Chapter 260

Chapter 260

The man in tattered armor paused, having found his two missing comrades.

The crimson woman and the black crow huddled together, and from them, the man sensed an unfamiliar power. He approached.

"…What is that, Hilda?" he asked.

Hilda turned at the sound of her name. Clad only in her long hair, she held something in her hands as if cradling it.

The man scrutinized closely and saw Mother of Sourceblood holding a clump of flesh that seemed to be alive, blood dripping through her fingers.

Dripping blood was common for Mother of Sourceblood, but today, the blood that dripped was not hers, but that of the High Heaven.

A black crow with frost-patterned feathers spread its wings and leaped onto Mother of Sourceblood's shoulder. She answered on its behalf: "The corpse of the High Heaven has become active again…"

The increased activity of the High Heaven's corpse was a dangerous omen for the world.

But this sign appeared too frequently; in the eternal divine battles outside the dome, the activity of the High Heaven's corpse fluctuated constantly.

Even though this time the activity had risen significantly, it had not approached the highest level seen before.

Unexpectedly, the Death God, Bellringing Frost Crow, who was responsible for suppressing the High Heaven's corpse, called upon Mother of Sourceblood during the battle.

Mother of Sourceblood arrived, and as the God of Life, she extracted a seed of new life from the dead god’s body.

She asked, "How should we handle it?"

"The safest method is to kill it now," the man said.

"…It isn't even a proper seed yet. The flesh of the High Heaven that came out with it acts like a womb to it," Mother of Sourceblood said. "My forceful action startled it. I can feel a thought-form beginning to take shape within the flesh. A thought-form means it considers itself human, and such a seed might lean towards us."

"Being human doesn’t necessarily mean being good," the man said. "We both know their potential highs and lows… However, with a thought-form, we can try. The condition is ensuring safety first. Let’s determine which domain this seed leans towards. I’ll call Yunlu."

An elderly Native American was summoned, bringing some sealing objects.

After several attempts, the elder put away the other sealing objects and left a broken conch shell.

"…He will stand with me against the moon," Mother of Sourceblood said.

"Or perhaps, become the enemy of civilization," the man said.

"Before that, what kind of person will this seed be?" the light illuminating the area asked curiously.

The other Pillar Gods remained silent. A figure composed of countless symbols, constantly shifting, with a hammer at its core, appeared, virtualizing into a middle-aged man with black hair, yellow skin, glasses, and a white lab coat, hands in his pockets. He first scanned his companions, then observed the trembling flesh in Mother of Sourceblood’s hands, and slowly chuckled.

"Let’s see, then," he said. "Let’s see what kind of person He is."

The Pillar Gods silently voted, and soon a result was reached.

After the result was announced, Mother of Sourceblood said, "I have an idea."

The man in tattered armor guessed her intention and directly said, "If you do that, you must place this seed in Spire City."

"Spire City? Oh, right, you have a new apostle. Do you want the young man to watch over it?" the Golden Hammer asked.

"No, don’t give it any guardians. Any hidden assistance will create bias," the man refused. "Place it in Spire City, and act directly when necessary."

"That would be very dangerous for the humans in Spire City…" the voice in the light said.

"I know," the Contradictory Twin said. "That’s why it must be in Spire City."

Placing it elsewhere would be more dangerous, and Spire City has Hui Cui Dover.

***

Boom—!

Powerful destructive magic was assaulting everything.

The Fallen Heaven, altered by divine descent, changed expression, the flesh on its bones almost peeling off, and the old bones cracked under the impact.

The Fallen Heaven, originally unafraid of such impacts, finally wanted to evade, but it was suppressed and unable to do so.

Guns and spells were merely conduits for releasing magic; most of the battles between gods were clashes of magical power, which humans found difficult to achieve.

Hui Cui Dover managed to do it. Thousands of guns fired continuously behind him, the bullets returning to their destructive essence, shaking all structures they touched.

The scriptures of the Contradictory Twin no longer just surrounded his guns but enveloped the snow-haired Dover Birdman, blocking the Fallen Heaven’s attacks. Not only did they block, but due to the Shield Warrior’s talent, they inflicted real damage back to the Fallen Heaven.

Breaking through layers of defenses and connections, he injured the Fallen Heaven’s true form outside the dome.

…How is this possible? He’s just a human.

The Fallen Heaven confirmed multiple times that the Contradictory Twin had not descended as a deity.

He hesitated, not because he couldn’t kill a human, but because continuing to project power into the dome would prevent them from suppressing the six Pillar Gods’ efforts to repair the dome.

The goal of this divine battle was either to corrupt the Eye in the Mirror into an evil god or to have the Silver Moon Maiden consume it.

If Hui Cui Dover could die or fall, it would simultaneously strike the Eye in the Mirror and the Contradictory Twin, so he came.

Now, the Silver Moon said her operation against the Eye in the Mirror had succeeded, and the moon’s avatar was likely already feasting in her divine realm. Whether Hui Cui Dover died or not had little impact on the Eye in the Mirror. Making him fall to strike the Contradictory Twin was not something the Fallen Heaven could quickly achieve at this moment.

Given this, was it worth continuing the struggle?

The gains were too low, and it might cost the skeleton of the Eye in the Mirror’s mother.

The Fallen Heaven wanted to preserve this skeleton, just in case the Silver Moon Maiden didn’t eat anything.

He decided to retreat, and the shift from defense to retreat inevitably created gaps.

The fist, which had been clenched, now extended, striking the crack in the undead's sternum with precision.

Crack.

Crack, crack, crack.

The force radiated from the sternum to the entire body of the undead, momentarily disrupting the magic that connected its various joints.

The actions of the Fallen Heaven were momentarily halted as thousands of guns and cannons surrounded It.

The gun barrels and cannon muzzles fired in unison, the destructive forces tearing through matter and other magic, engulfing the entire fungal forest.

Even Spire City, far away, felt the tremors. The caves where the fungal forest sprawled collapsed one after another, revealing a misty dome.

Finally, the whistling and shaking ceased.

The center of the attack became a deep circular pit, with white ashes containing faint traces of magic slowly settling at the bottom.

Hui Cui fired a shot at the pile of ashes, the bullet made of coal jade with an ice core freezing the ashes within.

At the same time, he had already picked up his sniper rifle. Just as he was about to look through the scope, he suddenly turned his head.

A mermaid saint spirit with long blue hair appeared here. Between returning to Lin's side and going to Oil Lamp Village, he gritted his teeth and chose Hui Cui Dover.

Seeing that Hui Cui had noticed him, Moses opened his mouth to say something but saw the Dover Birdman at the bottom of the pit vanish.

In the next instant, Hui Cui appeared beside Moses, the judge of Spire City pressing the amber earring and instructing, "I have dealt with it. Find a high-level Bellringing Frost Crow to seal the undead." After giving the order, he turned off the alchemical communicator and said to Moses, "Let's go."

Moses, who had prepared to explain but hadn't yet spoken, was speechless: "..."

Since you put it that way, Moses, not wanting to waste time, grabbed Hui Cui's arm and pulled him into the dream.

They entered the god realm of Mirror Eye through the dream, only to find the entire realm trembling due to pollution and the collision with the Silver Moon Maiden's god realm.

The second layer of the reflected world had disappeared due to the loss of magical support, and the remaining foundation of the god realm was riddled with cracks like shattered mirrors.

Moses pulled Hui Cui into a blackish-green pearl, passing through moans of "So hungry," "Pain," "Want to eat," "Lin..." They emerged from the dream back into reality.

As soon as Hui Cui came out, he saw the bodies of judges and cultists scattered on the ground.

Then he saw the rapidly growing mushrooms and the entangled plants.

He turned his head and saw the monstrous creature with a huge wolf head and its clouded eyes that refused to close.

"This is Snow Claws," Moses explained quickly, "Lin has been taken into the Silver Moon's god realm. We must go in to support him. The Mushroom King is battling the Silver Moon's divine descent undead guarding this passage. Can you directly blast through this passage?"

It's actually Snow Claws...

Hui Cui's pink eyes had been as still as a deep pool since earlier, but when he heard the name Snow Claws, a ripple flashed across them.

The blessings of many Pillar Gods allowed him to clearly perceive the monster before him. Snow Claw Kayouti had drawn upon her bloodline for power beyond the limit, and even though she could still maintain her sanity, she could no longer return to human form, forced to live in this terrifying and hideous shape.

However, her soul sometimes merged with the Fiend's flesh, while at other times it struggled to return to the appearance of the young girl she once was.

Some force protected her.

Some force was doing everything possible to bring her back to consciousness.

Whose force?

Who would do this knowing they might be dragged down?

Hui Cui's lips moved silently, as if calling out a name. Moses, waiting for his action, was anxious to urge him on, but then he saw Hui Cui raise his gun.

Rings of scripture expanded outward from his body and the gun barrel. In less than a second, Moses felt the power of the human beside him surge to a level that left him stunned.

"Wait?!" Moses widened his eyes.

I asked you to use destructive power to open the sealed passage to the god realm, not to end Snow Claws' life!

Even if there's no hope for Snow Claws, we should... we should let Lin decide what to do when he returns!

Moses, without thinking, tried to stop him, but how could he be faster than a master marksman firing a gun.

"Snow Claw Kayouti."

Hui Cui spoke the name of the monster before him, with a heart full of blessings, and pulled the trigger.

The fiery revolver shot a thick, scorching beam of light. The dying Fiend's outline barely held together in the light beam for an instant before vaporizing.

Moses gaped, ready to confront Hui Cui in that moment.

But the next second, he heard a wolf howl.

A long, resonant howl of wolves, coming from the dream!