With a sickening squelch, the God of the Prairie froze. A dark crack, formed of shadow power, spread from her chest, widening rapidly as the God of Shadows' Divine Power relentlessly eroded her own. Her beautiful, holy eyes dulled, losing all their luster.
Had she been given enough time to react, to call upon her
divine authority
and
Divine Power
, and activate her Iridescent-Level abilities, her life force would surely have been stronger than that of most low Divine Power deities.
After all, the prairie is tied to the essence of life. But the God of Shadows hadn't given her that time. With one strike from Shadow Annihilation, he crushed all her hopes, bypassing her defenses and wiping out the majority of her life force in an instant.
Her life force dropped below even 0%, triggering the second trait of Shadow Annihilation—the forced execution by the power of the Shadow Realm!
"N-no... it's... impossible..." she stammered, her voice filled with the despair of final moments. Then, her body dissolved into countless points of light, her divine form shattering, her soul obliterated by the Shadow Realm's annihilating power.
"Hahaha! Invaders, this is your fate! Even gods will fall to our might!" the God of Shadows laughed, triumphant. The plan had succeeded flawlessly. With the God of the Prairie dead, how could the remaining four deities possibly withstand the combined assault of the five gods from Ashen?
The only disappointment was that, upon her fall, no Divine Power remained, and her
divine authority
had shattered into nothing. The God of Shadows couldn't help but feel some regret.
But there was no helping it; to ensure his plan's success, he had unleashed his full strength, making the Shadow Realm's destructive power so intense that it had obliterated every last trace of the God of the Prairie.
Not that it mattered. The loss of one deity's yield was insignificant compared to the victory now assured. Once Orichalcum was crushed, the rewards would far exceed the value of a single god!
"Such a waste, though..."
Watching all this unfold through his map module, Sterl shook his head, a hint of regret in his eyes.
Such a waste indeed! The God of the Prairie's beauty, grace, and youthful vitality matched that of Gloria. She had a unique aura of freshness and life, like a succulent blade of green grass—luscious, radiant, and full of vitality.
As a deity, the God of the Prairie possessed formidable power. Her Healing and Blessing Power would have been invaluable if refined as a deputy star or controlled through the Blood of the Ancient One. Sterl found himself almost regretting not intervening directly against Ashen.
Of course, it was merely a fleeting sense of regret; his actions, as always, were governed by the bigger picture.
He also took note of the Shadow Annihilation ability of the God of Shadows. Observing it through his map module and activating Star Insight, he had witnessed its raw power firsthand. Against deities of low Divine Power, it was a perfect hunting technique.
At their lead was another double-divine authority deity—the God of Painting and Swordsmanship!
With these four gods joining forces with the God of Shadows, a total of five deities now concentrated their power, unleashing a massive force toward the God of Thunder and Courage, reversing the entire situation.
And not only that: behind these five gods, a vast army of demigods, legends, and powerful third-class warriors advanced in a tightly formed battle array. United in formation, they marched forward with overwhelming force, pressing down upon the Orichalcum forces.
"This... how can this be possible?!"
"How did five deities manage to infiltrate? And such a vast army of demigods and legendary warriors? How did they avoid detection by the capital's formation? And how did they conceal their Divine Power?!"
The God of Thunder and Courage was stunned.
This was Orichalcum's staging ground, practically its core territory. Just beyond lay the royal capital itself! And now, somehow, the enemy had managed to infiltrate this deep without anyone noticing. An ominous feeling gripped his heart.
If he put himself in their place, with such a power to shield divine senses, he would certainly not limit himself to attacking only the Eastern War Preparedness Zone. Surely, the other staging grounds would also be under siege, and if those attacks succeeded, they could launch a massive offensive and overrun the capital in one decisive strike!
The realization hit him like a blow—could it be that Orichalcum had already lost this battle?
"Hahaha! Foolish invaders, you will become nothing more than dust in history! With your capital and people, you will sink forever into the abyss, consigned to oblivion!"
The God of Painting and Swordsmanship laughed, his gaze turning icy and fierce.
"Kneel before me! Submit, accept the mark of servitude, and surrender a fragment of your Fire of the Divine Soul, and I might grant you a chance to survive!"
The four Orichalcum deities wore expressions of utter horror and disbelief.
On Ashen's side, each god felt a thrill of satisfaction. They had endured three years of war, three years of humiliation and frustration under Orichalcum's superior strength. Now, at last, they could unleash their pent-up anger!
Their plan was to enslave Orichalcum's gods and demigods, to subjugate these invaders completely. They would force the goddesses of Orichalcum to kneel, to lick their feet, to face utter degradation. They would take pleasure in breaking every last vestige of pride from these divine beings.
As a world's fusion completed, the gods had found that their divinity diminished while their human emotions resurfaced with heightened intensity. Even as deities, primal desires surged within them, and the basest of impulses—greed, wrath, lust—multiplied, dark and unchecked.
"No! Never! Orichalcum will never be defeated!"
"Submit to you? Impossible!"
The God of Thunder and Courage roared in fury. His Courage Law erupted, spreading a wave of pure bravery and wrath across Orichalcum's forces, dispelling all fear and doubt in an instant.
Their hearts surged with courage, burning with anger.
They would fight to the last breath to protect their homeland, to defend the place they called their own.
...