A cicada's chirp vibrated the waters of the Flowing Gold River. Yaxiu, whose head had just been pierced through, instantly reverted to his state three seconds prior!
Past Shift: Three-Second Cicada Concealment!
Though the Round Cicada and the Square Cicada had merged into one, the life-saving agreement Yaxiu had made with the Round Cicada remained in effect!
Having thrust out that strike, the boy White Dove regressed another year, appearing barely older than young Silver Lantern. Yet without the slightest hesitation, he raised his cane once more, aiming straight for Yaxiu's head.
By now, however, they had lingered in the silver light for too long. Threads of dazzling silver radiance painted over them layer by layer until their clothes, bodies, and joints were completely silverized!
Yaxiu made no attempt to dodge. For one, before the ferocious might of a god, a mortal stood no chance of dodging; for another, he no longer needed to.
White Dove's cane grazed his cheek, merely scraping a tiny sliver of skin. In contrast, Yaxiu delivered a diagonal slash across White Dove's body, carving a massive wound from shoulder to waist that erupted with brilliant bursts of radiance!
These were the second and third effects of silverization.
Targets who were heavily silverized suffered extensive sensory illusions in their consciousness, rendering them unable to discern the true position of their enemy and causing their attacks to miss. Simultaneously, the resistance of their silverized body parts plummeted drastically, allowing a sorcerer to easily inflict devastating injuries upon foes cursed by Silver Lantern!
White Dove was one of the few gods governed by physical laws, and also a god Yaxiu could directly slay with swordplay!
On the surface, Silver Lantern appeared to possess only the single effect of silverization, yet it could achieve purification, hallucination, damage amplification, and myriad other purposes. Compared to gods like Pierce Qingji, Knowing and Guarding Fire, and Wish, she was stronger, if anything. And whether it was merely Yaxiu's imagination, these capabilities of the Silver Lantern God also aligned remarkably with her fighting style in life.
At this point, slaying the gods was unavoidable. If both White Dove and Blue Bird were not dealt with, they would surely embrace once more to trigger the dark-green storm. Only by bringing about the absolute fall of these gods—who harbored such deep hatred for the Master of the Deep—could this apocalypse be brought to an end.
With a mortal body, slay the gods!
By now, everyone had gone mad: Tamashi, Mercury Trojan, Vichy, Yulanweise, the three gods, and... Yaxiu himself.
For those who survived, for those who had died, for vengeance, to honor Weise's will... There were far too many reasons to choose from—so many that Yaxiu couldn't even summon any excitement for something as monumental as deicide. He stared fixedly at White Dove, like a beast sharpening its fangs and craving blood as it watched its prey.
This time, he fought merely to quench his thirst.
Right then, White Dove suddenly gave him a slight bow and spoke: "Pierce Qingji."
Startled for a moment, Yaxiu promptly responded, "Yaxiu."
Their eyes met, and they assumed their stances. The boy White Dove's robes rustled in the wind as the power of Pierce Qingji unleashed to its utmost. In that instant, Yaxiu seemed to hear the cheers of tens of millions of people rising from below. Yet with every crescendo of those cheers, the terror in his heart flared a degree hotter—for the cheers were not for him, but for the assassin who was about to strike!
The moment the boy White Dove lunged forward, the entire world seemed to shrink, as if space and time were compressing Yaxiu toward the tip of the cane. This was the upright, open strike of the Pierce Qingji God: no caught-off-guard surprise, only a rendezvous that arrived precisely as promised!
Upon Yaxiu's shoulder, the Square-Round Cicada materialized—but this time, what vibrated were the square wings!
Future Kill: Three-Second Cicada Shift!
Sorcerer and god crossed paths. A round hole was gouged through Yaxiu's collarbone, blood spurting profusely as a muffled groan escaped his lips and he fell to his knees. The boy White Dove dropped his cane as dozens of wounds burst across his body. The boy collapsed into a brilliant heap of white light, leaving behind only a pure white dove.
The white dove looked up at this shattered world, cried out, and soared toward the rift in the sky. Yet the remnants of the storm still lingered in the air; with every bit higher it flew, crystal gravel battered against it. Soon, it was pummeled into pieces, leaving behind only a few stray feathers that drifted downward.
Pierce Qingji, the god, had fallen.
Turning his head, Yaxiu realized Blue Bird had unknowingly wandered far away. By now, the tempest no longer blotted out the sky, and light returned to the eighteenth level of the Silent Spiral. However, the previously cerulean sea had turned into an ocean of blood, and the azure sky was riddled with holes pouring forth black mud. Even though the dark-green storm had ceased, the apocalypse was already an unalterable reality.
Yet Blue Bird had not given up. Deeply silverized by now, her entire being seemed forged of radiance. The five virtual wings extending from the hollow of her back were so pure and sublime that in this filthy, ruined world, she seemed to be the only light remaining.
With one hand pointing toward heaven and the other toward the earth, accompanied by her clear, melodious singing, countless small emerald birds flew forth, trying to mend the holes in the sky and seal the fissures across the land. At a glance, she looked as if she were desperately rescuing this world on the brink of ruin.
Only Yaxiu knew just how vile a deed she was actually committing.
"O Blue Bird, who wishes for everyone to be happy," Yaxiu murmured softly, gripping Honeyed Words with a Dagger tight. "Please listen to my prayer."
Though Blue Bird Wish was a god of the mind faction, making ordinary physical sword attacks useless against her, Yaxiu also possessed a mind swordplay miracle.
Miracle: Singular Devotion—[Rage Sword, Sorrow Sword, Love Sword, Joy Sword].
Normally, invoking Singular Devotion required using the 'Singular Affection' sorcery spirit to transform emotions first. But right now, Yaxiu felt no need to transform anything; the dark emotions surging within his heart could not wait to pour forth.
As sword and heart resonated as one, Honeyed Words with a Dagger became coated in a murky, pitch-black sword light that writhed like a black serpent. The instant it broke free, Yaxiu knew the name of this new miracle:
Singular Devotion: Hate Sword.
"Blue Bird, I wish..."
The sword blade pierced through Blue Bird's back and burst out from her chest, pinning her violently to the ruined stone monument ahead. Blue Bird threw back her head as if uttering a silent scream, yet the black-serpent sword light twisted rapidly, binding her wings tight and turning into black steel chains that firmly shackled her body, locking her down like a slave!
"...that you, too, may find happiness."
Yaxiu pulled the black steel chains taut and walked back. With every step he took, the chains tightened another notch, and Blue Bird's wailing grew longer and fainter. By the time he walked up to young Silver Lantern, Blue Bird had been completely strangled to death by the Hate Sword, her residual light dissipating entirely, leaving behind only an exquisite blue bird.
Yet in this ruined, collapsing wasteland of disaster, where only flocks of crows ought to rise and fall, the environment was intolerable for a blue bird that yearned for beauty. It looked around, trying to find a place to perch, but wherever its gaze fell, there was only dark red murk. It let out a mournful cry; its azure feathers fell away in rapid succession, and when the wind blew, they scattered into nothingness.
The Wish God had fallen.
It looked effortless, and in truth, it really was. Unlike these two gods who possessed finite power that dwindled with each use, Silver Lantern had Yaxiu's source crystals backing her, and her silver light never ceased. It was like a paying player fighting free-to-play players—how could they possibly compete against Yaxiu?
Yaxiu squatted down in front of young Silver Lantern. He raised a hand wanting to pat her head, but paused in midair and asked, "May I?"
Young Silver Lantern thought for a moment, then stood on tiptoe and pressed her head against Yaxiu's palm.
Yaxiu smiled, ruffled her little head, and forced himself to summon his strength and stand up. He looked up toward the rift in the sky. "It's not over yet. I have to—"
Thump!
With a violent thump of his heart, as if some switch had been flipped inside him, everything began to change.
Sound, light, color, airflow... The entire Silent Spiral was decomposing and reassembling. Everything he perceived now was completely different from before; tens of thousands of colors inundated all his senses simultaneously. Had gods coated the world in this many colors all along?
Plop. With an inaudible splash, Yaxiu felt himself plunge into the deep sea. The frigid seawater stung his skin, invaded his nostrils, sent a sharp stinging sensation spreading across his eyeballs, and melted his eardrums.
Bubbles—like a bubble, he sank rapidly.
The deep sea was not dark at all; light shone everywhere. Warm tones flowed while cool tones remained still. Yet within this resplendent deep sea of countless colors, there were four patches of color that Yaxiu could recognize from afar.
Deeper than destruction, darker than conspiracy, warmer than death, and more vivid than joy.
The Four Pillar Gods.
Chapter 741