The Law Angels instantly teleported to another position on the chessboard, but their craven evasion was doomed to become the monster's breakthrough. The blood-tide sword light converged into two falling drops of blood. The ripples of space-time they kicked up echoed through the curtain of rain. At that moment, Star Law and Sword Law became like the surface of a lake, folded by ripples into sparkling blood-light. Froth of blood splattered everywhere; both were critically wounded in an instant!
This was the Sword Princess's supreme art, Vermilion Water Moon. It was far beyond Yaxiu's clumsy imitation. Hers was vastly more vicious, far more exquisite, and infinitely more nonchalant—as effortless as plucking a blossom in a garden, yet asserting absolute dominion over life and death!
Yet what shocked the Law Angels was not Vermilion Water Moon, but the boiling battle intent that amplified this miracle tenfold. Under the swirl of starlight, Sword Law instantly recovered as before, his voice thick with bewilderment. "When did you amass this battle intent?"
"It wasn't amassed by me." Cradling the bloodstained Yaxiu in her arms, Sonia spoke with airy calm. "He fought to the death with you both until now. The battle intent of all three of you was absorbed into the Ancient Battlefield long ago.
"This isn't round two. It's a relay battle. Since Yaxiu didn't manage to slaughter you, I'll be the one to finish it."
Star Law remained unperturbed, speaking calmly, "Even if you can hurt us, we can heal limitlessly. Everything you do is in vain, and this will ultimately degrade into a war of attrition between secret realms. But we have two world secret realms, while you have only one.
"Though descending to a war of attrition with world secret realms as Law Angels beneath the Lord's throne is enough to become an indelible shame for us, I believe that with the peerless talent you and the Deputy Sovereign possess, once you become radiant stars of the sorcerer civilization, this shameful narrow victory will become the most glorious triumph of our lives."
The two Law Angels had firmly resolved to shift to a defensive war, using their millennia of accumulation to grind away every resource Yaxiu and Sonia possessed. Though it would drag on for a long time, it was their only path to victory.
"I repeat, this is not round two."
Sonia reached out and grasped the third sword behind Yaxiu, her tone brimming with reckless arrogance. "It is a relay battle.
"Yaxiu's battle intent, I can use. Yaxiu's sword, I can wield as well!" she said coldly. "This sword's name is Angel Bane!"
Sonia's touch seemed to breathe life into Sorcerer Bane. Cold glass seemed to flow across the blade, breathtakingly beautiful. In the hands of Mirror Demon and Yaxiu, Sorcerer Bane had been an engine of sheer brutality; in Sonia's grasp, it became an aesthetic, fragile ritual instrument. Perhaps it was because Mirror Demon and Yaxiu appeared soft-tempered on the surface while concealing magma-like emotions underneath, whereas the stubborn Sonia merely had to don a prickly hedgehog's shell to protect the deep sorrow buried at the bottom of her heart.
Yet in the eyes of Sword Law and Star Law, what Sonia held was not a sword, but their very fate. Even Star Law, who could blend into the sea of stars, felt a suffocating premonition of death at this moment. Every star upon her urged her to flee!
Without the slightest hesitation, Sword Law and Star Law crushed the Law Angel rings in their hands!
Before Sonia swung her blade, a beam of resplendent starlight pierced three world secret realms, forcefully engulfing the Law Angels. The third sword dispersed like morning dew once Sonia swung it, but its apocalyptic power battered the Sword Rain Pool and the Ocean of Stars until they teetered on collapse—half the water in the Sword Rain Pool vanished instantly, a third of the stars in the Ocean of Stars were extinguished, and the curtain of rain was completely swept clean, leaving the world suddenly clear and refreshing.
To cleave away the sun, moon, and stars with a single slash—it was precisely this.
Both Star Law and Sword Law felt as though a scythe had grazed their throats, a brush with absolute demise. Had they not used the trump card left to them by their Lord, their lives would have been buried in the mortal world.
Watching them withdraw the Ocean of Stars and the Sword Rain Pool, Sonia asked, "Where are you going?"
"Heaven." Sword Law smiled bitterly. "If we wish to descend to the mortal world again, I fear it won't be so easy."
"Good," Sonia said calmly. "The Five Countries returning to the Divine Lord of Stars—I have no objection to that. But without my permission, not a single angel is permitted to set foot in the mortal world. Understand?"
"If she wants to snatch my man, let the Divine Lord of Stars come herself." She sneered. "You two are no longer worthy of standing before us."
Sword Law fell silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "In the name of the beings of Stars, we shall never disturb your family's peaceful life."
"A threat? Not that it matters," Sonia said coldly. "Right now, the mortal world is ours to take whatever we wish from. If you don't declare your defeat, I'll be more than happy to ransack the treasury of Stars and let them know who is the monarch they must obey, and who is the sinner they cannot afford to offend."
"Congratulations to you and the Deputy Sovereign for successfully completing the Six-Wing Trial." Star Law bowed, a faint spark of anger concealed beneath her respectful tone. "Then we shall respectfully await your arrival in Heaven."
"We will go." Sonia raised her chin proudly. "We won't make you wait long."
Having concluded their final exchange of interests, the two Law Angels carried their world secret realms and returned to the Seven Heavens. On the surface, they had suffered no loss, but they had ceded the mortal world to Yaxiu and the others... Unless Yaxiu later became the Deputy Sovereign of Heaven, no excuse could wash away the humiliation of returning like stray dogs.
Sonia withdrew the Ancient Battlefield. Only then did she realize that the rain outside had stopped. Bright sunlight broke through the clouds, generously coating the earth in warm gold.
Cradling Yaxiu, she flew to a nearby mountaintop. She pressed her hand against his forehead and activated Jump, the time-healing wonder in Yaxiu's Soul Kingdom of Heaven.
In an instant, Yaxiu was rewound to when he was completely unharmed. However, he remained unconscious, lying limp in her embrace from sheer exhaustion. Sonia was in no hurry. Letting him rest his head on her lap, she gazed out across the mountains and rivers of her homeland. Though they were not exceptionally grand or magnificent, sitting on the highest cliff and admiring them offered a deeply refreshing tranquility.
A moment later, Sonia felt Yaxiu stir. She looked down to see that although he still appeared sound asleep, a trail of clear tears had traced across the bridge of his nose and dampened her skirt. She cupped Yaxiu's face and tenderly kissed away the tear marks at the corners of his eyes. Once they were kissed clean, she slowly moved down, lightly pecking his lips several times until Yaxiu took the initiative to embrace her, the two tangling together in sweet passion.
By the time their lips parted, Yaxiu's face was bathed in tears. His voice was hoarse, his mood somewhat dejected. "I never imagined you hated me so much..."
"Sometimes that's how it is. Love someone too deeply, and you become intoxicated; hate someone too deeply, and your heart shatters." Sonia kissed Yaxiu's tear tracks, her eyes beaming with exuberant delight. "Finally, your heart broke for me, too."
"I'm sorry." Yaxiu took a deep breath, his voice trembling. "I'm sorry."
Sonia wiped away his tears with her thumb and held him close to her chest, whispering softly, "That's it... An apology only counts if you hurt as much as I did."
Chapter 1215