The slaughter above the Returning Ruins had dragged on for a full half hour.
As Divine Light collided with the Demon Tide, the once-dim void was lit up again and again, crushed apart, then plunged back into darkness.
The four demon generals ultimately could not withstand the fierce onslaught of the three High Gods. Their bodies shattered layer by layer, while the Malevolent Energy filling the heavens was cleansed away by the luminous glow of Merit, leaving behind only scattered wisps of demonic aura.
The battle was over, yet the anticipated stability across the entire domain did not arrive.
The interlayer crack stretching for thousands of miles had not slowly closed with the destruction of the demon generals. Instead, it exhaled ever colder black mist. The folds of space continued to twist and tremble, like a colossal beast lying dormant, merely drawing in its fangs for now, ready to unleash a sky-swallowing catastrophe at any moment.
The three High Gods stood in the air, the Divine Light around them dim.
No one could see their condition after the battle. A hazy radiance had concealed their figures all along, but the commanders familiar with the High Gods' strength could all sense that something was wrong.
After great battles in the past, the High Gods' bearing had always been vast and enduring. Their Divine Light was now visibly somewhat dimmer.
No one dared ask further.
Whether the prolonged battle had consumed too much of their strength, whether they had suffered hidden injuries, or whether the danger posed by this ancient crack had already exceeded the Divine Court's expectations—such speculations circled through everyone's minds, yet no one dared speak them aloud.
The only certain conclusion was that the High Gods still could not be in two places at once.
They guarded the narrow