The Gu Dragon halted in the distance, its mane drifting and its tail swaying gently as its ruby-like eyes gazed coldly down upon the orthodox faction's demigods.
Astride the dragon's back, the Fear Heavenly King curled his lips into a delighted smile and called out loudly, "Gentlemen, how about we team up to raid this boss and share the Spirit Realm's bounty? This king is here to take down a boss, not to fight you lot. That would be an unrewarding chore."
None of the orthodox demigods paid him any mind, recognizing his words for what they were: mockery and ridicule.
The evil faction had deliberately driven Heaven's Punishment's two chiefs mad so that they would become public targets, orchestrating a siege by the entire world. In doing so, they left the orthodox demigods with only two choices:
First, join hands with the evil faction's demigods to complete the wanted quest and quell the catastrophe.
The cost was that the orthodox faction would lose two level-11 demigods from then on, leaving them unable to contend against the evil faction ever again.
The Spirit Realm's mechanics distributed rewards based on contribution, just as demonstrated in instances. With so many demigods joining forces to besiege the wind and thunder gods, the final rewards would be heavily diluted. The sum of rewards obtained by the orthodox side could never offset such a loss.
Second, confront the evil faction's demigods and protect the wind and thunder gods.
This option carried far too great a risk for the orthodox demigods. The wind and thunder gods recognized neither friend nor foe; choosing to protect her meant confronting both the evil demigods and the wind and thunder gods simultaneously. One careless slip, and a god would fall this day.
Moreover, the wind and thunder gods were an unstable variable. What would happen after saving her? Allow her to whip up hurricanes everywhere and level cities?
How many people would die then?
The sunlight was brilliant, and the blue sky was clear as if washed clean. The demigods of both factions had Boreas encircled at the center. Utterly oblivious, the deity hung her head, her eyeballs spinning madly in their sockets, lost within her own mental storm as she muttered under her breath:
"Am I Boreas? Am I Boreas?"
The three sides formed a tense standoff, each watching for an opening or waiting for another to strike first.
The President, wearing his silver mask, glanced around, produced a microphone from his inventory, brought it to his lips, and said, "I believe our orthodox faction's demigods should reach a consensus before the battle."
His voice drifted precisely into the ears of the five alliance leaders and the Sea Emperor, while the evil faction's demigods heard nothing.
The Void class always possessed an assortment of bizarre, flashy props, so no one was surprised. The demigods inquired with their eyes, save for the fiery red-haired Gang Leader Jiang, who barked loudly, "What do you want to do?"
His shout drew suspicious, wary glares from the evil demigods.
Pressing the microphone to his mouth, Mr. President spoke in a voice audible only to the orthodox demigods: "Do we protect or kill the wind and thunder gods? If you all choose to complete the quest, I will bow to the majority. I will banish Boreas into the Spirit Realm and then send you in after her.
"However, I must remind you of two things. First, there is no telling how far gone her madness is. If she still remembers how to open a faction dungeon, our hunt will fail."
Demigods could not traverse the Spirit Realm at will, but faction dungeons were an exception.
Once banished to the Spirit Realm, Boreas could very well open a faction dungeon, hop between instances, and use the faction dungeon as a bridge to return to the real world.
"Second, Boreas possesses an extremely high status, on par with Asura. Even if we join hands, there is no guarantee we can slay her without losses. Any demigod returning to the Spirit Realm is an outcome the evil faction would love to see."
Pausing for a few seconds, he moved to the second option:
"If we choose to protect her... well, I can't think of a way to do that. Do any of you have ideas?"
Beside him, Fu Qingxuan snatched the microphone, brought it to her lips, and said, "I have a way that can preserve the wind and thunder gods while quelling this disaster. President, do you know the resting place of the Eternal Night Church's Night Head?"
There was no need to spell it out; the orthodox demigods understood her meaning immediately.
Mr. President nodded.
Fu Qingxuan continued, "Open a teleportation passage and send the wind and thunder gods there. That is a forbidden zone where even demigods dare not tread. Once inside, the wind and thunder gods will inevitably fall into slumber, and the Dominators of the evil faction won't dare approach.
"Furthermore, it will pin down the Night Head of the Eternal Night Church. Stripped of the slumber domain, an Eternal Night practitioner is more fragile than a Scout. The moment the wind and thunder gods awaken, the first to die will be that demigod, so he will never dare wake."
Mr. President took back the microphone. "We can try... but given my status, the failure rate for banishing her is very high. It will require repeated attempts. You must buy me time."
At that moment, the blue lightning orb in the President's hand slowly dissipated, turning into arcs of branching lightning that struck back into Boreas's body.
The duration of the transaction had expired, and the lightning origin naturally returned to its owner.
A gap in their relative status meant the transaction could not last long.
The President's tone grew urgent: "Prepare defenses, she's about to go berserk!"
No sooner had his voice fallen than Boreas in midair flew into a frenzy, shrieking, "Wrong, that's wrong! I am the Thunder God, Chief Prosecutor of Heaven's Punishment!"
She clutched her head, letting out a shrill scream.
Branching bolts of lightning crawled across the entire sky like spiderwebs and jagged fractures, their brilliant blue glare overpowering even the sun.
The next instant, Boreas vanished from everyone's sight. The Fear Heavenly King on the Gu Dragon's back suddenly ruptured his clothes, revealing a Three Heads and Eight Arms dharma body. His bronze-cast physique was covered in demonic runes.
His knees sank slightly, and his eight arms crossed before his chest in a block.
*Dong!*
A sound like a colossal bronze bell resonated through heaven and earth. A shockwave dozens of meters in diameter erupted, and the Fear Heavenly King was sent hurtling like a cannonball, slamming heavily into the ground. Earth and shattered stone sprayed as a massive crater caved in.
The Fear Heavenly King's chest and face bore distinct depressions, as if he had been run over by a steamroller.
A Bewitching Demon, renowned for immense physical toughness, had his defenses broken in a single blow.
Where he had stood atop the dragon's back, the naked Boreas appeared in his place. The only dual-class demigod in the modern world hooked her fingers into claws and seized the Illusion God of the Southern Sect by the face.
Throughout the process, a torrential onslaught of Mental Strikes, dream-weavings, emotional detonations, and other skills rained down upon Boreas, yet every single one failed.
Due to tier suppression, the skills were either completely nullified or drastically weakened.
A blinding arc of electricity erupted from Boreas's palm and surged into the Illusion God of the Southern Sect, eliciting a bloodcurdling howl.
The Illusion God of the Southern Sect dispersed into green smoke and reformed several hundred meters away, his aura noticeably depleted.
Even with her sanity shattered, her instinctual hostility toward the evil faction drove her to attack them first.
A billowing cloud of filthy Qi rose from the Gu Dragon's body, enveloping Boreas like thick smoke. In an instant, the Chief Executive's fair, delicate flesh sprouted wrinkles, oozed foul sweat, and broke out in festering boils. Her face deteriorated with dark circles, heavy bags, crow's-feet, and dark blemishes.
The Five Decays of Heaven and Men!
This was a demigod-level Fortune Diminishment.
*Slash!*
A colossal wind blade swept down, instantly cleaving the Gu Dragon in two. Its tough scales offered no defense whatsoever. As the two severed halves of the dragon fell limply, a howling hurricane broke out, weaving countless wind blades together to shred the dragon's corpse into mince.
In less than ten seconds, three demigods of the evil faction had taken turns suffering a beating.
"Banishment!"
Seizing the moment while Boreas was weakened, Mr. President snapped his fingers repeatedly, attempting to teleport her to the designated location.
The banishment failed. Instead, it drew Boreas's attention. The Chief Executive turned her gaze toward him, her brilliant blue left eye flashing with light.
*Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!*
Bolts of lightning carrying an aura of destruction crashed down, swallowing Mr. President.
His body promptly phased into an ethereal state, resembling a projection from another world. Though the lightning struck him, it left him completely unscathed.
Far in the distance, Old Mai scoffed, spread his hand, and made an inverting gesture.
Mr. President's ethereal body wavered, knocked loose from his state of invulnerability.
The Dionysus Club demigod had inverted his status, turning the void into reality. Seeing the lightning about to consume the President, plates of stone armor rapidly condensed over his entire body.
The stone armor held out for three agonizing seconds before shattering under the lightning strikes, though Mr. President had already teleported away.
Having lost her target, Boreas immediately turned her gaze upon Old Mai.
Old Mai's heart jumped. Glancing around, he saw the other three demigods of the Second District had already retreated far away, while the orthodox demigods were not Boreas's first choice.
With the President gone, he had become the prey.
*Whoosh—*
A shrill howl of wind engulfed the area around Old Mai for dozens of meters. The modern-day Dionysus vanished on the spot, reappearing several kilometers away in an attempt to ride out the storm.
Yet the moment he materialized, giant hands burst from the earth and vines sprouted, binding him fast. Next, a blinding net of lightning fell over him. His body locked up in the electric glow and instantly carbonized, sending up plumes of black smoke.
*Crack!*
The giant hands collapsed, the vines withered, and Old Mai's charred body surged with vitality. Before the lightning could descend once more, he warped space and fled.
Having lost her target yet again, Boreas finally turned her spearhead toward the demigods of the Five Elements Alliance. As for the Sea Emperor, who was perched on a chariot far on the horizon, she temporarily ignored him.
The Five Elements Alliance demigods were no fools. None of them wanted to be blindsided by evil faction enemies while confronting the wind and thunder gods, and they immediately retreated.
Fu Qingxuan called out loudly, "If the three sides fight individually, no one gains anything! If you wish to prolong this meaningless war of attrition, we are happy to oblige. However, this marshal believes joining forces to subdue the wind and thunder gods best serves everyone's interests. What say you?"
Though she was the youngest and possessed the least seniority, she carried the commanding presence of a supreme general, inspiring instinctive confidence.
The Illusion God of the Southern Sect's whereabouts were unknown, yet his voice drifted over from afar: "Agreed!"
Fu Qingxuan said immediately, "I'll count to three, and we enter together."
"Fine!" the Fear Heavenly King responded from the distance.
"Three, two, one—"
A blaze of fire surged beside Boreas as the fiery-haired Gang Leader Jiang executed Fire Traveling to charge in.
He was the only one.
Gang Leader Jiang looked around, then roared in fury, "Son of a bitch! I'll fuck your mothers—"
The next instant, terrifying lightning enveloped him, and razor-sharp wind blades blanketed the area.
The demigod's body was instantly torn to shreds, his powerful vitality carbonizing beneath the destructive lightning.
From the ashes, a dazzling blaze bright as magma rose, coalescing into a hundred-meter-tall Flame Giant Spirit. This elemental god was vividly rendered, with a long beard and flowing hair, draped in fiery robes and crowned in deep crimson. Its features were stern and upright, its eyes brimming with fury.
A Flame Giant Spirit in the image of an emperor.
"You dare destroy my physical body!" the Flame Giant roared. "Die!"
*Boom!*
He detonated himself.
Like a nuclear bomb detonating, the blinding glare was clearly visible dozens of kilometers away. Cascading waves of fire converged, forming a mushroom cloud high in the sky. The shockwave swept through the surroundings with irresistible force, reducing everything within several kilometers to powder and turning all living things to ash.
Chapter 775