Yaxiu listened, his heart surging with excitement. The five most powerful sorcerers in history fighting shoulder to shoulder with one accord—this was not only the first time, but likely the last.
Who could witness such an unprecedented, unrepeatable spectacle without being moved?
He was even thinking that as soon as he returned, he would extract his memories to show Sword Princess and the others. For a sorcerer, missing this sight was simply too tragic—
"Yet in the end, it is nothing more than fireworks, an exercise in futility."
Dead Frenzy watched the eight-winged creature, broken but still standing, a deep exhaustion flickering in her eyes. "Every time, it is like this. Every time, the final flame of civilization is kindled, but after the radiance burns away..."
"There is only the endless night."
No matter how severe the attacks it suffered, Ouroboros neither defended, nor dodged, nor retaliated. It did not resemble a living creature so much as a natural phenomenon, an executing program; apart from its hatred for all things in the world, it possessed no superfluous emotions.
It was like shooting an arrow at the sun, pissing into the sea, or screaming into a gale—would they pay you any mind? They would simply absorb your arrogance in full, and bring down divine retribution without discrimination.
One by one, Ouroboros's eyeballs snapped open, and its body healed at an unbelievable rate. The mist of the Feast of Blood Moon began to disperse; the future governed by Determined Future was reset; the distorted thoughts woven by As One Pleases were instantly smoothed flat; and the destructive power of Sovereign Heavens was held at bay.
Even the shell bisected by Stars knit back together. Perhaps beneath Stars' blade it was indeed as soft as butter, but being sliced in half did not mean death for butter.
It could be broken, but it could not die—for it was the very end of death itself.
Eight Wings: Serpent's Gaze!
An endless barrage of gazes flooded the Hell of Phantasms once more. Although the God-Leaders immediately blocked it and mounted a counterattack, and Stars' waterfall of starry swords tore through Ouroboros's shell yet again, Yaxiu noticed ominous omens.
With each passing moment, Ouroboros's onslaught grew stronger. Perhaps it was lingering grogginess from waking, or perhaps it merely needed to warm up, but after several exchanges, even though it used the exact same move, its intensity was several times fiercer. If before its power could scour the Hell of Phantasms clean, it was now at a level capable of punching straight through the Six Hells. This was no figure of speech—the space of Hell was truly shattering, leaving one to wonder whether it might rupture the barriers between its layers.
In contrast, the God-Leaders' might was slowly waning. Perhaps they still had abundant resources, and the machinery of their Kingdoms of Heaven could continue to run, but mechanical parts suffered wear and tear. In past Heaven Wars, they had been able to control the conflict's intensity within certain limits; even if they suffered losses, their opponents inevitably did as well. But this time, their enemy was the infinitely regenerating, ever-strengthening World-Swallowing Serpent.
Just as Dead Frenzy had said: once they failed to slay Ouroboros in a single blow, everything that followed was merely futile struggling.
"It's over."
Dead Frenzy lit a cigarette, took a drag, and exhaled a faint smoke ring. "Not only can they not defeat Ouroboros, they can't even leave. Ouroboros has entered full combat state. If anyone dares to escape through a breach, Ouroboros will surely seize the opportunity to force its way through."
"Once a breach appears in the Six Hells, this world enters its final countdown."
"The last demigods, the last God-Leaders, the last Supreme—all will fall here." Dead Frenzy glanced at him. "Except you."
"Although their defeat is certain, they can hold out for a few months at least. You only need to wait another hour or two, and you'll be able to go back to embrace your Sword Princess and Witch. You won't have to worry about Stars coveting anything, either. Every enemy capable of threatening you is down in Hell. You could even take the chance to step into Heaven and play at being a God-Leader before the end."
"Cast aside all your worries and enjoy these final months to the fullest," she said. "When Ouroboros invades reality, that will be the moment we take your place."
"Still, that should be a blessing for you all. At least you won't have to witness the end. Your memories will freeze at the most beautiful moment."
Yaxiu stared at her blankly, as if hearing something utterly unbelievable. "There's no chance left?"
"There was never a chance from the start. You were the one who wanted to struggle, so I stood by and watched you struggle."
"Could there really be nothing—"
"A Sorcery Supreme, four God-Leaders, Four Pillar Gods," Dead Frenzy sneered with a laugh. "Every ounce of power you could possibly imagine is right here. What kind of reinforcement do you still want? What kind of miracle are you still hoping for?"
"This is the scene you've been waiting for all along: all the greatest powerhouses gathering to prop up the collapsing sky. And now you've seen it. They can't hold it up."
"Tens of thousands of years of sorcerer civilization's accumulation, traded for a final few months of peace—what more could you possibly ask for?"
Yaxiu parted his lips, but he had no words. He only felt a fire burning within his chest. It was true—Dead Frenzy had told him from the very beginning that there was no hope for this world. It had merely been his own wishful thinking that there had to be a way, believing that scouring Hell and growing stronger could carve out a sliver of hope... but in the end, it was all nothing more than self-indulgent melodrama.
The Doomsday Quintet had endured who knew how many apocalypses and buried who knew how many civilizations. Though they were the future of Yaxiu and his four companions, their experience and horizons exceeded theirs manifold; they were practically super-powered, enhanced versions of Yaxiu's group... Even they could do nothing but flee backward through time to escape Ouroboros—what right did Yaxiu have to think he could create a miracle?
He had merely been running away, refusing to acknowledge reality, unwilling to accept that only a few months remained of his life... With great difficulty, he had finally found someone he liked, someone he cherished, someone who clung to him, and someone he was infatuated with—and these were four different people. How could he accept that the happiness he had struggled so hard to grasp came with an impending expiration date?
Only upon seeing that even Stars Supreme and the four God-Leaders were no match for Ouroboros was the last shred of wishful thinking in Yaxiu's heart shattered. He had to accept reality, and he had to face despair head-on.
There was no one he could rely on.
Had he known it would come to this, it would have been better to follow Dead Frenzy's advice from the very beginning, abandoning the struggle and giving up on taking risks. That way, he at least wouldn't have sold his soul twice, wouldn't have lost half his memories, and wouldn't have treated his once-intimate lovers as the most familiar of strangers...
Dead Frenzy watched Yaxiu droop like a withered flower, that foolish, Lalafell-like face once brimming with hope finally dimming into desolation. It should have been like this long ago, she thought. Hope was a half-sober, half-crazed burning that allowed lost souls to fantasize about living in the future... but they had no future at all. They could only seize the present.
Hope that yielded no results was nothing more than an intoxicating wine of self-delusion; after staying drunk on it for a few months, it was high time to sober up. She tapped the ash from her cigarette and said calmly, "Go back. Spend some good time with Sword Princess and—"
"What about you and me?"
Yaxiu lifted his eyes, a fire seeming to burn within his pupils. "If I and all of you join this war, can we hold up this world?"
Chapter 1229