At This Moment, Just Like Back Then

Inside the Pantheon, the silence was so complete that even time seemed to have stopped.

The Bone Throne, once a symbol of Supreme Authority, now looked like a cold tombstone.

Michael lay limp in the shattered cage.

The Holy Radiance had long since peeled away from his body.

His hair, once brilliant as molten gold, was now as withered as grass in late autumn, scattered across the floor.

His Status Rank collapsed like a towering building. From a Main God who had stood above all others, he fell to High God, slipped to Mid-level God, and finally came to rest among the faint embers of a Lower God.

He struggled to lift his eyelids and looked at the man raising a hand before him.

He did not beg or dodge. There was not even a trace of fear.

Those eyes, which had once reflected the Star River and brimmed with ambition and pride, were now frighteningly clear, like a spring about to run dry that had finally grown still.

"Do it."

His voice was so soft it seemed the wind might scatter it.

He was no longer the decisive Archangel who had ruled the Heavenly Realm. He was only a wretch betrayed by his father and broken by fate.

"Yang Yu, if there's a next life..."

Michael struggled to pull his cracked lips into a smile. It looked worse than a grimace, yet held a heartbreaking sense of relief.

"I don't want to be some winged freak again, and I don't want to be anyone's good son. I want to be a rock. Better yet, a rotten rock tossed beside the Abyss. No heart, no worries, no pain."

Yang Yu lowered his eyes and looked at the opponent who had caused him so much trouble.

Chaos Divine Power surged above