[Vol. 8] Chapter 331: Under the Serpent’s Twilight
Sure enough, although the giant’s body exploded with a loud bang, the black-and-white mask that had been on its face spun through the air like a leaf. Soon, it landed on a larger piece of debris and reshaped itself back into the same body as before.
The clown-like strange god patted his chest again and again, as if he had truly escaped death by a hair’s breadth.
[Oh my, oh my, that was close, so close! Just a little more and this poor body would’ve been destroyed! If even this poor clone of mine got wiped out, I’d have no choice but to wait hundreds of years to be reborn again~]
Although he spoke that way on purpose, anyone watching could clearly see the truth, [Musk] hadn’t taken any real damage at all from the exchange just now. His divine power was all about trickery and deception, creating countless clones from masks. As long as the real mask itself wasn’t completely shattered into dust, the [God of False Faces and Ecstasy] could never truly be destroyed.
And Leonis’s strike earlier had clearly not reached that level.
The Emperor’s face darkened at being toyed with. But this was a battlefield. The Twilight Council members were not people who would stand around listening to him give speeches. With [Musk] taking the lead to attack, the other impatient gods immediately struck as well before Leonis could act further!
[Mortal, take my hammer!]
The armored giant with the most fiery temper rushed forward first. As he swung his hammer down, terrifying gravity pressed upon Leonis. Even with his new great power, he instantly felt his shoulders sink, as if mountains were crushing him. His arms were so heavy he could hardly lift them!
This was the Law of Gravity!
When gods fought, they often used the simplest truths of the world. There were no unnecessary tricks. This seemingly ordinary hammer strike was actually the ultimate move of the God of Gravity, [Griffith]. It could not be dodged, and to take it head-on under gravity thousands of times stronger than normal would make even a true Main God think twice.
Almost at the same time, the other council members, who normally looked like they didn’t get along, showed perfect coordination. The God of Paradox spread a gray mist to block Leonis’s escape routes. The Three-Faced Goddess stretched the dimensions so that Leonis’s counterattack could never reach its mark. He had no choice but to take the blow directly.
Several overwhelming divine powers and laws were unleashed together. From the very start, they wanted to decide the battle in a single strike!
Feeling the open killing intent coming at him, the Emperor only gave a cold snort. At the last moment, he made just one move.
He closed his eyes and raised both hands to the sky.
[Heaven and earth bear witness, law and order are eternal. I am the World Serpent. With this body, I shall remake the Ring of the World!]
“BOOM!!!!!”
In that instant, his mortal body expanded. His flesh twisted and transformed, growing boundlessly larger like a writhing serpent climbing endlessly, or like the branches of a giant tree spreading without end.
At that moment, Leonis’s very being changed. He surpassed individuality, surpassed life and death, becoming an ancient forbidden existence that had vanished tens of thousands of years ago. Something that could overturn all the laws of the world!
“CLANG!!!!!”
The God of Gravity’s hammer smashed into the serpent’s body, producing a thunderous metallic sound. But it only made the serpent tremble slightly, it had no effect at all.
The Serpent was beyond the concept of living beings. It stood above all rules. Gravity no longer worked on it. Illusions of truth and lies could not blind it. Even the stretched dimensions collapsed when faced with the presence of Infinity.
The serpent’s body grew at an incredible speed. The council members had no choice but to stop their attacks and retreat quickly in all directions. Leonis did not hurry to chase any one of them, because what he wanted to do went far beyond fighting them.
“CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK!!!!”
The reborn Serpent soared into the sky, its head and tail joining to form a ring. It stretched and grew, covering the world with its enormous shadow. Even the bright sun above the clouds disappeared the moment its shadow swept across the land.
The sky turned dim in an instant. Not day, not night, but an unchanging twilight, like a dream. Ancient waves of power spread across the world, as if something invisible and untouchable was quietly being rewritten, forming a strange and eerie new domain.
Heaven and earth were completely changing. The impact of this battle was no longer limited to one city or one land, but to the whole world of the Origin Realm!
[Damn it, he’s insane!]
The God of Gravity, [Griffith], cursed nonstop while quickly dodging the massive serpent’s sweeping body. He was truly angry and honestly hadn’t expected that mortal to act so decisively. If his true body were here, even if the World-Devouring Serpent fully revived, he wouldn’t fear the fight. But now, only their clones could enter the Origin Realm, and against this, they were too limited.
Even though laws and divine powers seemed equal, there were still differences in strength between concepts, just as there was a difference between true bodies and clones. The Serpent was not invincible, but now that it had released its true form and used the power of the [Ring of Heaven and Earth] to stir up ancient taboos, this was no problem a few godly clones could solve.
[Good, good, good! Ruthless! Truly ruthless! Cruel to others and even more cruel to yourself! Wonderful, wonderful! That’s how it should be, hahahahaha!!!!]
When Leonis revealed the true form of the [Ring of Heaven and Earth], [Musk]’s new body was the first to be crushed into a bloody paste. Yet the black-and-white mask, the true core of the [God of False Faces and Ecstasy], floated unharmed in the air. While dodging the serpent’s bites, it let out loud, exaggerated laughter.
Every council member understood one thing. The [Ring of Heaven and Earth] was a vessel of the old world’s rules, an outlawed heresy in the current world, a taboo among taboos. Leonis’s action had certainly made his strength grow by leaps and bounds, bringing him close to the level of the true World-Devouring Serpent of the past. But it also guaranteed that he would stir up far greater and unspeakable horrors.
This was a thorn-covered path of certain death. At this point, his greatest enemy wasn’t even the Twilight Council anymore. He had completely lost the chance to turn back.
Unable to return to human form, permanently branded, now standing fully on the opposite side of the world’s rules. This step even surpassed those incomplete inheritors of the Serpent’s mantle from the past ten thousand years, who were crushed by the gods.
In other words, Leonis now had only two futures.
Either he would win against the rules of the world, rise high, and replace the former as the new ruler of this world…
Or he would be defeated, erased, and fall into a tragic end where even his existence itself became a taboo.
[So you’ve left yourself no way back… Heh, but of course. That’s exactly the kind of thing you would do.]
The God of Paradox, Exmont, looked at the enormous shadow of twilight that stretched endlessly, as if it would cover the entire world. From beneath his hood came a strange, knowing chuckle.
The council members quickly gathered together again. The usually silent Three-Faced Goddess, Alethea, suddenly spoke up.
[It’s time to retreat. Our goal this time has already been achieved. From now on, the Council only needs to stand aside and watch.]
The gods exchanged looks. Some had already wanted to leave, so they nodded in agreement. But others still seemed uneasy.
[But what about that thing? If the [Ring of Heaven and Earth] is really completed, then the World Sustainer will be in control of the Origin Realm. In the future, if we want to fight again…]
[Heh, it’s not that simple. If the world’s order could really be overturned so easily, it would’ve collapsed hundreds of times already. With so many mythical beings, those gods who still haven’t shown themselves, and even… Them… do you think They’ll just watch and let Leonis succeed?]
[Exactly. Let them fight each other. In the end, the Council’s true purpose is only to trip up the World Sustainer. Now that things have reached this stage, surely there are others more desperate than us. Why should we risk our lives?]
With noisy discussion, one by one, the self-serving council members, who never acted without benefit, decisively chose to retreat. They dissolved their temporary forms in the air, their divine thoughts pulled back to their true godhoods. Even the God of Gravity, [Griffith], who had looked the most fierce and stubborn, only cursed a few more times before dispersing his clone and vanishing.
Their retreat was so fast that even a certain Dragon God, watching the battle from afar, was caught off guard and didn’t even have time to react.
She had thought of many possible ways the Twilight Council might act next, but simply running away was not one of them. Could it be that their earlier menacing appearance had just been an act? Were they really leaving everything alone?
Although she couldn’t help but complain in her heart, in the end, whether the Twilight Council was destroyed by Leonis or chose to run away, it didn’t matter to the dragon girl. It did not affect her true goal.
The dragon girl lifted her head, silently gazing at the huge serpent’s body that kept spreading across the sky, completely covering the sun, as if she were waiting for something.
Suddenly, her fiery eyes narrowed slightly.
High above the heavens, a dazzling golden light suddenly descended like a holy being coming into the mortal world. It forcefully pierced through the serpent’s massive body that spanned across the sky, bringing light back into the twilight-colored world!
That was—Light!
“Zzz~! Zzz~! Zzz~!!!!”
The moment Light appeared, every element, every trace of magic, and every medium in the world vibrated in excitement. It was as if the world itself was cheering, with endless rules resonating together, sending out waves as vast as the sea!
Resonance and stirring! A tribute to the ruler of the world!
At that instant, throughout the entire Origin Realm, time suddenly stopped flowing.
Black and white, colorless tones equally covered every corner of the land and every creature in sight. Even the mighty mythical beings and great dragons in the sky, who were restless because of the serpent’s transformation, were all frozen in this unmoving moment.
Only Light descended from beyond time, floating down like a holy presence, until it arrived right in front of the serpent’s head.
And the only one besides Light and the Serpent who could stand beyond time and witness this incredible scene was the Dragon God, watching from the Star-Gazing Tower below, herself a being who had reached the seat of divinity.
But though she too belonged to the power of light, her gaze carried no warmth. Looking at that sacred, glowing figure shrouded in light, her brow visibly furrowed.
“As expected… it’s not the master. It looks similar, but in truth, it is something entirely different…”
The moment she realized this, the dragon girl let out a clear breath, as though a heavy doubt that had troubled her for so long was finally answered. The shadow of worry between her brows faded, and the hand she had slightly raised quietly fell back down.
On the other side, Leonis, who had become the Serpent, also did not seem surprised by this strange arrival. The serpent’s head turned, calmly watching the golden light whose figure could not be clearly seen, and spoke in a deeper, more commanding voice than before.
[It seems “White” was not wrong. The moment I begin reconstructing the “Ring of Heaven and Earth”, certain things are bound to react. So how should I call you, “Will of the World”, the chosen administrator… or perhaps… the Primordial Light?]
Whether unwilling to speak or for another reason, the figure within the light gave no answer. In this world where even time itself had stopped, only its faintly human-shaped silhouette could be seen, silently raising an arm and extending a palm outward.
“BOOM!!!!!!”
Suddenly, light overflowing with the ultimate power of rules and laws burst forth, sweeping across with unstoppable holy force strong enough to erase all things. Even the vast serpent’s body and the still-forming [Ring of Heaven and Earth] were mercilessly torn open with a massive wound!
The serpent roared in pain, its ring-shaped body spinning rapidly as the aura of ancient and supreme rules erupted!
[Hmph, did you really think I came unprepared!?]
With a shout, countless white lights suddenly rose within the black-and-white frozen world, thousands upon thousands, nearly uncountable!
They flew into the [Ring of Heaven and Earth] formed by Leonis, merging with it. The evolution, already fast, suddenly sped up several times more. The massive tear ripped open by the light began rapidly healing itself.
At first glance it looked like some kind of special ability, but Miss Xiao Guang below immediately saw the truth.
It was sacrifice.
Even the Holy Empire had been secretly consumed by the World Sustainer, raising countless hidden followers. Naturally, as his ally, Austre Empire was no exception. But these followers had been handpicked and cultivated by Leonis himself, much like the foreign captives sent into the tower. In reality, their true numbers far exceeded tens of thousands.
Back when he was still the Emperor, Leonis already foresaw that such a day might come. That was why he had cultivated a massive number of believers, whether willingly or unwillingly devoted to the Serpent, precisely for this very moment.
These beings themselves could never directly fight against the world’s administrator. But the faith power they provided was a timely lifeline, able to shift the outcome at the most critical moment.
Of course, the power to create such a miracle was not without cost.