Slaying a Lower God

Struck by the final desperate attacks of two Undead Holy Magus, Barn could finally no longer suppress a look of agony.

But at this moment, there were no enemies left in the vicinity to seize the opportunity and deliver a finishing blow.

With the three Undead Holy Magus completely perished, the tide-like army of the undead retreated rapidly under the instinctive summons of the Underworld, leaving behind only the four hostile Sanctuary-level combatants mixed within their ranks.

Seeing that the situation was lost, the four Sanctuary experts from the Evil Royal City immediately turned and fled, diving into the earth at all costs.

Yet, how could Gideon and the others allow their prey to escape?

A Sanctuary Black Knight had just attempted to burrow into the ground when Declan suddenly erupted from below, piercing through the knight's chest with a single claw. The Dragon Claw, imbued with shadow energy, crushed both the knight's spine and Soul Core in one motion.

Julia's fingers flickered repeatedly, sending three purple-gold thunder arrows flying in a straight line. They pursued the trail into the earth, blasting the Frost Dragon back out onto the surface, its body charred black and its scales shattered.

Blair's vertical eye flashed with a faint light, and a gray soul ray struck the trailing Unicorn Thunder Falcon with precision. The magical beast didn't even have time to let out a cry before it was instantly transformed into a crystalline ice sculpture.

Gideon looked at the ground and grunted in a muffled voice, "One still got away." Its speed was, after all, its shortcoming.

"That was a Rock Crystal Dragon Lizard, specialized in earth-traveling arts; it's normal that we couldn't catch it," Julia said indifferently.

Declan stored the corpse into his spatial ring and then dived back into the ground, appearing beside Barn a moment later.

"Barn, how are you?"

Barn was covered in cold sweat, his face as pale as paper.

Deep within his soul, above the ocean of elements, the spear-shaped soul was being tightly constricted by a layer of gray-green death energy. Countless golden soul rays swirled frantically, struggling desperately to resist the erosion.

His Town Evil Gale was only effective against attacks that touched his physical body. Once a soul attack invaded his mind, the Tiger-pattern Warrior's innate talent became completely ineffective.

Even though he was a Soul Mutator, the final counterattack of the two Undead Holy Magus had instantly beaten him into a state of total incapacitation.

Declan didn't hesitate, pulling out his own Soul Gold Bead and shoving it into Barn's hand: "Eat it, quickly!"

The pure, ultimate golden soul essence surged into Barn's Soul Sea, acting like a shot of adrenaline for his near-exhausted Spear Soul. The seven-colored soul radiance surged violently, and the gray-green shadows wrapped around it dissipated and purified at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Hoo... thanks." Barn exhaled a long, turbid breath.

Declan grinned, revealing his ferocious fangs: "What are you thanking me for! We fought so beautifully this time; if Fukaloss doesn't give us two Soul Gold Beads each, it wouldn't even be fair!"

At this moment, the battle in the sky had reached a white-hot intensity.

Fukaloss had deployed both of her avatars, each wielding a Divine Artifact chain; yet, she was surrounded by over a dozen cyan figures—avatars shattered, regenerated, and shattered again in an endless cycle.

The Wind-type god-level expert had comprehended the profound mystery of avatars within the Laws of Wind!

Fukaloss's speed was inherently her weakness, and despite her two avatars giving their all, they could never catch the opponent's true body. With a Darkness-type god-level expert constantly launching sneak attacks from the shadows behind her, she was constrained at every turn, stretched thin and struggling.

Especially after seeing the Sanctuary experts on the ground crush their powerful enemies one after another, she grew more anxious, desperate to break the stalemate.

Just then, the enemy Wind-type god-level expert's divine power consumption became too great, and the speed at which he condensed his avatars faltered slightly.

This was the split-second opening!

Cold light surged in Fukaloss's eyes. Both avatars erupted with full force simultaneously, sweeping out with violent divine power and instantly shattering the majority of the cyan avatars. The chains danced like wild pythons, grinding the remaining avatars to pieces one by one.

The avatars created by the Wind-type avatar mystery were, after all, only at the Sanctuary level. If he could have fused other powerful mysteries, he might have had a chance to increase their combat power—but this Wind-type low-level god clearly hadn't reached that stage yet.

Suddenly, Fukaloss's chain struck a solid resistance.

"Clang—"

The crisp sound of metal clashing rang through the sky.

A cold, chilling arc curled at the corner of Fukaloss's mouth: "Caught you."

The chains of both avatars moved in unison, instantly weaving into a massive sphere that trapped the Wind-type god-level expert's true body tightly in the center, locking it down layer by layer.

However, the trapped Wind-type god-level expert was not afraid; instead, he let out a mocking sneer:

"It is we who have caught you."

Behind Fukaloss's death-attribute avatar, a massive magical beast figure emerged without warning.

Dark silver carapace, a hideous head, and a pair of scythe-like forelimbs shimmering with lethal cold light—a Skull-Eating Mantis, a top-tier Sanctuary magical beast of the Darkness attribute!

This was the true form of the Darkness-type god-level expert!

His previous assassination attempt had failed, and the loss of his Divine Artifact had left him weak in the subsequent battle. Now, borrowing the lethal gap created by his teammate risking his life, he finally revealed his true form, launching an all-out surprise attack on Fukaloss's relatively weaker death-attribute avatar.

The two god-level experts had long since seen through her: Fukaloss's strongest was her Water-type avatar, which possessed terrifying defense and excelled in trapping and killing; if not for the Wind-type avatar mystery perfectly countering her, they would have long since been shredded by those two chains.

Exhausting her divine power first, then ambushing her weaker avatar—this was the death trap they had planned all along.

However, the very instant those dark silver scythes were about to strike the death-attribute avatar—

Fukaloss's death-attribute avatar suddenly turned its head.

That beautiful, lovely face instantly blurred and melted; all five features vanished, leaving behind only a single, massive, eerie, vertically-aligned golden eye.

Gray light erupted like a torrential flood! Its power was ten thousand times more terrifying than the rays of the Beholder Blair!

"Urgh—!"

The Darkness-type god-level expert had no time to retreat; he was instantly encased completely by the ultimate ice, turning into a massive ice sculpture that plummeted straight down from the high altitude.

Fukaloss's telepathic message fell into their minds, urgent yet clear: "That dark-type god-level being isn't fully dead yet! Hurry and finish it off!"

The group was stunned for a moment, then soared into the sky without the slightest hesitation.

Fukaloss would never deceive them. Even if there were real danger, they had to act according to her instructions—once that dark-type god-level being recovered, caught between two fronts, Fukaloss might truly face defeat.

Barn was the fastest. Enveloped in white-gold Town Evil Gale, he crossed several miles in his most powerful state, appearing before the hostile god-level being.

Inside the ice sculpture, the Skull-Eating Mantis's metal-cast body was still trembling slightly. The solid ice was covered in cracks, clearly on the verge of breaking free.

Barn held his spear, and without a moment's hesitation, the Divine Artifact Mist Hidden thrust straight toward the creature's head.

"Screech—!"

The spear tip pierced the ice, producing a continuous, ear-piercing sound. Immediately, an immense resistance surged—black divine power churned madly as the opponent used its final shred of consciousness and power to resist this "blasphemous" act by Sanctuary-level beings.

Julia's arrows arrived right on time.

Three consecutive lightning arrows struck the Skull-Eating Mantis's body with precision, detonating in a thunderous explosion!

The reason god-level beings tower over Sanctuary-level ones is twofold: the protection of divine power and the suppression of their domains.

But at this moment, this dark-type low-level god had its domain sealed, most of its divine power exhausted, and its soul severely damaged. With only a sliver of strength curled around its godhead to cling to life, its body outside the godhead had no defense whatsoever.

The full power of the lightning explosion erupted, and the mantis was instantly blown into several pieces from the neck down.

However, the terrifying explosion caused the surrounding ice seal to loosen slightly, and the soul of the Skull-Eating Mantis seemed to awaken a bit from its frozen state.

The terrifying dark divine power instantly found its core, transforming into a cold glint that drilled into Barn's body. Caught off guard, Barn had no time to dodge and could only watch helplessly as the soul attack entered his soul space.

Just as the black cold glint was about to collide with his spear-shaped soul, the wisp of gray mist that had been drifting in Barn's mind happened to pass between them. The sliver of dark divine power struck the gray mist and vanished without a trace.

Barn's consciousness returned. Seizing this split-second opening, he retracted his spear, gathered his strength, and thrust again!

The sharpness of the Divine Artifact Mist Hidden finally breached the last barrier of divine power. The spear tip slammed fiercely into the hard godhead, and the fragile, remnant soul within shattered completely under the violent shock.

Gideon and Blair followed closely behind: "Don't stop! Don't give it any chance to fake its death!"

The five Sanctuary-level warriors surrounded the fallen god-level being, unleashing all their techniques. Lights flashed wildly as they not only extracted the godhead intact but also sliced the body into countless fragments, stopping only when they were certain there was no possibility of resurrection.

"It is done; it is truly dead."

Only when Fukaloss's telepathic message sounded again did everyone let out a collective sigh of relief.

A Sanctuary-level warrior killing a low-level god with their own hands—even if the opponent was exhausted and on the verge of death—was enough to keep their nerves stretched to the breaking point.

Killing a god-level being while at the Sanctuary level—even the original story didn't have such an absurd plot, Barn muttered to himself.

Of course, he also understood that strictly speaking, this didn't count as them killing it head-on; it was just a finishing blow.

The battle in the sky had entered its final phase.

The wind-type god-level being, who had risked its life to create a sneak-attack opportunity for its teammate, was now completely reduced to a trapped beast. Fukaloss's chain-binding formation was complete, leaving no possibility of escape.

The wind-type god-level being finally realized its end was near. Its eyes turned blood-red as it roared, "I am willing to swear to the Supreme God to serve you for eternity! I beg you, spare my life!"

Fukaloss remained expressionless, her voice cold: "We are both low-level gods, and you are not a naturally born divine beast. What use is your allegiance to me?"

The wind-type god-level being went completely mad: "If I die, I won't let you have it easy!"

Its body underwent a violent transformation, reverting to its true form—

A deep-sea magical beast, long and slender like a spear, with a body of gleaming silver.

Its sharp, elongated head resembled a silver spear, and its spindle-shaped body was streamlined, its speed talent maxed out.

Julia recognized it instantly: "It's a Silver Spear Sailfish! A wind-type Sanctuary-level magical beast from the deep sea, with remarkable innate talent."

But even after revealing its true form, there was no turning back.

Under the gaze of the five Sanctuary-level warriors on the ground, Fukaloss's chains tightened and constricted further. The Silver Spear Sailfish thrashed and charged, darting left and right, but it could never break through the cage woven by the chains.

In the end, all struggle faded into powerlessness.

Fukaloss's two avatars raised their hands simultaneously, and a cluster of pure white soul fire was gently pressed into the center of the chains.

A faint, desperate cry dissipated over the wastelands of Gobada.

Both ambushing god-level beings had fallen.