Chapter 421: A Decisive Victory — The Battle Ends
Crack!
With a sharp, crisp sound, the All-Black Necrosword shattered under the ferocious assault of the four angels.
The wild, violent energy contained within the sword exploded, tearing through the void and scattering into countless fragments that were swept into the chaotic currents of space-time.
"No—!"
The Symbiote God, Knull, let out a maddened roar.
Without the All-Black Necrosword at his side, his combat power was immediately halved. He had no hope of withstanding the four angels now—especially with the Archangel of Wisdom continuously casting holy spells to bind him.
To all lifeforms not attuned to negative energy, holy magic provided enhancements and blessings.
But for Knull, it felt like a vicious curse.
Boom!
He fired a beam of dark energy with a wave of his hand.
Unfortunately, the eighteen pairs of radiant wings on the angels' backs served as near-absolute defense, effortlessly blocking the terrifying energy blast.
After a brief stalemate, a gleaming sword wreathed in sacred flames pierced straight through his body.
Immediately after, the opposing element—brilliant light—flooded into him.
In a sudden burst, Knull's body exploded.
Wisps of pitch-black mist drifted through the void.
"Grand Purification Spell."
The Archangel of Wisdom raised their staff, radiating divine light. Pure white flames surged forth, incinerating the black mist completely.
Clearly, that mist was what remained of Knull's physical form.
He possessed an undying trait and could regenerate over countless eons.
However, with injuries this severe—reduced to mere atomic residue—it would likely take billions of years to recover.
For now, at least, the threat was eliminated.
As for wiping him out completely, Allen couldn't do that.
After all, unless the target he'd anchored himself to was destroyed as well, Knull would inevitably resurrect.
"So weak. I didn't even have to lift a finger."
Watching the fall of the Symbiote God, Allen finally stepped out of his cocoon of light.
He looked into the void.
It was where the Spirit of Existence was trapped.
Allen crept closer, eyeing the Spirit of Existence up and down, sensing a purer form of life energy—similar to holy light, but distinct.
Clearly, the Spirit of Existence's power was more focused on healing and resurrection.
Inside the glowing egg, a humanoid figure opened its pure-white eyes, seemingly casting a pleading look.
"Hey kid, what are you staring at?" Allen asked curiously.
He reached out and touched a warm, soft membrane.
"I'll help deliver you."
With a powerful yank, he forcibly dragged the Spirit of Existence out of the dimensional fissure.
The moment it descended into the mortal realm, it dissolved into rays of divine light.
In the next instant, the light scattered over the heroes still struggling in fierce battle.
A change followed: their decayed bodies were instantly restored to their living forms, thanks to the Spirit of Existence.
Simultaneously, the black lantern rings on their fingers turned white.
The White Lanterns had descended.
The Black Lanterns faded.
"It's time to fight back."
"Everything should return to how it was."
"I'm going to bring back my family."
"…"
Though hastily assembled, the White Lantern Corps was strong enough to suppress the Black Lanterns and save the countless innocent lives lost.
They even managed to revive the heroes who had fallen in the previous crisis.
"Damn it! My plan has failed again!"
Black Death Emperor roared in fury, retreating his delaying Eighteenth-Level Undeads and transforming into a streak of black light as he fled back to the Dead Star.
He had anticipated the Spirit of Existence would intervene, but based on previous experiences, it shouldn't have appeared so early.
In truth, the Spirit of Existence only descends when the collective will of all sentient beings reaches a critical threshold.
This time, Black Death Emperor's scheme was nearly flawless—his closest brush with success yet.
But unfortunately, an unpredictable wild card appeared mid-battle and freed the Spirit of Existence prematurely, ruining everything.
Simply put, if not for Allen, he would have succeeded.
If Black Death Emperor repeated the process across other universes, he would undoubtedly ascend to Origin Level.
"Oi! Don't leave!"
At that moment, Allen suddenly folded his arms across his chest, trying to prevent the universal force from departing.
Having completed its mission, the power of the universe once again vanished like a heartless player pulling up his pants and pretending nothing happened.
A glowing cross-shaped star appeared above Allen's head—then vanished into the vast cosmos.
"Every time we finish, it just leaves me—doesn't even give me a moment of tenderness. So cold-hearted…"
Allen slumped in the void, looking emotionally devastated.
Without the blessing of cosmic power, the five angels slowly began to lose their clarity of mind. They stared longingly into the stars, as if trying to take one last look at the world before their consciousness faded.
Their bodies started dissolving into radiant feathers.
In their final moments, the five angels smiled at Allen, as if bidding him farewell.
"Hmm… Why does my heart ache a little?"
Lying on his side, Allen waved at the angels, sentimentally muttering, "I really am a boy who values emotions."
Just before they disappeared completely, the angels collectively raised their middle fingers at Allen.
"…"
Allen was left speechless.
At that moment, the unwilling-to-admit-defeat Black Death Emperor stood before the central power battery.
"I didn't lose. Even the Spirit of Existence was part of my calculations."
"Sure, I didn't obtain an entire universe's emotional energy… but eradicating future threats is just as worthwhile."
"So let my true body descend."
Indeed, Black Death Emperor had invaded mortal dimensions multiple times—albeit across other multiverses. Each time, the Spirit of Existence had intervened at the critical moment.
So, this time, he had prepared a contingency plan specifically for such an outcome.
He unleashed a stream of black light from his scythe into the central battery's Black Lantern furnace.
Buzz!
Suddenly, a black light ring expanded outward, forming a symbol at its core.
A dimensional descent magic circle.
Black Death Emperor had altered the battery's programming long ago—one of which was to allow his true form to descend upon complete energy depletion.
A terrifying aura began to leak from the formation.
Every force fighting in space instinctively turned toward the source.
At the center of the black ring, a scythe blade slowly rose—identical to the one wielded by Black Death Emperor.
"He's coming…"
Fear gripped the faces of the White Lantern heroes.
A clone wouldn't have been much concern. But if his true body arrived, even the Spirit of Existence might flee.
Soon, a withered skull slowly emerged from the magic circle.
Smack!
Out of nowhere, Allen suddenly appeared and slapped it hard with his Supreme Slippers™.
Black Death Emperor stared blankly at him.
There was something vaguely familiar about this man… but he couldn't quite place it.
"You dare…!"
Smack smack!!
Two more slaps.
Grinning smugly, Allen asked, "Hey, old man, didn't you try to invade this dimension once before? Got kicked back home by the Cyclops, didn't you?"
"It's you… I remember your energy now."
Black Death Emperor suddenly recalled that time—his invasion had been thwarted by local powers.
Through the dimensional barrier, he had sensed several capable opponents.
One of them had been Allen.
That was during Allen's time as a mage in another timeline.
Back then, Allen wasn't strong enough to fight dimension lords directly, but later he met the Ancient One and learned of many hidden secrets in the main timeline.
Smack smack smack…
The silver-flashing Supreme Slippers™ danced wildly in Allen's hands, mercilessly slapping Black Death Emperor across the face.
Unfortunately, because the descent hadn't completed, only part of his true body had emerged, leaving him weakened.
"I'll torment you forever… rip your soul out and roast it in a soul lantern…"
Black Death Emperor raged helplessly as the slaps continued.
Everyone else was frozen in horror.
Big bro… please stop.
You might be fine, but we'll all be screwed.
Each slap landed not just on the villain—but on their hearts.
This level of humiliation, especially in front of so many witnesses, guaranteed that Black Death Emperor would never let them go.
"Finish the job and run—so satisfying!"
Whoosh!
Allen's figure vanished from space in an instant.
The Spectrum Corps, White Lanterns, and Black Lanterns were left dumbstruck.
He got to have his fun.
They were going to take the heat.
Black Death Emperor would undoubtedly vent his rage on them.
And as they tried to flee, countless Black Lantern zombies sealed off space, refusing to let anyone escape.
Though the White Lanterns could overwhelm them in strength, the tide of self-sacrificing undead made it impossible to carve a clear path.
Boom!
Just then, the laws of the mortal realm strained under the pressure of Black Death Emperor's true body, creating violent void currents and making escape even harder.
"The Spirit of Existence is about to leave the mortal realm…"
The White Lanterns could feel it. Their power source—the Spirit of Existence—was growing agitated and restless, ready to abandon this dimension at any moment.
Though bound to defend against Black Lantern invasions, it still feared death.
"End everything. Death is eternal."
Black Death Emperor's hundred-meter-tall body raised the scythe to harvest all life present.
The divine weapon in his hand held the power of death itself, nourished over countless eons by his dark might—far beyond the All-Black Necrosword.
As the scythe, now glowing with blinding black light, swung downward—
A massive portal formed in the sky.
A surging presence spilled forth, causing Black Death Emperor to pause mid-swing.
ROAR…!
A dragon's roar tore through the entire universe.
Black Death Emperor's face darkened. He muttered, "What being is this…?"
Indeed, he sensed it—the creature on the other side of the portal was no weaker than he was.
The next instant, a colossal dragon head emerged.
"Chaotic energy!"
An ancient dragon, never before seen, passed through the portal—its size rivaling Black Death Emperor's own, radiating a primal, untamed aura.
"A dragon?"
"This is a divine being… even the space around it is collapsing with every step."
"How can such a powerful creature exist? It makes no sense!"
"…"
The Lantern leaders, well-versed in the universe's secrets, knew full well—beings on this level should have transcended the mortal realm. Their presence could bring unimaginable catastrophe.
Indeed, every movement of the Ancestral Chaos Dragon carried destruction. If it lay dormant on a planet, even the resulting spatial collapse would reduce the planet to rubble.
BOOM!
As the Ancestral Chaos Dragon crossed through the portal, it charged headlong into battle.
In the blink of an eye, the Dead Star shattered into countless meteoric fragments.
Two forces beyond the mortal plane clashed, turning the surrounding region into a storm of chaotic space-time.
"Yohooo… I'm back."
Allen disabled his invisibility, eyes fixed on the battlefield.
Dragon roars, furious bellows, chaos and death energies entwined—this was the picture of cosmic apocalypse.
To put it simply, if the Ancestral Chaos Dragon hadn't been carefully controlling the scope of the fight, the expanding battlefield would've caused a chain reaction of collapsing space, eventually destroying the entire universe.
"Sir, may I ask—is that your ally who came to aid us?" Bruce, now in his White Lantern form, asked urgently.
With the Ancestral Chaos Dragon holding the battlefield in check, the entity of will seemed to grow quiet, adopting a watchful stance.
Most likely, it would flee the moment the tide turned against it.
"Wang Cai is my pet. I tell it who to bite, and it bites," Allen said with a cocky swagger.
"…"
Everyone who heard this naturally assumed he was talking nonsense—no one believed him. A creature this terrifying obeying a human? If anything, Allen was more likely its foot-washing servant.
The battlefield's uncontrollable expansion was at least progressing slowly.
The Lantern Corps continued to shift their positions farther back, worried about getting caught in the crossfire.
"I'm free!"
The central battery maintaining the magic array could no longer supply energy. With a sudden explosion, the Lantern Furnace collapsed, and the Anti-Monitor, once imprisoned within, seized the chance to escape.
His elation didn't even last three seconds before two overwhelming auras made his expression freeze.
Fortunately, the aura of the Black Death Emperor was clearly weakening.
Not because he had been defeated, but due to the lack of support from the magical formation—he was slipping away from the mortal realm and returning to the multidimensional space above it.
The Ancestral Chaos Dragon faced no such limitation.
Born and raised in the mortal world, it wouldn't be rejected unless it attempted ascension through unnatural means. As long as it didn't forcibly elevate itself, it remained grounded here.
Still, it faced a problem: its power was depleting, and the mortal world didn't contain the high-level elemental energies it needed to recover. Unless it descended into a higher-level world, where not only would its endurance improve, but its combat power would receive a significant boost.
The Anti-Monitor looked at the Ancestral Chaos Dragon and quickly softened his tone. "Sir, we are not enemies. In fact, we should be allies. My grudge with the Black Death Emperor is irreconcilable."
Indeed, the Black Death Emperor had schemed against him, turning him into the central battery's core. Such a hatred couldn't be forgiven.
Moreover, before descending into the mortal world, the Anti-Monitor had likely burned through most of his power just to adapt to this plane.
At full strength, he might not have been weaker than the Black Death Emperor.
The Ancestral Chaos Dragon didn't even spare him a glance and instead moved toward Allen.
Seeing this, the Anti-Monitor let out a breath of relief, letting his body disintegrate and reform within his own multidimensional domain.
"Well done. I'll find you a new home," Allen said, having already pieced things together.
The Ancestral Chaos Dragon wasn't incapable of killing the Black Death Emperor—it was simply constrained by the mortal realm. Without the blessing of higher-dimensional energy, it couldn't unleash its full power.
And of course, leaving the undead army in the mortal world wasn't a good idea either. Sooner or later, it would bring disaster.
Suddenly, a wicked glint flashed in Allen's eyes. He grinned and said, "Actually… I just thought of the perfect place."