novelraw Chapter 694: Golden Rule
Chapter 694: Golden Rule
Elizabeth stared blankly at the Whale-kin before her. In the face of that chasm-like rank difference, her hands couldn't help but stiffen like iron. And this Whale-kin seemingly hadn't sought her consent either; it was more like a notification.
Because the next moment, Gothrin's Blade in Elizabeth's hand trembled violently, joyfully leaving her palm and returning before the Whale-kin.
The Whale-kin gently grasped the weapon that had weathered a hundred battles alongside her, a hint of reminiscence flashing in her eyes.
And the next moment, in the ears of all living beings present, the dead silence that seemed to swallow heaven and earth gradually receded, and sound flooded back into their ears. Simultaneously, the Whale-kin's aura before them was steadily climbing.
High in the sky, the gazes of all the majestic Chaos-kin were universally directed here. Their non-human expressions made it impossible to discern their specific emotions; one could only sense them all falling silent, as if standing by in full battle array, watching the Whale-kin's every move.
After a long while, the leading Chaos-kin's solemn voice echoed like a murmur,
"God of Destruction... Xuan Can..."
"Mom!"
Jasmine's expression changed slightly, and she hastily rushed toward Xuan Can. Xuan Can turned sideways to look at her daughter beside her. She still hadn't entered the Mythic Rank, but Xuan Can's expression showed nothing unusual.
She simply reached out to stroke Jasmine's slightly baby-fat cheek, and then the glow of the Golden Blade in her hand grew increasingly brighter. Before Jasmine could reach out to touch Xuan Can, she had already slowly ascended into the air, facing the five demigods standing at the top of the sky alone."Mom..."
Jasmine felt an ominous premonition in her heart. Her outstretched hand hovered in mid-air, yet she could not hold back her mother heading toward the sky above.
As Xuan Can slowly flew toward the sky and the seaside, the barrier that seemed to cover everything and silence the world also spread to the sky. Several diverse Chaos-kin glanced in the direction of their tentacles and, sensing something, looked again at the approaching Xuan Can,
"God of Destruction... For a single Whale-kin to possess such majestic power entirely on her own... life truly is a miracle..."
The one speaking was Scorpio. His appearance was actually worlds apart from a scorpion, but the bright compound eyes on his body were separated top and bottom, looking like a scorpion-shaped star in the dark, hence the name.
"But... we observe the world day and night..."
"Your Law is currently damaged; you cannot use your Law to fight us..."
"And your Blessing and Curse, we are also fully aware of them..."
"We know you... like the back of our hands... Yet you know..."
"Absolutely nothing about us."
The five Chaos-kin spoke one after another, echoing a bizarrely beautiful melody, just like a harmonious instrument.
Things related to the soul are always connected to music. Many civilizations in the universe believe that "melody is the voice of the soul," and it was exactly so.
Listening to their voices, Xuan Can merely curled her lips slightly, her words still indifferent,
"My, Xuan Can's, Blessing and Curse were never a secret during the Mythic War. All my enemies and friends knew of it, yet no one was ever my match..."
"..."
"Buzz buzz buzz..."
The sound of the Chaos-kin activating their powers echoed simultaneously, but in mid-air, it weirdly grew softer. The Chaos-kin understood that this was a sign of Xuan Can's Curse spreading.
Speaking of Xuan Can's Curse, its effect was actually extremely simple. She could create a layer of transparent medium to protect herself. Essentially, the true meaning of this blessing was "protection," serving as a shield. Except for her, everything else—be it sound or any form of energy—found it extremely difficult to penetrate that medium protecting her.
As for Xuan Can's Blessing, it needed no explanation. It was a blessing named "Unbound Vitality." This blessing granted her recovery abilities and continuous stamina far exceeding any Whale-kin. This allowed Xuan Can to turn danger into safety at a rapid pace as long as she didn't suffer fatal injuries, and she wouldn't feel fatigued during combat either.
The Blessings and Curses of Whale-kin actually originated from their personality traits. For example, Gou Wen dedicated himself to healing the world and had a merciful heart; his Blessing was highly related to this aspect.
But even as Xuan Can's husband, he often wondered why all the Curses and Blessings obtained by his hot-tempered Whale-kin wife were of a nature protecting herself.
Perhaps Xuan Can was also confused, but since both Curse and Blessing were ordained by heaven, she didn't discard them, instead utilizing them to an extraordinary degree.
"Bring it!"
Though the Chaos-kin's voices were imperceptible, they carried a strong intent for revenge.
Their plan had already failed, and they had weirdly penetrated the Crevice to arrive in reality. Inherently carrying thick Authority power, staying here for long would definitely cause the rules within the world to collapse. But regardless, they were unwilling to return to the Spirit World to be tortured by the Scarlet Mist again.
Any persuasion appeared pale and powerless at this moment. Xuan Can naturally understood this as well; there was only war.
The powers of the Chaos-kin began to converge, yet the entire sky remained in dead silence. This was entirely the effect of Xuan Can's Curse; at this moment, they were all enveloped in the medium Xuan Can created.
This wasn't because they were foolish, but because they had no way to fight outside of Xuan Can's medium since its range was truly too vast.
The medium originally used to protect herself had grown more expansive than the ocean over the days and months. That was why Mythic Species were often caught and beaten to a pulp by her when they stirred up trouble in the ocean.
Conversely, because this medium wrapped around her with herself as the center, the power she used would be transmitted from the medium in all directions without any loss, multiplying exponentially. Once Xuan Can attacked, that terrifying power would cover all directions omni-directionally along the medium. Thus, after every battle Xuan Can fought, the surrounding scenery was often devastated by the power transmitted through the medium...
Hence the name, God of Destruction.
Xuan Can held her sword vertically in front of her, and the flames of the golden longsword roared out violently, about to turn into a sea of fire burning the world, brightly illuminating her face.
If the flame on the golden longsword in Elizabeth's hand was a match, then what burst forth from Xuan Can's hand was the radiance of the sun.
At this moment, the eyes of the five Chaos-kin in the sky—Scorpio, Pisces, Cancer, Libra, and Taurus—were completely filled with the golden light about to swallow everything. They stood by in full battle array, their powers roaring simultaneously, but they were still inevitably submerged within Xuan Can's sword aura.
"Buzz!!"
In just an instant, what might or might not be called Scorpio's "head" was instantly chopped off. The rest of the Chaos-kin were startled and hastily dodged in all directions. Behind them, the terrifying power arriving with the medium instantly pierced through space, spreading in all directions.
"Rumble!!"
All the clouds above the entire sky, and even the ocean, began to tremble.
Scorpio's body festered in mid-air, but Xuan Can merely gave a gentle tug. The medium pulled the splitting and fleeing Scorpio back together. As he let out agonizing groans, Xuan Can sneered coldly and threw another punch.
"Bang!"
Scorpio's twisted body exploded directly. Because the dispersing body parts were still inside the medium, they were continuously and repeatedly bombarded by that spreading power, blowing his corpse to pieces like setting off fireworks.
"It seems you Chaos-kin merely observe the world every day, knowing all the struggles of this world but lacking actual combat experience."
But the next moment, Scorpio's scattered body also continuously expanded, turning into countless intangible "domains," from which a continuous stream of countless terrifying light beams fell. The might of those light beams was so intense that even Xuan Can's medium couldn't block them.
Xuan Can had no choice but to casually raise her sword and slash. The flames instantly swallowed Scorpio and his light completely.
However, the enemy wasn't just Scorpio, after all. The medium behind Xuan Can moved slightly, and she turned around with extreme speed to slash the incoming Taurus with her sword.
"Clang!!"
Taurus' body was completely encased in some extremely tough crystal from top to bottom. Xuan Can's sword strike was actually bounced back by his toughness.
"God of Destruction, your power is indeed fearsome... but, outmanned, you are bound to lose..."
Xuan Can's expression shifted. She simultaneously dodged a light beam shot by Scorpio behind her. The beam hit a flying lock of her long blue hair, and that long hair was instantly reduced to ashes, with the annihilation still spreading constantly, rushing toward her head.
"Heh..."
Xuan Can sneered coldly. Suddenly raising her hand to cut off that lock of long hair, she kicked heavily against Taurus' hardened body. Taurus was sent flying by that primordial monumental force, turning into a beam of light that smashed fiercely into the newly reformed Scorpio, blowing him into pieces once again.
The Chaos-kin wanted to advance further, but Xuan Can released a resounding boom from her entire body, raising her speed to the absolute limit. With a stern look, she raised her hand to unleash another sword aura capable of drowning the entire firmament.
"Buzz buzz buzz!!"
"Ahhhhhh!!"
The tsunami-like sword aura that swallowed heaven and earth left all the Chaos-kin with no time to dodge. Shrieking, they were swallowed by the sharp power, fleeing miserably in all directions. Only two of the most outstanding ones remained steadfast amidst the golden sword aura...
Libra...
Pisces...
Xuan Can narrowed her eyes, paying special attention to those two Chaos-kin who didn't move much but were also quietly sizing her up.
She subconsciously wanted to raise her sword and activate her Law to slay them first, but just as the thread-like golden light flashed across her body, a piercing pain akin to cardiac arrest assaulted her heart.
Xuan Can's breathing hitched slightly. She hurriedly stopped this action, though her complexion also darkened a bit.
As expected... the Law...
She sighed imperceptibly, holding the sword horizontally in front of her once more, engaging the returning Chaos-kin with an invincible aura.
The battle in the sky was truly too terrifying. When that golden light shone, everyone felt as if the sun had bloomed right before their eyes. Amidst the unbearable glare, the mortals lowered their heads, clutching their eyes and roaring as if their eyes were burning.
And even those at the Mythic Rank, like Raphaela, could only see a vast expanse of whiteness, with no sound coming through; only the terrifying shockwaves continuously spread across the entire space.
The rules above crumbled continuously, and the so-called "secondary derivative creations of Authority" in reality appeared incredibly frail in the face of the terrifying destructive power.
All of Saint-Nazareth began to shake violently. Countless buildings collapsed before the power transmitted from afar, and a golden figure also abruptly descended from the sky. With the mighty power of the Nineteenth-Tier, she rapidly shuttled through the city district of Saint-Nazareth, inspecting the Nari people who might have suffered from the disaster.
That hollow shadow descended grace like an angel. Humans did not recognize her true form, perhaps only thinking it was a blessing from the Mother Goddess.
But the Mother Goddess was already dead. That shadow was indeed an angel, but descended by their Empress.
All the citizens noticed the situation at the Golden Palace and called out to each other, heading toward it.
Meanwhile, in the square before the Golden Palace, a vague voice suddenly reached Jasmine's ears, as if coming from very far away,
"Jasmine... Little Xiang Hun..."
Jasmine's rank was too low to observe the battle situation between her mother and the Demigod Chaos-kin above at all, but even so, she stubbornly looked up until her eyes reddened and tears fell instinctively.
The moment she heard that voice, Jasmine blanked slightly, exclaiming in surprise,
"Da... Dad?!"
Yes, although she hadn't seen her biological father since she was a few years old, she had often heard a very affectionate voice calling her and coaxing her to sleep when she was little.
Mom seemed able to converse with Dad often. According to Mom, Jasmine's name and childhood name were both given by Dad.
The so-called childhood name of Whale-kin is what the child is called when very young. Once the child passes a year old and the Curse inside begins to grow, the Whale-kin gives the whale childhood name to their companion sea beast. In fact, the companion sea beast and their respective Whale-kin share the same name.
Even though Jasmine no longer needed "Xiang Hun" as a companion sea beast to help share her Curse, that warmth allowed Jasmine to almost instantly discern who the voice speaking to her belonged to.
Gou Wen, her father.
"Ah, it's me. I didn't expect little Jasmine to recognize me so quickly..."
That vague voice gave a helpless smile. Gou Wen's gentle voice always gave people a warm feeling, serving as a reassuring pill for Jasmine's uneasy heart at this moment.
But right after, Gou Wen's voice also grew slightly serious.
"Jasmine, only you and your mom can hear my voice. I am relying on Lamastia's power to converse with you, so I need your help, as well as the help of others. Mom is injured; the wound isn't on her physical body, but rather her [Law] is damaged..."
"Law..."
"Yes. I've always been watching the situation here, and Mom has too. Fisher has exhausted everything to stop the Outer God's scheme in the Crevice, and he has reached his absolute limit. Now that several revenge-seeking Chaos-kin have entered reality, your mom had to come out and stop them. But even utilizing her Law, the battle situation is extremely concerning, not to mention her Law is now damaged..."
"What... what should I do?"
Jasmine immediately turned pale from nervousness, pressing her lips tightly together. That tense appearance caught the attention of Raphaela beside her, who immediately asked with concern,
"What's wrong, Jasmine?"
Gou Wen merely smiled faintly, comforting Jasmine,
"Don't panic, little Xiang Hun. Even if hope is slim, there's still a chance now... I am currently within the Sea of Souls, clearing obstacles for the next plan in the Chaos-kin's den, but everything in reality depends on you all.
"First, Fisher's current condition is not optimistic. He just underwent a fierce battle and is gravely injured, not far from death. One of you must traverse the battlefield above, enter the Crevice to save him, and wake him up. Only he can control the Crevice; you must have him pull the Chaos-kin into the Crevice. Remaining in reality, everything will be finished... Hurry! Fisher can't hold on much longer!"
Jasmine grew even paler, muttering in a low voice,
"Fi... Fisher?"
"Fisher, what happened to Fisher?"
Raphaela and Valentina beside her immediately looked toward Jasmine, and Jasmine hastily looked up at them, speaking incoherently,
"Dad... My dad contacted me from the Spirit World... He said Mom is injured above and won't hold out much longer... Fisher is also on the brink of death inside the Crevice... We must have someone enter the Crevice to save him..."
"Then what are we waiting for? Hurry up!"
Raphaela furrowed her brows. Valentina also immediately flapped her wings to rise. Jasmine also nodded, forcing herself to calm down and prepare to follow. But at this moment, Gou Wen's voice suddenly echoed again,
"Jasmine, you cannot go. You must stay here."
"Why? I can heal Fisher, I... Even if my rank is low, my Blessing can heal him. I won't hold you back, I..."
"Jasmine, Jasmine, listen to me. This isn't an issue of your rank. Furthermore, he is corrupted by the Outer God's power; even if you go, it will be to no avail. First, I've already prepared the medicine to save Fisher; it's on your companion sea beast by the seaside. Just have them retrieve it. Secondly, this is only the first step. For the second step, I still need you to complete it on the ground... Just stay here, okay?"
"But I..."
Gou Wen's voice carried a hint of anxiety at this moment, causing Jasmine's about-to-lift footsteps to halt in place,
"Listen, Jasmine, no matter what, even if they fail, you absolutely cannot approach the Crevice. That will only make things unequivocally worse, the irreplaceable kind—do you understand?"
"..."
Jasmine's eyes were red, feeling slightly wronged.
Dad was perhaps just worried about her safety because her abilities weren't strong enough, because she hadn't entered the Mythic Rank, so going would be risky...
But how could this let her calm down?
Teacher Fisher was still in the Crevice, her mom was fiercely battling the Chaos-kin above, while she...
"...Okay... I... I'll just stay here..."
Raphaela and Valentina looked back at the hesitant Jasmine and roughly guessed her father wouldn't let her go. Perhaps there were other arrangements, or perhaps it was out of concern for her safety. But Valentina proactively stepped forward, saying,
"It's okay, Priest Jasmine. You just need to tell us what to do. Leave it to us."
"Mm..."
Jasmine nodded, simply outlining the goal to them. Valentina, Raphaela, and Alajina all walked over, listening solemnly to every word Jasmine said, fearful of making a mistake.
And behind them, Elizabeth's golden eyes hollowly lifted slightly, also gazing in their direction.
Once Raphaela and Valentina moved out, they discovered this goal was truly far too difficult to accomplish.
The battle above was far too exaggerative. Even on the ground several thousand meters away, they felt a lingering trepidation. And this was the result of Xuan Can deliberately containing the battle zone to the high sky.
According to Jasmine, Xuan Can couldn't use her Law and was already struggling bitterly; without using the Law, she could be defeated at any moment. They had to grasp the time.
"Who is going to get the medicine?"
Valentina was suddenly a bit frustrated. If she had her mother's magical talent and knew how to engrave Dream Magic, she might have possibly entered the Crevice directly instead of needing to ascend via physical methods like now. But what she didn't know was that the medicine Gou Wen prepared for them was actually a special substance he created using his Blessing; Dream Magic could only pull souls and flesh, so this stuff couldn't be brought up either.
At this moment, only physical bodies could deliver the medicine.
The Cardinal light on Alajina also instantly brightened. She spoke,
"I'll go. Although all my Cardinals have crashed, I have already networked all the Cardinals in Nari. I'll fetch it. But Cardinals have a maximum flight altitude; according to my Cardinal's estimation, the position to enter the Crevice is roughly a dozen or more kilometers high. Nari Cardinals can reach six thousand meters max; the rest depends on you..."
Raphaela was a Mythic Species; though she appeared to fly about earlier, she actually relied on immense strength to stomp the ground, leap, and then glide in the air using steam. The Dragon-kin had no flying function, even upon entering the Mythic Rank.
Valentina spread her wings, hurriedly saying,
"No problem, then I'll wait with the Dragon Queen in mid-air for you to return with the medicine. I'll carry her up as much as possible. If anything unexpected happens halfway... Dragon Queen, step on me and continue upwards to see if you can reach the entrance to the Crevice by then."
Alajina was still calculating with her Cardinal exactly what altitude they needed to reach. The fiery-tempered Raphaela had already retracted her longspear, pulling Valentina and preparing to depart.
"Alright, stop calculating. Even if you calculate it, it won't be accurate up there anyway. Stop delaying time, let's depart."
"Mm..."
Valentina nodded and spread her wings. Meanwhile, Raphaela resolutely began stripping her armor to reduce the weight, revealing the cloth military attire underneath. Subsequently, while tying up her long red hair, she approached behind Valentina, speaking softly,
"Offending you, Miss Phoenix."
"No worries, just call me Valentina. Hurry up and get on, Raphaela!"
"Alright."
Valentina carried Raphaela on her back. In an instant, the massive wings rapidly spread open, carrying immense frost as they skyrocketed. Alajina said nothing more, merely hastily operating the networked Cardinal by the seaside to fly over the sea surface.
"Woo!!"
Above the restless sea surface, a companion sea beast as massive as a mountain had long been waiting there. On its back, a small box was placed in the most conspicuous position. Alajina hastily controlled the Cardinal's mechanical arm to grab the wooden box and ascend, pursuing Valentina and Raphaela above.
"The situation is not looking good. We should detour a bit; that should make us less likely to be spotted..."
The higher they soared, the more Valentina broke into a sweat. Having merely ascended a few hundred meters, the terrifying shockwaves above grew increasingly horrifying, making the flapping wings behind her somewhat stiff, as if she no longer knew how to fly.
But Raphaela frowned and shook her head, speaking softly,
"It's no use. With their ranks, no matter how stealthily we move, we will be discovered. To them, we are traversing right under their noses..."
"Then what should we do?"
"What should we do..." Raphaela pondered momentarily, then suddenly smiled, looking down at Valentina and saying, "Then let's fly through them as fast as possible. Jasmine's mother can communicate with her father; she'll help attract their attention for us."
"Ah? This is too..."
It was Valentina's first time experiencing the passionate, fire-like strategy of the Dragon-kin behind her, but Raphaela merely smiled, patting her wing and saying,
"We must grasp the time now. Every extra second is an extra trouble for Jasmine's mother and for Fisher... Fisher is in critical condition now. That bad person refuses to tell us how perilous the battle above is precisely to prevent us from shouldering the burden. If we don't take a risk in desperation now, are we waiting for a lifetime of regret?"
Listening to Raphaela's words behind her, Valentina's gaze also grew resolute.
Indeed, they only had this one chance left. What were they waiting for if they didn't take a risk?
"Alright, I'll do my best to deliver you to an appropriate distance, Raphaela..."
"Mm, we'll wait for the arrival of that Sardin woman's Cardinal."
At this moment, Raphaela and Valentina slightly hovered in mid-air, slowly ascending while simultaneously waiting for Alajina's Cardinal behind them to catch up, all the while saving up their stamina to prepare for the subsequent outburst.
Perhaps there might have been contradictions in the past and future, but at this moment, their hearts held only this single goal above...
"Buzz buzz buzz..."
The roaring sound of the Cardinal engine from behind quickly echoed. Like a starting gun, Raphaela's eyes grew stern as she turned around and grabbed the delivered wooden box with one hand, simultaneously shouting,
"Valentina, I'm counting on you, right now!!"
"Got it!!"
"Boom!!"
The wings behind Valentina rapidly exerted force, and a violently echoing boom erupted around the two of them. Above was scalding hot steam like fire, and below were thick wings carrying strands of frost. Like a bullet fired towards the sky, they quickly streaked across the sky, entering the battlefield where Xuan Can and the Chaos-kin fought.
The Chaos-kin fighting far away stalled slightly. Taurus and Cancer simultaneously turned their heads, using their extremely bright compound eyes to gaze afar at Raphaela and Valentina, who were so tiny they were invisible to normal people.
Just as Raphaela, who had already entered the Mythic Rank and understood the ability gap therein, said... in the eyes of these Demigods, regardless of distance, the two of them were like strutting right under their noses.
Seeing that it was just two low-ranked realities living beings, Taurus hastily turned his head to battle Xuan Can again. But beside him, Cancer suddenly yelled to stop him,
"Those two women possess a connection to Fisher..."
Taurus hurriedly turned back, pondered for an instant, dodged a sword aura from Xuan Can, and looked at him saying,
"They are... heading for the Crevice..."
"Stop... them..."
Taurus glanced at Libra and Pisces still bitterly battling in the distance. At this moment, Pisces had already brought out his trump card and awakened his Law, and Libra had also decided to go all out. With them present, even the Ocean Emperor meant little.
"..."
Thus, Taurus hurriedly turned his head and approached Raphaela and Valentina's direction at a speed they found unimaginable.
When the Demigod moved, they hadn't even noticed it from afar. Yet Xuan Can, facing Pisces and Libra who had unfurled their Laws on the battlefield, detected it with ultimate speed.
Her gaze flickered slightly. Panting softly, she held the sword in a reverse grip and retreated a distance.
"God of Destruction... useless resistance... you are powerless to overturn the situation..."
Libra's Law involved "exchange." The so-called Law was actually a rudimentary form of Authority. As Heon had said, this was a product unique to the Barrier, non-existent in the universe.
As long as Libra activated her Law, she could obtain an equal "return" through "dedication." This meant Xuan Can's attacks on her were essentially returned to herself, and such attacks bypassed her medium entirely, placing great pressure upon her.
And now not only had Pisces unfolded his Law, but those two children had also barged into the battlefield...
Xuan Can panted slightly, looking at the sky dyed crimson above. Suddenly reminiscing, she cracked a smile, murmuring in a low voice,
"You fool... stop going to the Spirit World, just stay by my side..."
"It truly is uncomfortable not having you to heal my wounds..."
"But, given your personality, regardless of how I end up, you'll still help me settle the score, right?"
The next moment, dense, distinct golden lines emerged from her body. Those lines began to spread from her body until her body, her armor, and the longsword in her hand all manifested golden threads.
"Wife!"
Inside the Spirit World, that anxious, illusory voice vaguely carried over, but Xuan Can's gaze already bloomed with terrifying, awe-inspiring light surpassing even Pisces and Libra before her.
That countless golden light spread within her, yet remained unsatisfied, until it broke through the armor on her chest, forming an irregular chaotic golden brilliance in mid-air.
The moment that terrifying golden light appeared, the entire azure ocean instantly turned dazzling gold, as if the azure itself was kneeling down before this existence...
That golden light tore through the sky, contending against the Laws of Pisces and Libra, instantly multiplying their pressure to the point they could only barely resist it.
Yet as more geometric golden threads burst from Xuan Can's body, cracks resembling shattered glass also emerged on her body. Looking closely, those weren't injuries to her body, but injuries to the Law within her.
As the glory of the Law bloomed, the newly awakened force grew ever more majestic while simultaneously exacerbating the pre-existing injuries.
"Crack crack crack!!"
"Only fragile gold..."
Pisces and Libra barely stabilized themselves amidst the golden waves. Libra sneered mockingly, though her words carried a strong undertone of being fierce in appearance but feeble in reality,
"A clash with three Demigods back then left your Law damaged... Now facing us, you are guaranteed death..."
"Yes. Now, you can finally savor the aura of the Chain of Heaven and Fafnir that I struck down back then... Had Tao not possessed chaos upon her, she would have died countless times already too... Since forever, I have fought against many alone. Do you think you are so special?"
Xuan Can sneered coldly, reaching out to grasp the golden light before her. The might of the Law expanded once again, dying Xuan Can's eyes a sun-like golden color.
This was Xuan Can's Law, the Golden Rule.
What is called gold, is eternity.
Merely displaying it back then left irreplaceable wounds upon Fafnir's body; the Chain of Heaven's wings also shattered layer by layer before this eternal gold, fleeing entirely miserably...
Even the immortal Tao Gong trembled under this golden light, finding no place to hide...
Xuan Can took a deep breath. With a slight lift of her gaze, she steadily fixated on the Dragon-kin and Phoenix still ascending in the distance. She sneered, showing absolutely no fragility from the collapsing Law; instead, she domineeringly raised the light, slashing out the golden awe-inspiring light from her hand toward all the enemies present.
"Buzz!!"
The apocalyptic roar was about to detonate, and Raphaela and Valentina over there finally realized a Demigod was heading their way.
Valentina gritted her teeth, watching the rapidly approaching Taurus. Profusely sweating, she hastily shouted,
"Raphaela, how much distance do you have left to jump into the Crevice?!"
"Still lacking... lacking a bit..."
Raphaela also furrowed her brows. She had a rough feeling in her heart, but didn't know the exact distance; she just felt it currently wasn't close enough.
"I can't take it anymore! Tell me when you get there! Then I'll proactively distract that guy, and you—"
"Are you crazy? You aren't even a Mythic Rank, you'll die in one exchange!"
Valentina, however, looked up at her, shouting loudly,
"Even just lasting an extra second, as long as you can reach the Crevice and deliver the medicine, it's all worth it! Do you want to watch Fisher die?!"
"..."
These words left Raphaela speechless. She couldn't bear to look at the tears overflowing in Valentina's eyes below.
The Phoenix beneath her was still young. Even when interacting with her earlier, Raphaela sensed this; she just felt like one who had just come of age... Yet at this moment...
"Buzz buzz buzz!"
The golden sword aura over there rapidly unfurled. A Blade of Law seemingly intending to engrave itself onto this world slashed toward all the Chaos-kin ahead.
The Chaos-kin naturally knew that even the Chain of Heaven and Fafnir were defeated by this move. Though they were also of the Demigod rank, compared to those three beloved children of the gods, they still fell short. Taking this move basically meant death or severe injury.
"Taurus!! Grab them!!"
All the Cancers ahead erupted with emotion simultaneously. Taurus' twisted form instantly solidified, fixing a crystalline gaze, hurtling toward Valentina's side like a cannonball. The speed between the two was entirely incomparable, but Xuan Can's Blade of Law was ultimately faster, arriving right behind Taurus.
Valentina swung her wings, throwing the Phoenix Sword directly as a stalling tool toward Taurus. Taurus smacked the sword away with a tentacle, yet was still slashed in the back by Xuan Can's sword edge.
"Ahhhhhh!"
He wailed in agony, taking all the Chaos-kin ahead down into agonizing wails with him. The golden light shot straight through Raphaela and Valentina, yet they remained safe and sound. It was just that the light was too bright, completely devouring Valentina and Raphaela's vision into a stark white.
But Valentina never stopped for a second, utilizing everything she had to soar upward.
Fly! Fly!
Valentina, fly fast!!
Raphaela couldn't judge exactly how far the Crevice's space remained; she could only rely on her rough flying speed and time to estimate. Just a few more seconds, just a few...
"Urgh!!"
But at this exact moment, countless tentacles of the critically injured Taurus had already locked dead onto Valentina's wings. Their strength was already extremely weak, entirely unbefitting his Demigod rank, because it was conceivable that even though Xuan Can's sword strike transferred to this spot, it still almost claimed his life.
"Come... back... here..."
Taurus' extremely weak voice drifted over like an evil spirit. Valentina went pale, but completely disregarded behind her, just hysterically shouting to Raphaela atop her body,
"Raphaela!!"
Raphaela knew that if she didn't jump now, there would be no chance.
She gritted her teeth. Every dragon scale on her body released terrifying steam as if ablaze. Cradling the wooden box holding the medicine, she leapt up furiously, dashing toward the sky above.
"Trying to leave..."
Valentina and Raphaela couldn't secure a clear look at their surroundings, but Taurus could. As soon as he looked up, he saw Raphaela dashing upwards. He consequently discarded the captured Valentina, preparing to charge up as well, yet the Valentina behind him fiercely thrust her sword into him, aiming to buy time.
Yet the crystalline shell that was effortlessly sliced apart by Xuan Can actually snapped Valentina's sword immediately upon impact. A cloud of blood mist burst from the web between her thumb and forefinger, making her cry out in pain, her whole person uncontrollably plummeting downwards.
"Squelch!"
"Rapha...ela..."
Covered in blood, Valentina reached out upwards, yet still failed to stop Taurus from approaching Raphaela. Holding her breath, she could only watch helplessly amidst an all-encompassing golden light as she plunged downwards.
What about Raphaela?
Leaping upwards, traversing through the golden light enveloping this place, she rapidly approached her destination with everything she had.
Finally, amid her furious dash, as the distance from below grew continually further, the golden light obscuring her vision finally started becoming hazy, allowing her to progressively perceive the scene above.
The crimson hue of the Spirit World around her was already clearly visible. This proved she was getting progressively closer to the Crevice, yet exactly how close remained unclear... until finally, her eyes recovered, allowing her to gaze upward. Her emerald eyes naturally contracted slightly before fixing dumbfounded in place.
Because she horrifically discovered the entrance to the Crevice laid yet a hundred meters from her, while right now her upward sprint leaping hundreds of meters was already out of momentum, initiating her gravitational fall downward.
"No no no no..."
More chillingly, the heavily injured Taurus behind had already drawn near her, those countless outstretched tentacles about to seize her.
"Slap!"
The second a tentacle brushed against Raphaela's tail, Raphaela felt on the precipice of despair.
Valentina had already flown to her limits. Raphaela pulled everything together to rocket towards the sky yet remaining hundreds of meters short—unable to deliver this medicine?
And now, Taurus had seized her.
Everything had...
"Crack crack crack!!"
But precisely when Taurus had already coiled more tentacles round Raphaela's tail preparing to pull her down, consecutive crisp resonating sounds simultaneously shocked Raphaela and Taurus in presence completely stiff.
Recovering, Taurus noticed his bottom half had turned to stone at some point. The petrification arduously drove its way through his Demigod frame. Though under regular circumstances it certainly possessed no effect on him—even generating disdain for such means—what time was it now?
It was now when heavily afflicted with injury he brought everything he had to halt Raphaela advancing to the Crevice!
Just what was this...
This was...
Raphaela too blanked out slightly, recognizing the source of this force.
The following second, a phantom radiating angelic light effortlessly penetrated an expanse of stark whiteness completely unobservable by any other, furiously impacting shattering the lower half of Taurus instantly while simultaneously seizing out Raphaela's hand violently dragging it upwards consecutively.
Raphaela widened her emerald eyes. Watching the angelic phantom presented before her, she spoke in disbelief,
"Elizabeth, you..."
Yet the nearby angelic phantom remained utterly devoid of speech; throwing garbage style, she violently shoved her directly into the Crevice entrance above.
Shoved by that monumental power, Raphaela surged into a Crevice brimming with intangible bubbles, yet her eyes continued dwelling locked securely upon the expressionless Pandora phantom bathing within an expansive golden wave...
The Pandora phantom didn't even care to look at her back, only maintaining silence an instant further prior to shifting turning her head, glaring down that desperately chasing Taurus yet.
"Rumble!!"
The intersection of such energies rippled tremendous shockwave impacts across the Crevice threshold. Returning to her senses following the power clash, Raphaela felt she harbored significantly weightier matter required addressing.
Turning her head, grasping onto the medicine box tightly within the Crevice, she vociferously shrieked,
"Fisher! Where are you guys?!"
"...Who?"
Raphaela precipitously gathered a female voice's retort. Panting, hugging the medicine box tight, she rapidly glanced there to glimpse at the high region of the Crevice, atop a cluster of dense bubbles, an Elf girl saturated in blood, staring down bearing a terribly nasty complexion. Recognizing Raphaela, the expression akin to confronting a dreaded enemy dissipated,
"Oh, it's you..."
"What about Fisher? How's Fisher doing?!"
Leaping upwards over the platform, Raphaela caught a glimpse of Aris's backside, her full head of golden hair wholly bound scattered with knottings radiating golden lights.
Tao Gong's expression laid extremely solemn, she glanced at the Fisher reposing across Aris's embrace enveloped in blood and corrupted by a bizarre force declaring,
"Not too optimistic... We all previously lost consciousness, so we have zero ideas precisely how he overcome those avatars of three deities. Only awaking... did we find him still conscious, claiming needing settling further troubles residing underneath... Yet staggering two paces, he essentially crumpled... Absent the Transferred Person sustaining his thread of life, presumably he'd have perished a moment back."
Experiencing cardiac arrest abruptly, Raphaela hastily dashed beside Aris anxiously inspecting Fisher's condition, immediately shifting glancing over the pale-faced Aris allegedly manipulating Fisher's destiny expressing utmost sincerity,
"Thanks... much... thank you... for rescuing him... else... my child in my womb... Thank you..."
"I'm at my final breaking point... need determining a solution dispelling the chaos engulfing him entirely."
Aris bit her teeth, stating as such, while Raphaela hastily yanked out the medicine case atop her chest popping apart the casing exhibiting a batch of pasting dark matter sitting snug within.
Lying there was a phrase penned leveraging Dragon Court dialect, Nari script and Northern tongue conjointly signifying,
"Consume orally."
Raphaela hastily scooped up that pile of material, securely opening up Fisher's oral cavity placing it.
"Gulp..."
Observing the medicinal property sliding stomach-ward, Raphaela also cast tensely toward his sleep-inducing face.
"Does it... serve any purpose?"
"Hold firmly, remain patient, small fry."
Raphaela glimpsed toward the alongside Tao Gong, surprisingly finding her tiny pairs of hands tightly locked against one another rotating her thumbs concurrently displaying remarkable signs of agitation.
But simply the impending instance after, an undulating motion appeared down Fisher's throat while simultaneously springing his jet-black irises completely wide open.