground blue crystal vein, which accounted for nearly seventy percent of his income, had less than a third left. The Crystal Crown, a realm he had painstakingly cultivated for nearly a millennium with wealth rivaling nations, now lay in ruins—its industries withered and its very foundation obliterated in a single day.

Though Mammon’s words were absurd, the seed of suspicion in Kaspar’s heart took root uncontrollably. He couldn’t find any evidence, but he instinctively felt that all of this was just too coincidental. So coincidental that it felt like... a conspiracy tailor-made just for him.

A rush of blood, mixed with humiliation, fury, and powerlessness, surged straight to the crown of his head. Kaspar turned to Allen, his voice as hoarse as two pieces of rusty metal scraping together.

"Your... your cannon. Why couldn’t it be... a little more precise?!"

The smile faded from Allen’s face, replaced by a look of deep sorrow and regret. Meeting Kaspar’s eyes, he spoke softly.

"Mr. Kaspar, I am truly sorry. But that was a matter annihilation reaction. At this current stage, the power of the Zero main cannon cannot be focused into a narrow beam.

"To ensure a one-hit kill on a Duke of Dawn Star, I had to fire it at maximum output. I have already done everything in my power to keep the collateral damage to an absolute minimum."

Allen’s tone was sincere, even carrying a hint of consolation. "This was a... necessary price to pay in order to kill Baal and save your Plane."

A necessary price...

Those words were like a rusty, blunt knife violently sawing back and forth across Kaspar’s heart. His lips trembled, a strangled rattle escaping his throat, yet he couldn’t voice a single rebuttal.

He was the one who had agreed to the shot. He was the one who had personally handed ten billion Magic Stones to Allen, begging the man to strike down his enemy, never once considering that the afterglow of that blade would be enough to slice him to pieces as well.

For the completely destroyed mineral vein alone, conservative estimates of its expected long-term revenue exceeded twenty billion. With this sole lifeline severed, the Mechanical Gears Commerce Association had lost its greatest source of funding. It was now only half a step away from complete collapse. Twenty billion in cash had evaporated like running water, and over thirty billion in fixed assets had been reduced to nothing. Overnight, he had fallen from his pedestal as a Morning Star Wizard with profound foundations, reduced to a "bankrupt" who would have to worry about his livelihood for hundreds of years to come.

But what suffocated him the most was that, in the Association’s records and under Hercules’s witness, it was Allen Wesren who had turned the tide, killed the Demon Monarch, and saved his Plane. He even had to say "thank you" to this young man who had just blasted away half of his entire fortune with a single shot.

"I... understand."

Kaspar lowered his head, forcing all of his humiliation, fury, and suspicion deep into his stomach. On the verge of bankruptcy, he was in no position to provoke a powerful enemy. Gritting his teeth hard enough to crack them, he squeezed a few words out:

"Thank you... Deputy Minister Wesren, for lending a hand."

Looking at the thousand-year-old fox bowing his head before him, the corners of Allen’s lips curled up once more.

"You’re quite welcome. Colleagues ought to help one another."