The Sun

The moment the underground monster appeared, everyone present showed signs of aging—their skin wrinkled, their hair turned gray, and their bodies became hunched.

Seeing this, Mina quickly cast several spells to break the curse, but they were of no use and could not even slow down the aging process.

Isn't this magic?!

Mina immediately looked anxiously at Isaiah: "Teacher..."

Isaiah was already an old man, and the effects of aging made him even older, his body becoming like a skeleton that could barely hold up his flesh.

Even so, he remained standing there perfectly fine, with no panic in his eyes, but rather a calm one.

"If I'm not mistaken, these are the legendary Druid Scale Worms that feed on life force?" Isaiah looked at the monsters circling in the night sky and said softly, "Ancient creatures, I thought they were extinct. I didn't expect to see them here. This trip was definitely worthwhile. But you're not simple either, being able to control such ferocious beasts. Is this the power of the [Contract]?"

The Druid Scale Worms remained silent, slowly approaching Isaiah and further accelerating Isaiah aging. Isaiah, however, seemed oblivious, continuing to speak to himself.

"I think I understand what the rule of the [Contract] means now. It is indeed very powerful, so powerful that the entire Contract Land must operate around it as its core," Isaiah said slowly. "But great power often comes with risks, especially the power from Visas ... Do you really want to pay such a price?"

As soon as Isaiah finished speaking, the sky full of Druid Scale Worms let out another shriek.

Invisible sound waves swept in like a storm, and those caught in the storm, even corpses, would instantly decompose into bones.

In an instant, there was no one left alive in the arena.

All the Star Relic Warlock had turned into ancient corpses, and Isaiah was no exception. Although he was still standing in the same place, his body had long since dried out beyond recognition.

"Pfft."

Among the corpses, the only living person crawled out.

It was Luo Qi.

Luo Qi didn't know if Diana had deliberately spared him, or if the fallen Guardian had taken the damage for him, but he couldn't care less at the moment, because the scene before him left him completely stunned.

"Fuck!" he couldn't help but swear.

What the hell? Isaiah, who was so arrogant just a moment ago, is gone now?

They were wiped out in such an instant, overwhelming manner?

Damn, was Diana really that amazing?

You were so amazing, you should have told me sooner! If you had, I wouldn't have cut my finger.

"Buzzing".

Hearing the commotion, the swirling Druid Scale Worms all turned to face Luo Qi, their fly-like compound eyes sending chills down Luo Qi's spine.

"Ahem, it was an accident, all an accident." Luo Qi chuckled awkwardly. "Nobody wanted this to happen."

As he spoke, he secretly put his thumb back in.

The Druid Scale Worms were still watching him, their thoughts unknown.

Luo Qi cleared his throat, deciding to defend himself one more time.

But at that moment, he saw a burst of blazing flame suddenly erupt from the dark Druid Scale Worms.

The flame, like a burning celestial body, expanded rapidly, carrying a powerful gravitational pull. By the time the Druid Scale Worms reacted, it was too late. They desperately tried to fly away, but were held firmly in place.

Under that most intense and pure light and heat, these powerful ancient creatures were no different from moths drawn to a flame, being ignited one after another and falling like a rain of fire.

"Grass!"

Luo Qi was unfortunately positioned directly beneath the rain of fire, and he had no choice but to raise a magical barrier while cursing. He then watched as the burning Druid Scale Worms landed on the barrier, creating countless ripples like raindrops falling on a lake.

In a very short time, two-thirds of these dangerous ancient creatures were lost.

At that moment, a strong energy fluctuation emerged again from the area where the Star Relic Warlock had long since turned into skeletons.

Luo Qi could sense that the source of this energy was exactly the same as the finger that had been reattached to his finger.

Could it be that...

He turned his head with difficulty and saw that Isaiah's bright right eye was shining brightly on his skeleton.

Time seemed to turn back, the dried bones were rapidly growing flesh and blood, and the dead Star Relic Warlock was slowly opening his eyes.

Everything went back to what it was a few minutes earlier.

Isaiah stood calmly in place, with the Star Relic Warlock behind him, equally unharmed.

Under the night sky, the Druid Scale Worms were nearly wiped out.

This miraculous scene left Luo Qi speechless.

Is this... "eternity"?

Under these rules, is it really possible for anyone to defeat him?

Damn it, why is it that even though they're using the same rules, his "perturbation" is so different from these two's?!

After a brief moment of rage, Luo Qi gritted his teeth and chopped off his thumb, which he had just reattached.

But nobody paid attention to him.

Isaiah, still gazing at the surviving Druid Scale Worms, calmly said, "It's no use. You should have seen my rules that night. No one can end [Eternity]. No matter how many times you kill me, I can always return to the present. That is the meaning of [Eternity]. Give up. Give me your body parts. This is your last chance."

After a long silence, Diana finally spoke again through the remaining Druid Scale Worms.

"Eternity is unending, so what about you?" Diana's voice was slightly manic. "You just told me that great power comes with risk. Doesn't that apply to you?"

The Druid Scale Worms's countless compound eyes stared directly at Isaiah.

"I'm watching, I see it clearly," she shouted, as if screaming. "That eye is devouring you too! This is the price of the rules; I can't escape, and neither can you!"

Luo Qi immediately looked at Isaiah and saw that blood was slowly seeping from Isaiah's right eye.

Luo Qi had witnessed this scene with Ke Li before, and at the time he mocked Ke Li, saying, "Your eyes are starting to bite."

And now, Isaiah is being torn apart by his own eyes.

"I almost forgot, you also possess the 'gaze' you gained from your Hand Eye," Isaiah said softly. "No wonder you can see me so clearly."

"Yes, I'm watching you, I've been watching you all along!" Diana said. "I know what you're thinking. You're still holding back, still unwilling to go all out, precisely because your body can't take it! You need to save enough strength to deal with Hand Eye, and... the final gatekeeper, right?"

What? Isaiah hasn't even used his full power yet?

Luo Qi was even more shocked, then subtly moved the severed thumb a little further away to show that he had no intention of reattaching it.

Isaiah's expression remained calm as he said, "I originally thought your brain had been affected by these creatures, but it seems it hasn't reached that point yet. You are indeed a very intelligent person, and you knew from the beginning how to deal with me."

Yes, Diana has found Isaiah's greatest weakness.

Or rather, this is a common weakness among all those who possess body parts, even Isaiah is no exception.

That is, the rules may be invincible, but they are not.

The rule of [Eternity] has two abilities. One is a passive ability that is normalized, which can copy and freeze a certain moment or thing in the eye. Isaiah froze the most perfect and brilliant starry sky he had encountered more than ten years ago in the Star Remnant School. This allows him to endlessly draw star power from his eyes, thereby avoiding the greatest weakness of Star Relic Warlock and always maintaining his most prosperous state.

The other is an abnormal, proactive ability that can briefly freeze a moment and then return to that moment without any explanation. This is the ability he activated a few days ago after being killed by Lai Er, and just now by Diana.

He died both times, but his right eye allowed him to return to the frozen, eternal moment, thus bringing him back to life.

However, neither of these abilities comes without a price, especially the latter, which truly consumes Isaiah's life and soul.

Therefore, theoretically speaking, as long as Isaiah is forced to use "Eternity" repeatedly, it will not be long before Isaiah is "eaten" by his right eye.

But this is only theoretical. In practice, almost no one can do it, because Isaiah was the first person under God. Who could really push him to that point repeatedly?

But Diana could now, because at this moment, she was like the entire Abyss Prison.

"Do you know how many kinds of these sealed artifacts exist underground?" Diana's voice echoed again from within the Druid Scale Worms. "The Druid Scale Worms is just the most common kind. Further down, there are the remains of Gods. They are all bound by my contract. Isaiah, I know you are powerful, so powerful that I must exchange a species for your life. But I can afford it. Can you?"

As if to verify Diana's words, the ground Abyss Prison began to tremble again, as if something even more terrifying was climbing up.

"An exchange of species for a life?" Isaiah sighed softly. "That's truly the highest honor. Since you think so highly of me, I can no longer underestimate you. May I know your name, Ring Finger?"

Why do you want to know my name?

"I should remember everyone who deserves my full effort," Isaiah said with a smile. "After I got this eye, you were the first. I think the second should be the Hand Eye."

"Heh, you still want to kill me?" Diana said coldly. "You are eternal, but I am immortal too. As long as the [contract] is in place, my servants can die in my place, and even you can't do anything about it."

Despite saying this, Diana felt a strong sense of unease and had to use the power of the [Contract] to bring out more of what was deep underground.

Even though this would cause her even greater backlash, she couldn't care less about that at the moment.

"You don't want to tell me your name? Then I'll call you Ring Finger." Isaiah raised his scepter and said softly, "I will always remember you, Ring Finger."

Seeing Isaiah's stance, Mina guessed what was happening, and her face instantly turned pale. "Teacher, you're going to..."

"This is the only way. I don't have much time to waste here," Isaiah said calmly. "I will do my best to bring you back, but... certainly not all of you."

Hearing Isaiah say this, the remaining Star Relic Warlock understood what Isaiah wanted to do, but none of them stopped Isaiah, because the moment they decided to step over the divine monument, they had already prepared themselves mentally.

So they all put their hands to their breasts and said to Isaiah.

"Please forge ahead without hesitation."

May you reach the Star Sea.

Isaiah nodded slightly. "We will witness this together."

Luo Qi and Diana reacted completely differently to this scene.

Luo Qi still didn't know what Isaiah was up to, but Diana, who had witnessed the entire battle between Isaiah and Lai Er, figured it out.

That was the spell he used to kill Lai Er; he used it to reduce the entire Black Market headquarters to nothingness.

Could it be?!

Having guessed Isaiah's intentions, Diana immediately mobilized the remaining Druid Scale Worms to rush towards Isaiah like a madwoman. The tremors underground intensified at this moment, clearly indicating that the creatures inside had sped up their movements.

Luo Qi had no idea what was happening, but a Druid Scale Worms flew to his side and roared at him in a sharp voice.

"Why aren't you stopping him?! He's going to use the spell that killed that black marketeer to destroy the entire Abyss Prison! And then use [Eternity] to restart himself!"

These words sent a shiver down Luo Qi's spine, and a strong sense of fear immediately welled up inside him.

He did not witness the battle between Isaiah and the black marketeer, but he saw the aftermath.

That was nothingness, not ruins.

There were no wreckage, no life, just emptiness, like a desolate space added to the world by an accident, or like the eternal silence after the destruction of the universe.

And now Isaiah is going to use that spell?!

"Damn it!" Luo Qi, who had retreated again and again, desperate to survive, realized he was still going to die. Overwhelmed by rage, he snapped his thumb back into place. "I'll fight you to the death!"

Then he charged suddenly at Isaiah.

Isaiah, however, kept his eyes closed and did not react.

The spell he used was called "Darkness," and as the name suggests, it plunged everything into endless darkness.

This is Isaiah's most powerful spell.

Last time, he instantly cast this spell, turning the entire headquarters of the black market into nothingness.

This time, he was going to destroy the Abyss Prison, which was hundreds or thousands of times larger than the headquarters of the Black Market.

Therefore, even he needs a certain amount of time to prepare.

Diana and Luo Qi seized this opportunity to launch a frenzied attack on him. But his students stood in his way one after another, and despite the shrieking of the Druid Scale Worms, Luo Qi did not retreat an inch from his slashes.

"Damn it, are you all insane?!" Luo Qi roared. "This old madman is going to kill you all! Do you really need to go to such lengths for him?!"

The Star Relic Warlock remained silent, for they too were rendered speechless. Under the shrieks of the Druid Scale Worms, they aged to near death in the blink of an eye. All they could do was use their physical bodies to block Luo Qi, only to be cleaved in two by Luo Qi.

In the blink of an eye, blood flowed like a river.

"Get the hell out of here!"

The tremors intensified, and more monsters tore through the earth, surging forth from the abyss and then rushing toward Isaiah like a tidal wave.

But Isaiah remained unmoved, yet the Constellation Scepter in his hand shone ever brighter.

Finally, after slashing Mina down with a single blow, Luo Qi rushed to Isaiah's side.

Luo Qi could sense that Isaiah was just a little short of energy, which meant that Isaiah couldn't use magic to fight him at this point.

"That's enough!" Luo Qi roared, "[Great Rhine!]!"

The massive Rhine Holy Sword cleaved down toward Isaiah's head; in less than a second, it would cleave Isaiah's body in two.

Luo Qi had already seen the light at the end of the tunnel.

Just then, he heard a crisp "snap".

A snap of the fingers.

The holy sword in Luo Qi's hand vanished instantly.

He was stunned.

At that moment, Isaiah finally opened his eyes.

So Luo Qi's hopeful glimmer of light vanished, but soon he saw the real light.

Isaiah became the sun.