It took less than a quarter of an hour.
The aftermath of the great battle had already destroyed the entire island.
Kolan was a Soul Mutant, and the combined effect of two Mid-God Domains was enough to offset Sophia's Highgod Domain.
The Fused Divine Power of Life Divine Power and Death Divine Power was absolutely no weaker in quality than Highgod Power.
What the two sides were competing in was their techniques, their understanding of the Laws, and their artifacts.
Sophia was a Highgod. Her advantage lay in having comprehended all the Laws of Life. Her understanding and application of the Laws surpassed Kolan's. As for artifacts, Sophia wielded a Highgod Artifact whose properties matched hers, allowing her to bring out its full power.
Of course, Kolan still had a chance.
That was because Sophia was a Life Law Highgod, and her physical attacks weren't especially powerful—at most, they were about on par with his.
It was still unclear which of them would win.
If things really went badly, Kolan was confident he could retreat to the fourteenth level.
The two clashed in the air, and the shock waves were astonishing.
The vast island was destroyed outright.
The seawater surged and churned without end.
"Where do you think you're going!" Sophia shouted furiously. She spun the wooden staff in her hand, and millions of green willow branches spread out around her, sweeping toward Kolan.
The millions of willow branches were also shrouded in green mist, which enveloped Kolan.
This was Sophia's ultimate technique—Life Cage!
With this move, she had escaped danger countless times and killed who knew how many powerful enemies.
"Hm?" Kolan's expression changed.
His Life God Clone and Death God Clone flew out of his Saint Domain True Body.
Each brandished a weapon, filling the sky with shadows of swords, blades, and spears.
All three were about equally strong!
That was the advantage of a Soul Mutant!
"Damn it, Soul Mutants really are enviable!" Sophia gritted her teeth.
Originally, even when Kolan used only his Saint Domain True Body and relied on Fused Divine Power, killing him hadn't been easy for her.
Now she was facing three opponents at once.
In an instant, she was instead at a disadvantage.
Gradually, Sophia shifted from attacking to defending, fending off Kolan's attacks.
Sophia had not only a Highgod Artifact for physical attacks, but also a Highgod Artifact of Material Defense.
Against Kolan fighting her three-on-one, her attacks were lacking, but her defenses were more than enough!
For a time, the two battled fiercely, yet neither could do anything to the other.
"Damn it, I just didn't have enough time. If my weapon had advanced further, I'd have split Sophia in two!" Kolan thought bitterly.
He had already used every trick he had, yet he still hadn't managed to kill Sophia.
His strongest attacks weren't physical—they were Soul Attacks!
But Sophia cultivated the Life Law and was a Highgod. She was skilled in matters of the soul, too, and his Soul Attacks hadn't been enough to kill her!
"If one try isn't enough, then I'll try twice!" Kolan gritted his teeth.
The rewards on the fourteenth level had already been so generous. If he could kill Sophia, then setting aside her artifacts and the wealth in her Space Ring, the rewards for clearing the level alone would be astonishing.
Even if his physical attacks managed to injure Sophia, she quickly recovered.
The only way to kill her was with Soul Attacks!
Kolan gave it everything he had and unleashed another Soul Attack.
A sword shadow ignored Sophia's defenses, plunged straight into her body, and shot toward her Soul Ocean.
"Damn it, her soul defense is just as strong as her Soul Attacks!" In Sophia's Soul Ocean, countless green dots formed a net, blocking Kolan's Soul Attack.
Sophia seethed with anger.
A Mid-God was proving this difficult to deal with.
Several times, she had nearly been killed.
But before Sophia could wear down Kolan's Soul Attack, another one arrived, even stranger than the last.
Sophia defended her soul with all her might.
Even though she was a Highgod, she didn't have a Highgod Artifact for soul defense.
Soul Defense Highgod Artifacts were simply too expensive; even she couldn't afford one.
She had once forged a Soul Defense Artifact, but it had been shattered in an earlier battle.
"No—!" Facing one Soul Attack after another, Sophia felt she could no longer hold out and let out a heart-rending scream.
"If you want to kill me, then die with me!" Sophia roared. Her entire body burst apart, releasing countless glowing green specks that shot toward Kolan at astonishing speed.
"Hm?" Kolan's Life God Clone and Death God Clone immediately slipped back into his Saint Domain True Body.
Kolan swiftly retreated, trying to evade the green lights.
That crazy woman wouldn't let him off easy, even in death.
Kolan retreated quickly, but some of the lights still shot into his body.
His expression changed drastically, and he hastily mustered all his strength to defend himself.
Attacks against the soul were the most terrifying of all.
Even Kolan had to treat them with extreme caution.
Only by wearing down these green lights could he survive!
"Damn it—what a loss!" Kolan saw the patchwork on his soul defense being eaten away by the green lights.
Although the green lights were eventually used up, the gap had grown much larger.
"Damn it, my Soul Defense Artifact!" Kolan cursed under his breath.
With a gap that large, at his current rate of repair, it would probably take a thousand years or more to fix.
Kolan waved his hand and gathered the Godspark, artifacts, and Space Ring.
He put the Godspark and artifacts directly into his own Space Ring.
Then Kolan dripped blood onto the Space Ring to claim it.
"Three hundred million Ink Stones. Not a small fortune. Hm, there's a Metal Lifeform, too." Kolan took a look and immediately brightened.
Three hundred million Ink Stones, plus a Metal Lifeform.
"I want to see what the reward is!" Kolan headed toward the passage.
Where the island had once stood, there was now nothing but open water.
On the seabed was a passage.
At its entrance lay over a hundred Soul Gold Beads, a Highgod Godspark radiating the aura of death, and a skull ring.
Kolan's gaze was drawn to the skull ring.
It wasn't a Space Ring.
It was an artifact—a Highgod Artifact!
He dripped a drop of blood onto the skull ring.
Kolan sucked in a breath, his eyes shining.
A Soul Defense Highgod Artifact!
And a complete Soul Defense Highgod Artifact!
Its quality far surpassed that of the broken Soul Defense Highgod Artifact he already had.
"This is a Soul Defense Highgod Artifact forged by some Death Edict Highgod. Its value must be terrifying." Kolan exclaimed in amazement.
Even with his Soul Attacks, he couldn't affect the Soul Defense Highgod Artifact in the slightest.
Beirut truly was a Sovereign. His generosity was astonishing! Kolan's eyes gleamed. "If the rewards on the sixteenth, seventeenth, and even eighteenth levels are like this, won't they be even more outrageous?"
Kolan was tempted to head straight for the sixteenth level.
The rewards were simply too incredible.
But when he thought of how powerful Sophia on the fifteenth level had been, he knew the sixteenth-level opponent would be even stronger.
With his current strength, venturing there would be extremely dangerous.
Kolan forced himself to suppress his greed.
His life mattered most.
If he lost his life, what use would all those precious treasures be?
Before you continue