Weixi’s eyes were vacant as she stared blankly at the sky desecrated by the Divine Lords, her boneless, soft hand almost slipping from Yaxiu’s grasp. Yaxiu tugged at her, but failed to pull her up. This Spectre Prophet, who had been arrogant and insufferably haughty before him from the very beginning, seemed in this moment to have truly turned into a maid who needed to rely on him.
He could also clearly sense that Weixi was not afraid. A woman who lived like a viper had discarded the biological mechanism of fear long ago. She simply felt powerless. A viper might not fear lions, tigers, jackals, or wolves, but when faced with floods and landslides, what meaning did its fangs and constricting power have?
Moving rivers and mountain ranges as their strides, playing the heavens and the cosmos as their board—they had finally caught a glimpse of a corner of the Divine Lords' authority.
Before this, Yaxiu and the others had always assumed that a Divine Lord's method of battle was merely wielding grander, more powerful miracles—more visual effects, wider areas of effect, faster speeds—with only a numerical disparity existing between Divine Lords and sorcerers. If Yaxiu wielded a wooden stick, he figured a Divine Lord probably wielded an Ultimate Peerless Wooden Stick +13.
Yet the Divine Lords did not use wooden sticks, nor did they even use star destroyers—they flicked entire planets around for fun!
What did it even mean to mobilize world secret realms as weapons?
As was evident from the River of Flowing Gold and the Wishing Pool, world secret realms were actually aggregates of cognitive concepts, perhaps even the foundational sources of certain sorcery factions. Unclaimed, world secret realms had already given sorcerers massive headaches; now, manipulated by Divine Lords, Yaxiu and the others witnessed just how far the most powerful, most depraved sorcerers could go in desecrating and trampling upon the world.
When Hell dispersed, the new sky formed by the sea of blood, the Dark Curtain, the earth's core, the tree canopy, and the silver river completely replaced the All Stars sky curtain. Without needing any commentary or narration, the moment they looked at the different parts of the five-colored sky, they perceived the new laws embedded within.
In the sea of blood, the physical body was non-continuous. Head, shoulders, arms, hands, chest, waist, thighs, calves, fingers, toes... every part you could control would become an independent, detached piece. Whoever attempted to cross the sea of blood, whether in soul or flesh, would instantly disintegrate into countless scattered pieces.
In the Dark Curtain, thought was non-continuous. Two consecutive seconds in your consciousness might correspond to two hours in reality, or perhaps two microseconds.
In the earth's core, displacement had a limit. No matter how fast you moved or how much time you spent, you could only infinitely approach a maximum distance of one hundred steps.
In the tree canopy, memory did not exist. Every second was a brand-new self, every instant a newborn babe.
In the silver river, light possessed rest mass; any object trapped within the silver river would become a prisoner of light.
The new laws compiled by the Divine Lords were carried out within the secret realms like absolute truth, and all physical laws conceded to these new laws. There was no concept of resistance against a law—just as you could not turn off the sun like a light, nor reverse time, you could only continue to exist in accordance with the new laws.
Creatures living inside a painting, in the end, could only adapt to the texture of the paper, be confined to the paper's dimensions, and display the colors laid down by the brush.
Therefore, Yaxiu knew they had no chance left. Even if he could summon the Kingdom of Heaven of Souls once more, it would be utterly meaningless.
What locked down All Stars inside and out now was not merely the five-colored sky, but also fivefold laws. Since the Divine Lords had deliberately written these fivefold laws, it meant they were certain the Prime Angel could not breach the fivefold blockade.
He had known all along that this was just a desperate gamble. He should have understood that it was purely wishful thinking: success would be fate smiling upon them, while failure was only natural. And yet... and yet.
Yaxiu drew a deep breath, but wave after wave of throbbing pain gripped his chest, leaving him barely able to breathe. After a few seconds, completely unable to hold it in, he turned and pulled Feili and Niya into his embrace. The three collapsed together onto the floor. He buried his head between them, his shoulders trembling faintly.
Feili’s tears fell as well, her face filled with frustration and loss. Even so, through shallow, rapid breaths, she forcefully choked back her sobs and reached out to pat Yaxiu's back gently. She tried to smile and encourage him, but her voice still trembled on the verge of weeping. "We... we all did so well."
Niya wrapped her arms around them, stroking their heads, a smile softer and gentler than any she had ever shown before gracing her face.
Smack! Igola, his back turned to them, slammed a fist against the wall, his drooping golden hair obscuring his expression. Harvey let out a sigh and reached out to pat the deceiver's shoulder.
"Weixi..." Yaxiu's voice was very soft as he showed the humblest demeanor to his most hated enemy. "I beg of you..."
"I am the Spectre Prophet, a mere demigod fallen to the mortal realm," Weixi said bitterly. "It took everything I had just to struggle against the arrangements left behind by the Divine Lord of Stars. Now that five Divine Lords have joined forces, even at my peak, I could only pray they wouldn't notice me."
"All journeys come to an end," Harvey said calmly. "You must get used to final farewells."
"Is there really..." Yaxiu lowered his head and drew in a sharp breath. "...no other way...?"
"There is."
Igola turned to look at them. "The final Angel Hunt."
"Compete for the Prime Angel's legacy, attain supremacy, and take charge of All Stars!" the deceiver said, enunciating each word. "When you become the King of Kings, your decree will be the fate of the world!"
"Going in circles only to end up back at square one? I don't dislike it," Weixi said. "Leaving aside competing against the other demons, the more pressing problem is that we aren't in Jiashi right now."
"The previous three Angel Hunts all took place near Jiashi. Even if we rushed back immediately, it would be too late. The Divine Lord of Stars is certain to initiate the final Angel Hunt before the day ends." She sighed. "We can only be spectators, watching helplessly as they determine the ultimate victor to wield the supreme scepter."
"Unless..."
"Unless the Prime Angel is right beside you."
Yaxiu froze, slowly turning his head toward the speaker.
Even after watching Hell descend with her own eyes, seeing the plan to save the world fall to ruin, and watching All Stars plunged into blockade once more, Rose still sat calmly in her seat.
Yaxiu wasn't actually surprised. Rose had always had a disposition without grief, joy, desires, or wants, as if she cared for nothing at all. Whether it was the world or herself, both were trifling matters unworthy of mention to her; she was as though she had merely come to experience life, watching mortal joys and sorrows with detached indifference.
Yet at this very moment, Rose was staring blankly at Yaxiu.
Strange, shimmering patterns of flowing light rose across her body, like fireflies scattering away. Faint, ethereal phantoms gradually materialized around her: the sea of blood submerged her calves, the Dark Curtain shielded her eyes, the earth's core buried her hands, the tree canopy draped above her, and the silver river enveloped her body.
"Yaxiu, I..." she whispered softly, "feel so awful..."
Boom!
The most blazing, primal light erupted from Rose, ten thousand fathoms of radiant flames piercing heaven and earth. Held in place by the drifting phantoms, the authority of the Prime Angel was precipitating from the center of her chest, coalescing into the Supreme Holy Grail that sorcerers yearned for in their dreams!
Chapter 974