"Still resisting? It seems your Master is no ordinary figure~"
To withstand such a powerful mental intrusion was no longer a matter of sheer willpower—it was a form of divine spiritual protection. Tanosi intensified the input of her mana. In thirty seconds, she would have complete control over his body.
"Monster... who understands... neither love... nor duty... pathetic...!"
Despite being pushed to the brink, Bernidas's eyes held only pity. Not for his own fate, but a deep, heartfelt sorrow for the beast before him wearing a human skin. This only served to irritate Tanosi further.
"It seems I'll have to use more force. Abyssal Evil—?"
**BOOM!**
Suddenly, a laser blast erupted from a corner. Bernidas's head was instantly vaporized into dust.
And then...
**BANG-BANG-BANG—!**
Almost simultaneously, ten laser shots fired, shattering ten of the metallic spheres on the spot. Then, with a resounding **THUD**, the metallic sphere that had fired the lasers self-destructed.
"!"
The sudden mutation left Tanosi stunned for a few seconds. That was... one of the spheres she had just contaminated with her blood! This demonic blood possessed a potent hallucinogenic effect—how did it break free? Was it a divine art similar to the one inside the Winged One?
"Cunning little rats. And... you're late!"
As soon as Tanosi spoke, a figure landed heavily on the ground. "To think a mere slave wouldn't rush to protect her Master immediately. What if I had been assassinated?"
Faced with Tanosi's interrogation, Qing Lan remained unfazed. She brushed the dust off her clothes and said nonchalantly, "Even if a hundred of those toys came at once, they wouldn't be a match for you!"
Having fought alongside her for so long, Qing Lan knew all too well that her Master hadn't used even a fraction of her true power. That long delay just now was purely for information gathering.
"How is things on his end?"
"Hmph, he's my man after all. He can handle this much!" Qing Lan lifted her chin proudly.
Tanosi rolled her eyes. Ignoring the dragon girl, she manipulated a tentacle from her back to pick up one of the scattered pieces of paper. Upon seeing it, she froze.
Parchment made from the hide of a Saber-Horned White Ram, and golden ink made from the blood of a Solar Falcon mixed with Hero-Spirit Fruit... This was the standard configuration for high-ranking God-clans to create **God-tier Scrolls**. Indeed, the Master behind those metallic spheres was a big deal.
Then, she read the Divine Script written upon it.
"...Remember to drink plenty of water?"
Tanosi was utterly dumbfounded. She quickly checked another piece of parchment. It, too, contained strange content.
"Go to sleep on time; don't stay up late...?"
Tanosi was speechless. What nonsensical content. To use such top-tier materials to craft scrolls with mana levels comparable to a nuclear reactor, only to write such mundane phrases?
*This God definitely has water in their brain!* Tanosi thought with certainty as she tucked the scrolls into the Water God's Seal.
"Now then... it's time to deal with these rats who dared to intrude upon a God's domain!" Tanosi looked toward the distance—toward the dilapidated castle glowing with firelight.
***
Tang Ping leaped high, clearing a fallen, massive tree trunk. Though he nearly slipped upon landing, it didn't matter; no one was hindering him now. He had plenty of time to make tracks.
With the blessing of **Jellyfish Godspeed**, Tang Ping's running speed easily surpassed any Olympic champion. He could cover several hundred meters in just two or three minutes. But his expression held no joy—only frustration.
To be honest, he would rather have died on the battlefield than hold Tanosi back.
*Dammit! Why must she bear the burden of my mistakes? If I hadn't squandered the Evil God's power, she would have won long ago. She wouldn't have had to suffer like that!*
The thought of Tanosi's "injuries" made his chest ache with a sharp, stabbing pain. Before he knew it, Tang Ping reached the castle. He didn't stop, continuing his dash forward. He didn't know where this castle had come from or who was inside, but that wasn't the point. He had to find a safe room and hide until Tanosi came for him. That was the most logical move. He couldn't be a burden again!
Just as Tang Ping crossed a towering wall, he saw a shocking sight. On a nearby patch of grass, a person in a grey cloak was sprawled on the ground, seemingly having fallen. Standing over her was a tall soldier in black armor, raising a longsword as if to strike.
Before Tang Ping's brain could even process the scene, his hand moved automatically.
"**Jellyfish Slash!**"
The azure arc of energy whistled through the air, instantly bisecting the black-armored soldier. The cloaked figure was stunned. She propped herself up, and by the faint moonlight, she saw his face clearly.
Tang Ping didn't stop. His eyes only caught a glimpse of a glowing oil lamp and two strands of blonde hair peeking out from a hood. Then, he charged straight into the main building.
By now, Tang Ping was already regretting it. That single strike had consumed the very last of his strength. The glow of **Jellyfish Godspeed** began to fade; he could no longer cast any divine arts. For the rest of the way, he had to rely on his mundane, mortal body. Even a simple dagger could take his life now. He had to hide!
Tang Ping burst through the hall and into a wide courtyard, only to collide head-on with a burly, black-haired man. Both tumbled to the ground. The brute was wearing old, blood-stained leather armor and reeked of a heavy, nauseating stench of alcohol.
He pushed the brute aside and stood up on trembling legs. The fallen man glanced at Tang Ping's strange attire and immediately pointed a finger, shouting loudly in a bizarre tongue. It wasn't a language belonging to any nation on Earth, yet Tang Ping felt as though he had heard it somewhere before.
But there was no time to think. The man seemed to be calling for reinforcements; he had to move!
Only now did he take in the full chaos of the scene. In the wide courtyard—from the central fountain to the trees lining the walls—people were locked in a desperate struggle. Some clashed with longswords, while others held staves, firing magical projectiles at one another.
The men wore mismatched sets of armor, their faces twisted with murderous intent. In contrast, the women were clad in simple white robes or dresses, their expressions filled with terror as they frantically deployed defensive spells. Tang Ping realized instantly: this was a battle between two opposing factions.
"?!"
*What on Earth is happening here?*
*Clack-clack-clack!*
A heavy sound of rhythmic footsteps echoed. Tang Ping turned to see groups of leather-armored soldiers emerging from both sides. Curved sabers in hand and faces contorted in grins, they looked ready to carve him up. He was cornered!
"Dammit!!!" Tang Ping gritted his teeth. If he could still use his divine arts, these small fry would be nothing! But now, he was powerless...
"Get down!"
A voice came from above. It was Monica. Without a second thought, Tang Ping clasped his hands over his head and crouched on the ground. A thought flickered through his mind: *Wait, didn't Aetheris get smashed during the fight with the metallic sphere? How can I still hear Monica?*
The objects falling from the sky provided the answer a second later.
**BOOM-BOOM-BOOM—!**
Seven massive missiles—or rather, pods—slammed down from the sky, kicking up clouds of dust and cracking the earth into spiderweb patterns. Tang Ping, positioned at the very center, was left untouched, safely shielded by their landing positions.
*Hiss—!*
The doors of the pods hissed open. An emerald radiance illuminated the dim castle as billows of white steam surged out. Seven figures stepped forth.
The entire battlefield froze. Combatants on both sides stopped mid-swing, their gazes fixed on the center of the courtyard.
"So these are the results of Monica's secret experiments in the shipyard..." Tang Ping whispered to himself.
Seven women stepped out of the pods simultaneously, their boots hitting the dirt with the synchronized precision of a machine. Their builds varied—some curvaceous, some slender—but they shared a common uniform: deep-blue high-cut bodysuits, matte-white exoskeleton armor on their chests and limbs, and VR-style visors covering their eyes.
*Zip!*
Their silhouettes blurred. In the next heartbeat—
**Whirrr—!**
The leather-armored soldiers who had surrounded Tang Ping suddenly collapsed... or rather, they fell apart into countless cauterized pieces. A heavy smell of ozone and burnt flesh filled the air, yet not a single drop of blood was spilled.
It wasn't until the women simultaneously retracted their beam sabers and shifted into a defensive formation that the crowd realized what had happened.
*They... just eliminated twenty-seven soldiers in an instant?*
The male soldiers no longer cared about their previous opponents. They abandoned their skirmishes and began to congregate toward the center, prioritizing the elimination of these newcomers. Meanwhile, the women in white let out sighs of relief. Though they didn't know who these people were, the enemy's reaction made it clear: these warriors were on their side.
*The Brawler Empire is saved!*
"Aunt Ilus!" A cloaked girl suddenly appeared from a corner, running toward a priestess who had been fighting nearby.
The priestess, Ilus, looked at her with delighted surprise. "Jena! Thank goodness you're safe!"
The two embraced tightly. Jena pulled back and removed her hood, allowing a cascade of sandy-gold hair to spill out, shimmering under the moonlight.
"Yes, I was cornered by a soldier from the Kubrick Kingdom, but luckily someone passing by saved me... Who are they? Our reinforcements?" Jena pointed toward Tang Ping's group.
Ilus shook her head. "I don't know! But they did take down several enemy soldiers. I don't think they're enemies. Anyway... let's join forces with them and wipe out the Six-Nation Alliance!"
***
On the other side, the beauties in bodysuits had formed a hexagonal perimeter, locking Tang Ping safely behind them. The seventh woman stood directly by his side as a personal guard.
"Monica, I'm glad you came to save me, but isn't seven a bit... few?" Tang Ping asked nervously. Looking at the dark sea of muscular warriors ahead and then at the seven "slender" women plus one powerless scribe... the odds looked terrible from any angle.
"...I seem to recall not long ago, you were shouting in the shipyard that 'human experimentation is inhumane' and that you 'would never participate in something so shameful!'" Monica's voice crackled from the VR headset of the woman closest to Tang Ping.
"What? Changed your mind now? Typical man! Your mouth says no, but your body is honest! Seven people aren't enough to satisfy you anymore? Just how high is your libido?"
"..."
Lines of frustration appeared on Tang Ping's forehead. Even though Monica wasn't human, she was more of a "woman" than actual women in the strangest ways.
"Now is not the time for dirty jokes! Think of something!" he hissed, glancing around as the circle of soldiers grew tighter.
Several men in robes had already condensed orbs of magical light the size of tires. Tang Ping knew that the moment they found an opening, they would fire without hesitation. He had to do something, or they were all going to be wiped out!
"Don't worry. She's here anyway." Monica's voice echoed.
"What?"
**BOOM!**
A figure plummeted from the sky like a ballistic missile. The four soldiers beneath her feet were instantly pulverized into a spray of fresh crimson meat. A wave of divine pressure so suffocating it felt physical erupted, shattering every pane of glass in the castle simultaneously.
Every living being within a one-kilometer radius—excluding Tang Ping and the seven guardians—instantly lost consciousness.
The Great Evil God, Tanosi, flicked her sleeves, shaking off the bloodstains as if they were mere dust. She didn't even spare a glance at the crowd. "Kill them all," she commanded indifferently.
As soon as she spoke, the seven female guardians raised their beam sabers.
*VROOOOOM—!*
A piercing hum filled the air. High-frequency plasma energy began to condense. The white blades, originally the width of fluorescent tubes, visibly expanded until they were five or six times their original size, forming ultimate weapons three meters long. Their edges shimmered with a blinding pale-purple radiance, the intense heat warping the surrounding air. Debris rose silently from the ground, suspended by the powerful electromagnetic force.
Tang Ping had no doubt that a single swing of these giant blades could cleave an aircraft carrier. So, he acted.
"WAIT!"
An azure barrier unfolded instantly, shielding the several women in white robes. It was the absolute last shred of power remaining in his body. Even though the shield was as thin as a cicada's wing—likely to shatter with a single poke—he used it anyway.
"?"
The sight of that azure glow gave Tanosi pause. She raised a hand, halting her subordinates, and looked thoughtfully at the Jellyfish Barrier. The seven giant blades stopped mid-air; the high-pitched humming made Tang Ping break out in a cold sweat.
"Um... I have a better idea. Can we not kill them yet?" Tang Ping stood in front of the cloaked girl, pleading desperately.
He was lying. He had no idea; he had simply rushed out on impulse.
As Tang Ping racked his brain for a way out of this deadlock, Tanosi asked a strange question. "Why is it blue?"
"Huh?" Tang Ping's mind went blank. He didn't understand the relevance of the question.
"Your contract is unique among all my kin. The purity of the divine power flowing into your body should be 100%. Normally, it should be green, just like mine."
Tanosi held out her right hand, and a Jellyfish Barrier instantly appeared in her palm. But unlike Tang Ping's, her shield was emerald green. Tang Ping was just as stunned. *How should I know why the colors are different? Does anyone go to a gas station and worry about the color of the fuel?*
"In that final battle... what did you see?" The silver-haired Goddess smiled. Her deep purple eyes seemed to pierce through Tang Ping's facade, reaching the very depths of his soul.
Tang Ping could only answer truthfully, though he barely understood his own words. "...A vast, boundless azure. And... a golden light at the end of it."
At the moment the slash collided with the comet, that was indeed what he had seen.
"Heh~" Tanosi looked intrigued. She began to circle Tang Ping, studying him as if he were an extinct mammoth.
"You...!" Tanosi's expression froze, as if she had heard something. Tang Ping was confused, assuming Monica was reporting battle results.
"You deal with them then," Tanosi said, turning to walk away. "Until I issue further instructions, they may remain alive."
She left Tang Ping alone, facing a courtyard full of unconscious strangers.
***
Outside the city, in an open meadow, the green-haired Dragon Princess stood waiting.
"You said there was something important?" Tanosi flickered into existence behind Qing Lan like a ghost.
Qing Lan didn't flinch. She pulled a black stone tablet from the Water God's Seal and handed it over. "A message from the World Will. It seems... It wants to negotiate with you."
"Hmph! It only thinks of negotiation after I've slaughtered the stray dogs it sent? Shameless!" Tanosi's face was full of disdain.
She took the black tablet, stroking its smooth, seamless surface. The tablet was about the size of a thirteen-inch tablet, surprisingly light. It was pitch black, looking like obsidian but without a single impurity. She had never seen such a material; it was likely unique to this planet.
Tanosi slowly injected her divine power. The tablet activated, and three uniquely shaped ancient characters lit up on its surface. This was Divine Script—a language only gods could comprehend.
Tanosi found herself reading them aloud.
"**The Investiture of the Gods (Fengshen Bang)?**"