A jet-black blade of flame, hundreds of meters long, slashed down, a stark contrast to the tentacles that stretched for tens of thousands of miles.
This single strike was insignificant, yet the threat of death was more intense than ever before.
Chen Mo did not retreat, but decided to charge straight in.
The gaping maw on his chest continued to expand, and looking inward from within it, the boundless starry sky appeared to be spinning violently.
Within the starry sky, countless crimson-gold points of light lit up simultaneously—the light of billions of stars. The newly born world was concentrating all the energy of the world onto a single point.
The next moment, a torrent of crimson gold erupted from the gaping maw of the abyss.
The world's new life force clashed head-on with the pitch-black flames of death.
There was no loud bang as expected; at the point where the two forces collided, everything vanished instantly.
Space, matter, energy—even the rules that maintain this small dimension are forcibly shattered by the impact of collisions.
The pitch-black flames heralded the end of everything.
A crimson torrent was constantly being born from death.
Two completely opposite forces tore at each other apart, and their influence quickly spread throughout the entire dimension.
Click.
The colossal golden tree, which blotted out the sky, began to shake violently, and its shimmering golden phantom started to break apart from the middle of its roots.
The dimensional dome collapsed completely, and the earth beneath their feet turned into countless fragments. Before they could scatter, they vanished into nothingness amidst the two forces.
This abandoned dimension, which had existed for thousands of years, was directly destroyed by the two of them.
Chen Mo and Cul both fell into the interlayer of the world.
All that remained was boundless nothingness.
However, the black flame did not stop advancing; instead, having lost the constraints of its dimensional range, it began to spread wildly in all directions.
The crimson-gold torrent on Chen Mo's chest surged dramatically.
Boom!
The world is experiencing a violent upheaval.
Several smaller, relatively close dimensions were simultaneously affected. One world had just begun to take shape when its edges rapidly turned gray, and the mountains, oceans, and sky all lost their color at the same time.
Another dimension was torn open by the crimson-gold torrent.
Vast amounts of matter detached from the world, transforming into a long river that flowed back into the starry sky in Chen Mo's chest.
die.
Devour.
The two forces swept across the area, and several weaker dimensions nearby didn't even last a second before being completely destroyed in the collision.
Further away, several enormous wills were alarmed.
A single eye, covering half a dimension, opened from the darkness. After recognizing the two sides in the battle, the eye immediately closed. The entire dimension rapidly contracted, turning and fleeing into the depths of the interlayered world.
The other dimensional demon god had just begun to emanate his consciousness when he was grazed by the black flames of the blade.
That consciousness died on the spot.
The dumbfounded dimensional demon didn't even dare to leave a harsh word before dragging his world away.
Upon witnessing this scene, Chen Mo's eyes flashed with a crimson-gold light.
"Why are you running? I didn't say I wanted extra food."
Cul remained silent, relentlessly hacking and slashing, seemingly tireless.
He gripped the scimitar with both hands, and the black flames continued to rise along the Blade. The previously stagnant flames surged forward again, forcefully pressing into the crimson-gold torrent.
The armor on Chen Mo's chest collapsed silently.
Half of his chest lost its vitality; before the flesh and blood had even sloughed off, it turned into grayish-white powder and dissipated into nothingness.
A sharp pain entered his consciousness.
His Destined Death was bypassing his defenses, directly severing the future of this part of his body.
Chen Mo gritted his teeth and continued to draw energy from his other clones to power his inner world, making it run faster and faster.
In the infinite world, stars are being forcibly drained by the clones, and many clones have begun to devour physical stars to supply their needs.
The clone network released energy the moment it absorbed matter. The immense power traversed space and poured wildly into Chen Mo's body.
The crimson-gold torrent stabilized once more.
"You want to risk your life, huh?"
Chen Mo stared at Cul, a ferocious smile spreading across his face.
"What a coincidence, I love risking my life! Let's see if you can handle it today."
He took a step forward.
A new world unfolded, with countless black and red substances covering the surrounding void, forcibly pushing the black blade flames backward.
Cul's body swayed slightly.
It was in that instant that Chen Mo noticed the anomaly.
Cul's right hand, which grips the knife, is aging.
The skin that originally covered the back of the hand quickly dried out, the flesh contracted inward, and grayish-white cracks spread along the Five Fingers toward the wrist.
Not just the right hand.
Fine wrinkles also appeared on his neck and face. His long, gray-white hair kept falling out, turning into powder as soon as it left his body.
Chen Mo was stunned for half a second.
"Wait a minute, isn't this normal?"
Cul still did not answer.
But the increasingly intense aura of death emanating from him had already provided the answer.
From the moment he drew his sword, this guy had no intention of living.
Inside the New York Sanctum.
Odin stared intently at the golden light screen, his single eye flashing with divine power. When he saw Cul's aging arm, his expression turned grim.
His Destined Death was consuming him.
The Ancient One raised her hand to stabilize the light barrier.
The conflict between the two had reached the edge of reality; tiny cracks were appearing on the walls of the Sanctum, and the teacups on the table were trembling slightly.
"It's clear that such powerful strength comes at a price for the user, which is reasonable."
The Ancient One's voice was very solemn.
He didn't truly control death; he merely ignited his own end prematurely, then carried everything that came into contact with the Blade to its conclusion.
Odin gripped the Gungnir.
"With each swing of his sword, he loses a part of his life."
"No."
The Ancient One shook her head.
"He was already dead the moment the flames were lit. What stands before Chen Mo now is merely his life that has not yet been extinguished."
The Sanctum fell silent.
Odin stared at Cul's aging face for a long time without saying a word.
This is not a duel.
Rather, it was the last war Cul was preparing for himself.
The Ancient One turned her head and glanced at him.
"God King, your elder brother seems quite certain that Chen Mo will appear?"
"I have no idea."
Odin's voice was somewhat deep.
"But he would rather burn himself out completely than let Chen Mo die. This is definitely not just because the seal was broken."
In the interlayer of the world.
Chen Mo's chest injury is still spreading.
For every inch the black flames advanced, a piece of his flesh would die permanently. Ordinary regeneration had lost its meaning; only the new world within his body, constantly creating new possibilities, could possibly heal the dead parts, or rather, regenerate them.
Chen Mo simply gave up on the repair.
He channeled all his energy into a crimson-gold torrent, desperately resisting the blade's gleam in front of him.
The two sides reached another stalemate.
The surrounding dimensional ruins continued to disappear, and a rift with no end in sight was torn open in the interlayer of the world. Black death and crimson-gold rebirth each occupied half of the void, and neither could completely overwhelm the other.
One second.
Two seconds.
Ten seconds.
The time was short, but for this level of confrontation, ten seconds felt incredibly long.
The fact that almost everyone around them in the smaller dimension was already dead proves this point.
In the battle, the black flames had completely reduced the flesh and blood of Cul's right hand to ashes.
The black scimitar did not fall, but was held by the remaining bones. Most of his chest began to turn gray, and his tattered armor lost its support, with large pieces falling off.
The flames of the blade finally paused for a moment.
Chen Mo's eyes lit up.
The crimson-gold torrent surged violently, pushing the pitch-black Blade backward.
The scales of victory have begun to tip.
"What, your battery's dead already?"
Chen Mo's chest was only half intact, but his tone became relaxed again.
"Your ultimate ability's sustain isn't very good."
Cul kept his head down, his body still disintegrating.
Just as Chen Mo was about to completely crush the blade flames, he suddenly raised his face.
The chaos and deathly silence in those greyish-white eyes briefly receded, and a sliver of clarity returned.
Cul stared intently at Chen Mo.
His gaze pierced through the shell, as if he could see the world being born within Chen Mo's body, and also foresee a terrifying ending yet to come.
"So, this is where it is..."
Cul's voice was dry, hoarse, and grating.
"I must kill you!"
boom!
Dark flames erupted from Cul's body once more.
This time, however, the flames no longer just covered the scimitar, but engulfed every inch of his body.
Cul's remaining flesh and blood aged at a visible rate, and even his bones began to turn gray and crack.
His death was accelerated dozens of times.
But the black flame that had been stagnant suddenly surged at that moment.
The smile on Chen Mo's face slowly disappeared.
"Holy crap, aren't they banning cheaters?"
Cul burned his last breath.
In return, it brought forth an even greater power of death.