Felix and Daedalose were extraordinarily fortunate: they were the only two Sanctuary sorcerers who could observe this demigod war—one bordering so closely on the realm of Six Wings—at close range. Yet they were also exceedingly unfortunate, for they stood right at the center of the battlefield.
Perhaps because they were too weak, or perhaps because they were regarded as "designated hostages," the angels did not target them, and any shockwaves from the battle that occasionally splashed in their direction were blocked by Yaxiu. Even so, gazing directly upon a divine war was a harrowing ordeal for mortals, to say nothing of the turbulent elemental currents drifting through the air. Had they not been able to filter them through their Sanctuaries, merely breathing would have destroyed their respiratory systems.
At this moment, Felix was lying in Daedalose's embrace, her mind so weakened that her consciousness had begun to fray, suspended in a twilight between waking and fainting. Daedalose was not in the least surprised by Felix's condition: desperate to see how Yaxiu was faring, the girl had actually dared to open her eyes wide and gaze into the annihilation of natural laws between miracles and wonders—the equivalent of an ephemerid from the deep sea staring directly into the blazing majesty of the sun.
Even Daedalose, blessed by the Four Pillar Gods, felt dizzy and lightheaded after just a few glances, let alone Felix. Had Daedalose not intervened in time, cradling her in her arms and singing a requiem, Felix would have suffered soul damage at the very least, or shattered into oblivion at worst.
Felix struggled to open her eyes. "The Sword Princess..."
"Don't look," the foremost beauty beneath the starry sky covered her eyes, whispering softly. "Now that the Weaver has stepped onto the field, they have no hope left."
If Sonia's seizure of the Ancient Battlefield had been a ray of dawn piercing through dark clouds, then the Weaver descending to substitute for the Cherub and fight in her stead was despair like nightfall itself.
The same gods and the same wonders were a completely different concept in the hands of the Weaver. If the Cherub moments ago had been an angel infinitely approaching the Six-Wing level, the current Weaver was effectively a Divine Lord whose power was suppressed at the cusp of Six Wings.
Though it had only been a fleeting glance, Daedalose had seen Sonia thoroughly on the back foot. Sonia was not to blame. Over thousands of years, the Weaver had fought sword sorcerers countless times; the gap in combat experience alone was vast as the distance between clouds and mud. What was more, the Cherub's system of sorcery spirits had been meticulously curated by the Weaver, whereas Sonia's system currently relied entirely on whatever Yaxiu scrounged up. How could a country girl from the slums compare to a privileged beauty from heaven?
"There are still... them..." Felix murmured. "They won't... let Yaxiu..."
"Can they compare to the Sword Princess?" Daedalose sighed. "Besides, the Sword Princess could seize the Ancient Battlefield, but what world secret realm do they have to seize? Without a world secret realm, they are merely ordinary demigods, relegated to supporting roles in a divine war of this magnitude.
"It seems this journey ends here." Daedalose held Felix in her arms. "Still, they won't come to harm. Even setting Yaxiu aside, their talent has caught the eyes of the Divine Lords. In this turbulent upcoming era, the Divine Lords need more strength to counter the far-ahead Divine Lord of Stars; they will win the Divine Lords' favor.
"You are in the greatest danger, Felix. Talented though you are, the Divine Lords have seen far too many talented sorcerers. A Sanctuary sorcerer is beneath their notice. Yet for that very reason, letting you live is of little consequence. So stay by Yaxiu's side, and show that you refuse to accept your weakness..." Daedalose whispered softly to Felix. "You are not a sensor of the Four Pillar Gods; Yaxiu harbors no prejudice against you... If you truly wish to help him, cast aside that aloof pride and take the initiative to ask him for power."
Felix opened her eyes slightly and glanced at Daedalose. Reading her gaze, the Chaos Diva smiled. "The Divine Lords will never let a sensor of the Four Pillar Gods live. Yaxiu is the sole exception.
"Not that I have any regrets. Your mother's and my greatest wish was to shatter the starry sky. In truth, over the years I've always felt a bit of regret for dragging you into this. Little Feili, you aren't like us. You didn't inherit the Lena clan's yearning for freedom; instead, you're more like a love-starved Vosloda. You only ever wanted to take revenge on your father, and to hide in someone's embrace. At first it was your mother, then me, and now you've finally found the person you want to hold onto for the rest of your life."
Daedalose paused, then said in a low voice, "Though I wouldn't mind giving myself to him—he is the Chosen of the Four Pillar Gods, after all... I have to admit, your taste really is terrible."
"No..."
Felix said softly, "Nothing will happen... There is still them..."
Daedalose was somewhat surprised. "The enemy is a Divine Lord. You believe in them that much?"
"What of Divine Lords? Yaxiu rejected Fanxing for their sake—it's not as if they can't even deal with Divine Lords, can they?"
Hearing this haughty, superior tone, Daedalose froze. But looking down, Felix still appeared frail and sickly, as though that resentful rhetorical question hadn't come from her lips at all.
Just then, the canopy of heaven erupted in a dazzling wave of blood-colored radiance. The Sword Princess, suppressed for nearly a minute, finally launched her counterattack!
At that moment, Weixi was locked in combat with the Angel of Regret. The Angel of Regret specialized in the water sorcery faction, yet his spellcasting effects were ever-shifting—explosions, corrosion, penetration, gravitational suppression, time deceleration—and he could even switch techniques mid-cast. Lacking combat experience, the Witch and the Silver Lantern were utterly incapable of fighting a demigod so adept at fluid offensives; only Weixi could match the Angel of Regret's rhythm. Coupled with her Knowing and Guarding Fire sorcery spirit, which countered water sorcery to a degree, Weixi, though at a disadvantage, was barely managing to hold her ground.
Suddenly, Sonia appeared before Weixi. Before Weixi could even register shock, the Weaver descended gracefully before the Angel of Regret in the next instant, her ten fingers playing the invisible keys of the void. Ripples immediately surged across the entire world—from space to air, from elements to sight, everything warped and shifted amidst the notes of the melody.
But what was swordplay? One sword to break ten thousand arts!
Boundless battle intent was suppressed inside the scabbard by Divine Might Iai. As Sonia drew and slashed her sword, carrying the thunderous fury of ten million warriors, Blood Moon Shattered Lake—which could naturally sever all things—turned indolent. Time, space, entropy: such trivial forces softened beneath the indolent blood-moon sword light, for brutal, titanic destructive power was in itself an absolute law capable of bringing the world to its knees!
The blood tide clashed with the melody, bursting into silent, magnificent flames so blinding that bloody tears streamed from Weixi's eyes. In the next instant, Sonia and the Weaver vanished simultaneously, plunging into the battlefield between the Witch, Moon Shadow, and Autumn Leaf to resume their cataclysmic clash!
Soon, everyone realized what was happening: unable to overcome the Weaver, the Sword Princess wanted to play her best horse against their lesser horses, eliminating the other ordinary angels first. The Weaver moved to stop her while simultaneously attempting to suppress the Witch and the others; thus, their fight was fiercely kinetic and erratic, constantly barging into the battlefields of others to wage slaughter.
"To be able to draw so fully upon the Ancient Battlefield's battle intent so quickly... Such dazzling brilliance; even Stars and Endless back in their day could probably only match you." Amidst the tempest of battle, the Weaver still had the poise to offer praise. "I am already beginning to regret not stopping you sooner—though who could have imagined that the Lord of the Endless Abyss would lose in direct combat to a young girl who entered the Void Realm barely over a year ago?"
"Join me. If only for your sake, I will guarantee Yaxiu's safety. What do you say?"
The answer to the Weaver was a streak of sword light churning with scarlet ripples. The supreme tail feathers manifested behind Sonia once more, and empowered by the iridescent sword tail, her miracle reached the Six-Wing rank in its entirety!
Supreme Art: Vermilion Water Moon!
"If you think this move alone can turn the tide..."
The Weaver strummed the ethereal strings of nothingness as countless petals fluttered around her. The melodious music forcefully smoothed away the all-piercing scarlet ripples, and even the breathtaking sword light was rendered dim and desolate.
"...you sorely underestimate the Divine Lords."
Earlier, Sonia had been able to instantly kill the Lord of the Endless Abyss with Vermilion Water Moon fundamentally because he was not the master of the Ancient Battlefield; unable to mobilize even an eternal wonder, he could only rely on battle intent to bolster his own techniques. In essence, the Lord of the Endless Abyss had been like an unequipped, bare-bones sorcerer facing a fully armed Sonia, relying solely on his craftsmanship to turn decay into miracles.
Now, however, the Weaver had the Hanging Gardens secret realm and the Cherub's gods and wonders. Even if Sonia's Vermilion Water Moon could punch above its weight class, the Weaver possessed ample means to attenuate and neutralize it. She could see that this sword miracle possessed immense potential, far from reaching the ceiling of its power; conversely, with Sonia's current lineup of gods, the true marvel of Vermilion Water Moon could not be brought to light. Even reinforced by Yaxiu's supreme tail feathers, it barely scraped the Six-Wing threshold.
Still, for a Five-Wing demigod, even with the empowerment of a world secret realm, to unleash a Six-Wing miracle was outrageously formidable—at least, no angel could ever pull it off.
Unless a Divine Lord fought in their stead.
After the Weaver dissolved her miracle with effortless ease, Sonia suddenly spoke: "The one who will turn the tide... isn't me."
Hearing the derision in Sonia's tone, the Weaver's pupils contracted. Instinctively, she cast a glance at Yaxiu, but he was currently being brutally battered down by the two main combat angels.
From the corner of her eye, the Weaver noticed that due to the pair's rapid intrusions across the field, the three support angels had been forced to evade their shockwaves, unwittingly drawing close together... Sonia had never intended to slay the support angels just now; she had wanted to herd them into one place!
The one truly turning the tide was... the Silver Lantern!
Dazzling silver light enveloped the angels. Although the angels had various defensive miracles, the Silver Lantern had never intended to attack them.
She simply wanted the angels off the battlefield.
The silver light collapsed into an enormous void door, enveloping the angels, who vanished within in an instant. Then the void door snapped shut. In the blink of an eye, the three support angels were gone without a trace!
Void door teleportation... The Weaver raised an eyebrow. The void door was a sorcery concept that had only emerged within the past year. Though they had studied it, their research was not deep; after all, something far more important had commanded the Divine Lords' attention over the past year: the Angel Hunt.
In truth, resisting spatial displacement was not difficult—one merely needed to add miracles or wonders like spatial anchors to their defensive system. Yet unfortunately, no one had updated their combat protocols to account for the void door concept, leading to such a massive loophole and allowing the Silver Lantern to dispose of three angels in a single stroke!
"Now it's five against three. With me here, don't even think about interfering with them," Sonia said coldly. "If you thought swapping in would decide this battle..."
"...you sorely underestimated us."
Yet the Weaver nodded in complete agreement. "Indeed. Relying on me alone is truly beyond my reach. Therefore..."
At the same time, Blood Saint Fireworks and the Demon Hunting Angel before Yaxiu suddenly halted, gradually overlapping and merging with the phantoms of the Divine Lords.
"I thought you were finally willing to do some unpaid labor, Weaver. Seems we couldn't escape after all," the Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon cracked his neck, speaking coldly. "Did you see this coming all along?"
"My apologies, Yaxiu Heath," the Lord of Joy said with an apologetic expression. "Please forgive our underhandedness, but you are simply far too important. The fate of the world rests upon your shoulders alone.
"We originally intended to use gentler methods to bring you to terms, but your brilliance exceeded our expectations. So..."
The mountains of corpses and sea of blood began to boil, and hidden malice stirred within the wind, flowers, snow, and moon. Under the gaze of the two, Yaxiu suddenly had the illusion that he was a Lalafell waiting to be slaughtered.
"...from here on, we may be a little rough."
Chapter 1171