[Vol. 6] Chapter 240: Heaven and Earth Overturned
Countless shadow-like figures, seemingly weightless and fleeting, crashed against Taotie’s massive body, only to dissipate instantly upon impact.
Yet, with each wisp of light that represented all living things, the deep abyss-like aura surrounding the beast weakened ever so slightly.
Individually, mortals may be insignificant.
But when millions, billions, even countless lives unite as one, even the mightiest of giants can be brought down.
The world shines because of life, and it is through life that destruction comes.
How could a single being stand above that truth?
*BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*
The colossal form, stretching from the sky to the earth, collapsed.
The ground quaked like a dragon turning in its sleep, shaking the world with a thunderous roar.
The battle had been decided.
Lying upon the ground, its body battered and scarred, the [Beast of Chaos] no longer radiated the overwhelming power it once possessed.
Even the endless [Feather of Destruction], which had once rained down like an eternal storm, had ceased to fall from the sky.
For a brief moment, the golden-eyed god remained silent, gazing down at the defeated beast, thoughts flickering across their cold, expressionless eyes.
[Do you have anything left to say?]
Yet, Taotie did not respond.
It didn’t even lift its gaze, as if it had accepted its fate, waiting in silent resignation for its inevitable end.
[…I see.]
The divine figure raised Her sacred weapon, calling forth Her final judgment upon the heavens.
[Sixth Judgment: Annihilation of the Soul.]
An invisible light descended from the sky above, piercing directly into the body of the defeated giant.
For the first time, Taotie's huge eyes, as deep as the abyss of hell, began to fade. The light within them gradually extinguished.
And yet, Taotie was still Taotie.
A being that possessed strength equal to a god despite not being a god, a creature that had defied the impossible.
Even now, it did not immediately perish.
Instead, it lifted its gaze.
For the first time, it truly looked upon the God in front of it, whose luminous presence was now so overwhelming that it was almost impossible to behold directly.
Yet, through Her, Taotie seemed to see another figure.
One similar, yet different.
Its weakened thoughts drifted across the world like a fading whisper.
[Violet… that is your name, is it not?]
[Yes.]
[…You are very much like [Her], yet you are not. That is quite… interesting.]
[Even at death’s door, you still refuse to speak plainly?]
[…Heh… Heh…]
The weakened giant beast let out a few faint chuckles, their meaning unclear, as if it did not care about its impending death.
[The Sustainers of the World do not disappear. Death is not my end. But if you wish for this world to continue existing in its current form, then… keep moving forward.]
[If it is you… if it is truly you, then perhaps…]
The beast finally closed its eyes, and its massive body began to dissolve into countless fragments of light, scattering across the air.
This was not a natural phenomenon. It was the result of [Divine Judgment], which had completely dismantled every aspect of its “existence”.
Even the destructive energy it had accumulated over centuries and millennia had been purified, leaving nothing behind, no possibility of reforming again.
[……]
As the [Beast of Chaos] faded into a sky full of glowing remnants, the Spirit of Light also began to dissolve.
The divine figure closed Her eyes, withdrawing the overwhelming power.
And when she opened them again, its golden brilliance had returned to its original silver-blue glow.
"In the end, you still refused to explain yourself… So the [Sustainer] don’t truly die?"
In truth, Violet could at least partially understand what it meant.
She recalled hearing about the [Twilight Council]'s totem, the [Devouring Serpent], and the intelligence gathered on it long ago.
Just like [Taotie], this “serpent” was another non-divine being that possessed godlike power, one that had waged war against the “Gods of the Origin Realm multiple times”.
But the most troublesome part about the [Devouring Serpent] wasn’t its strength.
It was the fact that it could never truly be killed.
No matter how many times it was slain, it would resurrect endlessly, making it impossible to erase permanently.
After countless battles, the gods eventually realized this fundamental truth and decided to seal it away instead.
Though Violet had no idea what state the “serpent” was in now, she knew that travelers like Minchen and other mythical beings had once fought over one of its corpses.
What significance that held, she did not know.
But one thing was clear. Taotie and the Devouring Serpent shared many similarities.
And [Taotie] had repeatedly mentioned being a "Keeper of the World," a term that Violet had never heard before.
More importantly, it had clearly stated that its “sequence was No. 7”.
If there was a 7, then there had to be a 6, 5, 4… down to 1.
And if these two entities were so similar, was it possible that the [Devouring Serpent] was also one of them or somehow connected to this group?
The logic made perfect sense…
But, unfortunately, Taotie had never given her any concrete answers.
"Damn riddlers… always so cryptic."
…Well, it didn’t matter.
Whether [Taotie] could resurrect like the [Devouring Serpent] was irrelevant for now.
Such powerful beings did not just appear out of nowhere.
At the very least, this one had truly been slain.
And that much, Violet could be certain of.
[Divine Judgment], as a unique skill exclusive to [Destruction Mode], had limits that even Violet herself didn’t fully understand.
However, as things stood now, she could unleash a total of seven judgments, each one stronger than the last. Attacks so powerful that they could erase even souls, utterly annihilating an enemy on every possible level.
The damage output of [Divine Judgment] was relatively fixed, meaning it wasn’t heavily influenced by Violet’s attributes.
Aside from pre-buffing herself with a large number of enhancement spells and using potions, this was the absolute strongest attack she could wield in the game.
If even this had failed to kill Taotie, then her only option would have been to attempt using divine realm-based abilities, ones she had yet to fully master.
Fortunately, the [Beast of Chaos] wasn’t so overwhelmingly powerful that it reached that worst-case scenario.
Only six of the seven [Divine Judgments] were needed to defeat it.
That said, this also meant that Violet would not be able to enter [Destruction Mode] again for a while.
Hopefully, there wouldn’t be another enemy of this difficulty appearing anytime soon.
Even though Taotie had no [Divinity], its level had undoubtedly reached Lv100 in the truest sense.
Even if Xiao Guang fought it one-on-one, there was no guarantee of an easy victory.
Come to think of it, this was the first time Violet had encountered a being like Xiao Guang or Snow Wing. A special creature that had broken past the absolute Lv80 limit and reached the realm of gods, all without possessing a [Divinity] or divine realm.
If she’d had the chance, she would have loved to talk to this [Beast of Chaos] and understand it better.
Now, standing in the silent, desolate wasteland, where nothing remained but endless sand, the black-haired girl looked around.
The falling [Feather of Destruction] had long vanished.
It was now clear [Taotie] had been the absolute core of this world's destructive energy.
Even its mere presence had warped the surrounding environment with its aura.
Now that it was dead, the disaster had naturally come to an end.
In other words, the [Demon Rebellion] from a thousand years ago had only happened because Taotie had descended into this world.
The Evil Spirits were not born from destruction.
Rather, Taotie itself was the true source of “Destruction” and the root cause of all [Ancient Spirit Realm]’s demonic entities.
But…
It shouldn’t have been powerful enough to wipe out the gods themselves.
Which meant, something even more terrifying and indescribable must have existed behind Taotie and “Destruction” itself.
Hah… well, either way, this should be settled now.
"There’s no way a third [Beast of Chaos] is going to show up… right?"
She had no idea how Xiao Kong and Hen were doing right now.
And what was up with this world?
It felt like the past, yet at the same time, it seemed to be a parallel version of the [Ancient Spirit Realm].
More importantly. How was she supposed to leave?
Just as the priestess was thinking about this, a silver portal, flickering slightly, slowly opened up in the space nearby.
"Oh, now this feels familiar!"
It had appeared a little too conveniently, but wasn't it common knowledge that after defeating the final boss, an automatic return portal would open up?
Just as she was about to step into the obviously player-friendly teleport gate, Violet suddenly paused, a strange look appearing on her face.
"Why does this scene feel so familiar…?"
"I really hope this isn’t gonna send me to some weird place again…"
Muttering her concerns, she stepped right into the portal.
The world around her shifted rapidly, the familiar floating sensation of teleportation washing over her.
A few seconds later, light returned, and the distinct magical aura of the [Ancient Spirit Realm] once again filled her senses.
Her reflection appeared on the smooth surface of the tall silver crystal walls surrounding the area. Her face still spotless, untouched by dust or battle.
However, Xiao Kong and Ming Lianxin, who were supposed to be guarding the seal, were nowhere to be seen.
The singularity nodes, once formed by portals that had been set up by the [Ancient Spirit Realm]'s strongest warriors, were still present.
But about a third of them had vanished.
If a portal disappeared, that meant the Evil Spirits inside had been eliminated.
As for the ones that remained.
That either meant there was still an ongoing battle, or…
Violet glanced around.
"The sky says it’s morning… It’s already the next day?"
"So time moves differently inside and outside…"
"That means the Immortal Island should be…"
Before she could finish her thought. A massive shadow suddenly swept across the sky, blotting out the midday sun, plunging the land below into darkness.
Violet instinctively looked up and froze.
For a brief moment, her mind went completely blank.
What she was seeing was so ridiculous, it shocked her deeply.
It was the kind of nonsense plot twist you'd see in a samurai duel, where one of them suddenly pulls out a modern gun. He shoots fast and wins right away. Then he says it was a smart move.
Before she could stop herself, a stunned murmur escaped her lips.
"Oi, oi… What on earth is that?"