Judgment

Chen Feng's voice descended from the sky, cutting straight through the storm and the hole in the clouds, ringing clearly in Champa's ears.

Every word struck his heart like a heavy hammer.

"This punch is for Kale."

Silver light slowly gathered around Chen Feng's right fist.

He clenched it tight, his knuckles turning white from the force as radiance seeped through the gaps between his fingers.

That mass of silver was like liquid starlight, gathered around his fist, swirling and flowing.

The light grew brighter and brighter until it condensed into a dazzling sphere. Lightning-like veins of energy coiled across its surface, humming in a low, unceasing drone, as though a miniature star had been born in his palm.

This power was absurdly immense. The entire planet let out a mournful cry beneath its pressure and truly began to tremble—it was no exaggeration.

A thunderous sound of rupture came from deep within the planet's core. The crust began to crack, as fragile as an eggshell.

Bottomless fissures spread wildly as scorching magma erupted from them, as though the planet itself were bleeding.

The atmosphere was crushed into a massive depression by the energy on Chen Feng's fist. The clouds were shoved aside, revealing a transparent "air dome" thousands of kilometers wide, through which the cold starlight of space could be seen directly.

Champa's pupils shrank sharply, and for the first time, uncontrollable fear appeared in his eyes.

He wanted to dodge. He wanted to tear open space and flee. But his body seemed nailed in place.

Every inch of muscle had stiffened beyond movement, locked down by that crushing pressure.

For the first time in millions of years, he understood the scent of death with perfect clarity—not injury, not defeat, but an absolute end, one that would erase even his existence.

Chen Feng's fist came down.

He did not swing with force. He merely released it, calm and decisive, as though letting go of a scepter.

The silver sphere on his fist erupted at once, shooting toward the heavens and transforming into a beam of light that pierced sky and earth.

Like divine punishment from legend, it descended from the heavens and struck toward Champa.

As the beam passed, space tore and warped like shredded silk. Time itself became viscous and strange, while light twisted into bizarre arcs around it.

The atmosphere was instantly ignited by the terrifying heat. A blazing ring of fire encircled the planet, dyeing the sea of clouds gold and crimson.

Champa watched helplessly as the beam grew larger and larger in his vision.

The silvery-white radiance devoured everything. Even from so far away, the air became scorching enough to stab at his skin.

In the instant before destruction descended, a thought he had never had before suddenly flashed through his mind: Was I... wrong from the beginning?

But he had no time left to think.

BOOM—!!

That earth-shaking blast did not come from the outside world. It exploded directly within every atom.

The silver beam struck the planetary core with perfect precision. Its horrific energy pierced through the rock layers like a sharp awl, reaching the heart of the planet.

The entire planet convulsed violently.

Centered on the impact point, the surface shattered like broken glass. Abysses spread madly outward, mountain ranges were torn apart, rivers were severed, tectonic plates overturned and were hurled into the air, only to be ground into dust by the following waves of energy.

The magma no longer erupted—it poured from every fissure like a flood. Crimson-gold molten rock crisscrossed the land, turning the entire planetary surface into a boiling sea of lava.

The atmosphere was completely blown apart by the shockwave of the explosion, becoming countless deadly plasma jets that shot into the cold universe like dying fireworks.

Deep within the core, the solid metal heart was struck by the silver radiance. It began to melt, expand, and collapse.

The last force supporting the planet's structure was also fading away.

The entire planet emitted a low, despairing wail from within. Its gravitational field began to fall into chaos, its orbit shifted, and it was irreversibly heading toward destruction.

When everything gradually calmed down, Champa lay in the very center of a meteor crater, his body covered in charred wounds and cracks, his consciousness drifting through pain and weakness.

He had long been unable to maintain his powerful combat form. With his energy exhausted, he had reverted to that round, harmless-looking fat cat.

Purple blood flowed from his wounds and dripped onto the scorching blackened earth with a sizzling sound, staining the ground a frightening dark violet.

Chen Feng slowly descended before him, his hands clasped behind his back as he looked down at him.

The dazzling silver radiance around him had completely faded. He had returned to being an ordinary young man with black hair, black eyes, and plain clothes.

Yet his gaze remained calm, like a deep pool untouched by wind, without the slightest trace of emotion.

But within that calmness was something that drove Champa into utter despair—not the arrogance of victory, but a composure that looked down upon all things.

As though he had been born standing above others and had no need to show off.

"Lord Champa," Chen Feng said lightly, his voice echoing in ripples through the empty expanse of space, "do you still want to continue?"

Champa knelt on the shattered ground, breathing heavily.

He opened his mouth, his Adam's apple bobbing as he tried to force out the words "continue."

As a God of Destruction, he had to preserve that last shred of dignity.

But his throat felt as though it had been scraped by sandpaper. All he could produce was a hoarse, rasping, "Hah... hah..."

His entire body trembled, not from fear, but because after his divine power had been completely drained, every muscle was crying out in agony, every bone groaning.

Sweat and blood mingled, rolling down his bruised purple skin and dripping onto the still-steaming rocks with a hiss.

His vision began to darken and blur, until even Chen Feng's figure overlapped.

He had lost.

He had been utterly defeated, with no possibility of turning the tables.

The pride of a God of Destruction had been crushed to pieces.

Just as he was about to pass out—

A soft yet impossible-to-ignore silver radiance descended without warning, like moonlight piercing through clouds.

Wherever the light reached, the rampant energy instantly calmed, and the shattered spatial rifts silently mended themselves.

Vados appeared quietly at Champa's side, accompanied by several light, feather-like motes.

Her eyes were lowered, and a trace of complicated emotion passed over her angelic face before swiftly vanishing.

The gem atop the staff in her hand glowed with a gentle radiance.

With a slight movement of her wrist, an even more condensed pillar of silver light completely enveloped Champa.

Within the pillar of light, it was nothing short of a miracle.

The wounds on Champa's body, deep enough to expose bone and even entwined with destructive energy, visibly healed. A series of cracking sounds came from within his body as his bones precisely realigned and reconnected.

His depleted divine power began to seep back out like a riverbed after rain.

In less than a minute, the light faded. Aside from his tattered clothes and bloodstains, not a single wound remained on Champa's body.

Even the exhaustion-induced pallor on his face had regained some color.

Bracing himself against the ground, he slowly rose to his feet. His head remained lowered, purple hair concealing his expression. Only his tightly clenched fists, their knuckles white, revealed the turmoil raging within him.

The surroundings were deathly silent, with only the embers of extinguished stars drifting in the distance.

He suddenly raised his head.

There was no relief at surviving death in those small eyes, nor was there any gratitude toward Vados.

There was only humiliation and fury, more violent and profound than before, nearly solid enough to take form—like two volcanoes on the verge of eruption.

"You..." Champa squeezed out in a low, hoarse voice through gritted teeth, staring fixedly at the still-calm Chen Feng. "You think... that means you've won?"