Sorcerer Bane, the unique wonder constructed by Mirror Demon, had limitless power in theory, but in truth, it was a piece of junk. It only worked if your realm of sorcery utterly crushed the enemy's. But if your sorcery realm could already crush them, you could win with any miracle. Just as a God-Leader battling a demigod didn't need special skills—a casual normal attack was enough to obliterate one.
Furthermore, Sorcerer Bane had to be tailor-made to the enemy's bodily parameters. If the enemy realized this loophole and constantly altered their parameters, Sorcerer Bane had to adapt accordingly—and apart from the Doomsday Quintet, no one in this world could pull that off.
Thus, the original Sorcerer Bane looked magnificent on paper, but was completely useless garbage in practice. To enable Yaxiu to use this wonder, Mirror Demon had broken down Mountain of Corpses and Sea of Blood into the concepts of life and death: the concept of life remained in Senluo to revive the land, while the concept of death was fused into the wonder to perfect Sorcerer Bane.
The updated Sorcerer Bane didn't require Yaxiu to forge swords himself—he didn't have the mind for it anyway. All he needed to do was summon these three swords, and in combat they would continuously gather information on the enemy, forging themselves into the enemy's bane.
They were the enemy's destined death.
Although far simpler to use, it was actually weaker. Compared to Mirror Demon, who could forge a blade in an instant, the current Sorcerer Bane not only had to wait for them to forge themselves automatically, but during this process, Sorcerer Bane could also be damaged.
Once damaged, it took time for the wonder to slowly recover. That was why Yaxiu had pursued Star Law relentlessly with blazing ferocity, driving the two angels to exhaustion so they wouldn't have the leeway to interfere.
Though the Law Angels finally realized what was happening, the forging was already complete. Now was the moment to draw the blade!
"Realm of Suffering, Curtain of Sorrow, Star Sea Chessboard!"
Sword Law instantly expanded his defenses to the limit, while Star Law concealed them both in the rain screen's most hidden corner. But all desperate resistance was futile. With a solemn expression, Yaxiu raised his blade, pouring all his heart, spirit, and soul into it. Sorcerer Bane gathered more than just information about the enemy—it gathered everything about him as well. The higher his sorcery realm and the deeper his emotions, the more indestructible and all-severing Sorcerer Bane became.
So he could not lose. He was currently carrying everything of the Sword Princess... How could the Sword Princess ever lose?!
Yaxiu slashed downward, inexplicably teleporting right in front of Sword Law. He cleaved through Sword Law's Realm of Suffering, Curtain of Sorrow, and every defensive wonder, carving a violent crimson across this exquisitely gentle Law Angel's robes!
Releasing Sword Law Bane, he paid no further heed to the heavily wounded, falling Sword Law. He immediately drew the second sword from his back.
His tone grew ever calmer, but his killing intent only sharpened: "This sword is named Star Law Bane."
Unable to spare a moment to heal Sword Law, Star Law unleashed her strongest defensive secret technique. Her entire being abruptly dispersed into starlight, fusing into the world around them.
This was a method that could only be executed by someone possessing both a quasar soul body and the Sea of Stars. Star Law teleported herself simultaneously to every single position on the Star Sea Chessboard, dissolving into tens of millions of fragments that merged into the starry sea. In past divine wars, she had used this very move to evade the Weaver's prophecy of certain death and the Lord of the Endless Abyss's spatiotemporal collapse. Earlier, Yaxiu's Vermilion Water Moon had failed to harm her because she had blended into the starry sea at that exact instant—she had moved so swiftly that she appeared not to have moved at all.
Star Law would never merge into the starry sea unless pushed to the absolute brink. Even with a quasar soul body, deconstructing her soul body to such an extreme caused irreversible damage to her Temple of Sorcery, destroying one palace of area for every second it was sustained. Had Yaxiu not pressured her so immensely, she never would have resorted to this desperate evasion.
Yet how could a unique wonder painstakingly prepared by Mirror Demon for Yaxiu be dodged by a mere angel? As Yaxiu raised Star Law Bane high, Star Law was forcefully yanked back before him, like a sinner willingly presenting herself for judgment. Star Law finally realized why the Realm of Suffering and Curtain of Sorrow couldn't protect Sword Law—Sorcerer Bane could unravel world secret realms!
Or rather, Sorcerer Bane could unravel anything. Star Law had thought she could hide within the starry sea, but with a single stroke, Yaxiu could cleave apart sun, moon, and stars!
Perhaps the four descending God-Leaders had fallen to this very move... A God-Leader who possessed only a world secret realm truly might not be his match.
Yaxiu struck downward.
He cleaved radiant starlight from the oldest Law Angel, as if a galaxy were concealed within her body. With a choked cry, Star Law vomited blood that dissolved into flecks of stardust, falling toward the earth like a kite with a severed string.
The cut was too shallow.
Watching the two heavily injured Law Angels, Yaxiu sighed inwardly.
The mechanism of Sorcerer Bane could be thought of as a charge bar: the closer the bar was to full, the closer it was to an instant kill. Mirror Demon could catalyze that bar to full value in an instant, whereas Yaxiu could only wait for it to climb gradually. But because the Law Angels had caught on to his scheme, he had been forced to draw his swords early. As a result, Sorcerer Bane was not at its peak state—it was only at roughly eighty percent.
Though he had failed to finish off the Law Angels, Yaxiu wasn't worried. He still had the third sword.
Not only could the experience of his two failed attempts to execute the angels be absorbed into the third sword, but more importantly, Yaxiu felt that he was about to reach his own peak state. Behind him, a second hell wing had grown from his virtual wings; the Sword Princess's power was completely merging as one with his. The coming third strike would be the final judgment delivered together by him and the Sword Princess!
Yaxiu reached out and gripped the third sword. At that moment, his eyes shifted into a ruby luster, and an overwhelming surge of murderous resentment filled every corner of the rain screen.
Star Law and Sword Law held their breath. In their eyes, Yaxiu was no longer a sorcerer who could be described as a 'demigod,' but a sublime existence combining the supreme majesty of a sovereign with the deepest, abyssal darkness of an evil wraith. At this moment, a terror they were loath to accept finally surfaced in the Law Angels' hearts—a terror named failure.
Perhaps only our Lord can subdue this man, the Law Angels thought.
Drip.
Amid the gleaming star rain, the sound of a single drop of liquid striking the ground was utterly inconspicuous, yet to the Law Angels' ears, it sounded like a thunderclap.
Because that was a drop of blood—a drop of blood from Yaxiu.
Yaxiu lowered his head and looked at the hand gripping the third sword. His flesh was torn open and dripping with blood, as if an invisible blade were subjecting his soul body to death by a thousand cuts. Nor was the torment finished: bloody lacerations were creeping all the way up his arm. He looked up into the distance, almost able to see an imperious tyrant high above, sentencing him to the agonizing doom of ten thousand sufferings.
Yet Yaxiu didn't care about the agony wracking his soul body in the slightest... He had finally figured something out.
The Sword Princess's Six-Wing Trial wasn't about seeing her mother; it was that she had things she could only tell her mother. Because in this world, there were only two people whose embraces offered her a place to weep and pour her heart out, she had no choice but to go to her mother... because the one who hurt her was the other person.
Sonia's Six-Wing Trial was no curse. It was facing the true feelings in her heart.
This brash, proud, and confident girl had actually been running away the whole time. She had created countless happy memories with Yaxiu to numb herself, convinced herself with countless excuses, and strained to build friendly relationships with the Witch, Silver Lantern, and Vichy to suppress herself. She thought that so long as she ran fast enough and far enough, everything would be fine; she thought she could drag things out forever, until a miracle occurred or death arrived.
Yet the Six-Wing Trial would not permit her to run any longer, and so her own heart had caught up to her. That she had fallen so exhausted, so frail from this illness was not because of pain, but because she was suppressing herself.
She was suppressing her sorrow, her grievances, and her... hatred.
The bloody gashes crept over Yaxiu's shoulder, spreading across his chest. Yet Yaxiu merely stood in a daze, letting himself be carved to pieces by the slow execution.
Of course—how could she not hate him? You were the one who nurtured her into someone so proud; you were the one who brought her to this stage. She had worked so hard, spared no cost, all to be worthy of you and able to help you. She had only one tiny, trivial request of you—a request anyone would consider far too humble... Yet you had trampled that wish underfoot.
It wasn't that Yaxiu didn't know. He wasn't arrogant enough to believe everyone would endlessly indulge him. But he had thought things weren't that serious, that he could handle it, and that was why he wanted so desperately to understand Sonia... This was his sin, and it was his to bear.
So Sonia had given him a chance—a chance to feel what she felt, a chance to know...
Just how much she hated him.
All sounds faded into the distance; all light and noise dimmed. Yaxiu felt as though he were standing at the very center of darkness. Overwhelming killing intent drowned him until even death felt like a luxury... No wonder Sonia was in such agony. All along, she had been putting on a front. Within a body so soft and comfortable to hold lurked a monster capable of destroying heaven and earth. It must have been exhausting, right?
In truth, Yaxiu had been running away too.
He constantly fantasized about a possibility where everyone could be happy; he constantly believed he could forge miracles. Leaving aside whether that was even possible, what were they supposed to do before he found a way?
Yaxiu recalled the Witch's plea in the high tower, Vichy's stubbornness in the imperial palace, Sonia's tearful sobbing in her mother's arms... The choice he thought would be best for everyone was nothing more than wishful selfishness. Before they could ever reach the end, everyone had already ended up battered and bruised.
Just like he was right now.
Bloody gashes covered Yaxiu from head to toe. His heart and face cracked open inch by inch along the grain like split timber, leaking vivid blood.
Sorcerer Bane gathered information on everyone, forging a blade to slay the target according to the caster's will. That was why, the moment Yaxiu gripped the third sword, Sorcerer Bane tore into his soul body.
Because the third sword was named Yaxiu Bane.
His bond with the Sword Princess reached its zenith at this moment, and he fully accepted every thought and feeling she possessed. He had once believed he understood her, but only by truly embracing her resentment did he discover he could not bear it at all... To the point that a mere sliver of the venom she harbored had forged Sorcerer Bane into his natural predator.
No wonder the crux of this Six-Wing Trial had fallen squarely on him. No wonder the Void Realm had accepted such a proposal.
Because Yaxiu truly could not pass the trial... How could he ever defeat the Sword Princess? Before he could even draw her sword, he had already suffered utter defeat.
Yaxiu's sanctuary quietly unraveled. The sword rain grazed the corner of his eye, scoring a line of red that made it look as though he were shedding a single tear of blood. His virtual wings dispersed into mist, and his blood-drenched, completely depleted soul body tumbled downward, like a splash of red adorning the vast expanse of heaven and earth.
Below him, the two Law Angels teleported into position to greet him.
Chapter 1213