"Get out of the way!"
Ten gods from the Alliance of the Gods struck out arrogantly, aiming to knock Princess Myra Vance, Prince Rowan Vance, and their elite Myriad-Phenomena Army and Scarlet-Scale Army warriors aside.
Prince Rowan, Princess Myra, and several of their followers had all consumed Divine Shell Fruits. Working together, they barely managed to withstand the attack.
"Oh? You’ve got some skill. But you still don’t have what it takes to stop us!"
As they spoke, killing intent flashed in the eyes of all ten gods. Their fists swept through the air as they attacked together, intent on wiping out Princess Myra, Prince Rowan, and their teams.
Princess Myra and Prince Rowan’s side had fifty-six people, but facing the joint assault of ten gods, they were still outmatched. Even so, they didn’t retreat—instead, they quickly formed two combined attack formations.
"Heavenly Phenomena Strike!"
"Scarlet-Scale Kill!"
A giant snow elephant and a crimson sky-python surged upward, radiating an aura not weaker than the gods themselves, roaring as they crashed into the ten gods.
Boom! Boom!
Violent waves of energy radiated out, accompanied by rising plumes of black mushroom clouds.
When the shockwaves faded, the figures of the ancient snow elephant and crimson sky-python were revealed. They looked battered, but had just barely blocked the joint strike from the ten gods.
"Hmph!"
All ten gods showed looks of dissatisfaction and anger. They couldn’t believe that, even working together, they’d been blocked by a bunch of mortals.
"Again!"
In the next instant, rings of divine light surged up around each of the ten gods.
"Ants like you—die before this god!"
One of them struck first, condensing blood-red divine power into a sword more than thirty meters (about one hundred feet) long, then slashed it heavily at the ancient snow elephant.
At the same time, the other nine gods attacked right behind him.
Each of them condensed their divine power into various weapons, radiating overwhelming divine might as they all attacked the ancient snow elephant and crimson sky-python together.
Faced with an even stronger round of attacks from the ten gods, the ancient snow elephant and crimson sky-python didn’t even think about retreating—they took the hits head-on.
Bang!
The ancient snow elephant burst out in clusters of snowy-white light as it clashed with the divine sword, but was sent flying hundreds of meters. Immediately after, a blade, a spear, and a halberd formed of divine power closed in to kill.
The terrifying aura they gave off made Princess Myra, who was directing the Heavenly Phenomena formation, realize that if she kept resisting, she and her elite warriors would likely be wiped out.
Even so, she still refused to back down.
Aoooo!
The snow elephant roared into the sky, actively charging toward the three weapons forged from divine power.
Things weren’t looking good for the crimson sky-python either—under siege by six divine weapons, it was on the verge of collapse.
Just then—
A sword-light, so fast it was almost impossible to see, flashed past the ten gods. The cruel smiles on their faces froze, and then—each of their bodies split apart at the middle...
Once again, blood rain fell from the sky—heaven and earth mourned together!
Cough, cough, cough!
Not far away, a white-clad young man hovered in midair, sword in hand. His face was deathly pale, almost sickly, and every time he coughed, fresh blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.
The deaths of ten gods were utterly shocking. On the other two battlefields, both sides instinctively paused and turned to look at the white-clad youth standing in the sky.
"Boss, get out of here! Don’t worry about us!"
Drake Liu shouted.
"Husband!"
"Young Master!"
Lynne Ward and Lena Wei shot up into the air, one on each side, supporting Ian Song in midair.
"Didn’t he suffer backlash from his secret art? How can he still fight?"
Whether they were fighting on the battlefield or still hiding in the shadows, all the gods had the same thought.
"Should we keep going or not?"
Some of the gods hesitated.
"What are you afraid of? He’s clearly in terrible shape—his strength is almost burnt out!" one god said confidently.
"Let’s all attack together! Don’t give him any chance! I don’t believe he can kill us all!"
Another god chimed in.
Then, all forty-six gods who’d been hiding in the dark flew out, landing in the surrounding void to form a circle, completely encircling Ian and his group.
"We’re screwed now. This time we’re really done for. Boss, why aren’t you running?" Drake Liu said with a bitter laugh.
From his perspective, Ian was already spent. How could they possibly stand against sixty-one gods?
Ian ignored him. Instead, he slowly swept his gaze over the sixty-one gods around him and said, "I may have suffered backlash from my secret art, but before I die, I can still strike three more times—enough to kill half of you. If you leave now, all grudges between us will be wiped clean. Deal?"
At Ian's words, most of the gods' expressions changed, and a new sense of wariness crept into their hearts.
But someone suddenly shouted, "Everyone, this brat is just bluffing! Don't let him fool us. If we back down again, we'll never wash away this disgrace!"
"Come over here and see if I can kill you or not!"
Ian looked straight at the god who'd spoken.
Hearing this, that god hesitated, his face flickering with uncertainty. "Why should I listen to you?"
Ian curled his lip, eyes flashing with disdain. "Didn't you say I'm just bluffing? To prove your point, shouldn't you come try me? Honestly, you're not wrong—I'm almost burnt out. Maybe you'll really kill me."
"Red Emperor, why don't you give it a shot? Maybe this kid really is just putting on an act!" another god suddenly said, full of schadenfreude.
"Yeah, Red Emperor, you go ahead and try. I think this kid's got nothing left!" another god chimed in, clearly hoping Red Emperor would take the risk first.
"You guys!"
Red Emperor was nearly choked with anger, but at this point, he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.
The next moment, he summoned a divine spear into his hand.
"Die!"
Red Emperor swung the spear like a giant club, smashing it down toward Ian's head.
Swish!
A flash of sword-light split Red Emperor's body clean in two, and the divine spear he’d conjured vanished into smoke and mist.
"Whoa!"
Ian coughed up a mouthful of blood; his face was deathly pale, and he barely had the strength to remain standing in midair. If Lynne Ward and Lena Wei weren’t holding him up, he might have already fallen from the sky.
Cough, cough!
While coughing up blood, Ian looked at the remaining sixty gods and said, "Looks like I overestimated myself. After that strike, I’ve got nothing left. Who wants to come take my life?"
His voice was extremely weak, but there was a trace of sincerity in it too.
But none of the gods dared to move. What if this brat could still attack? Going up now would be suicide.
"What? None of you dare to make a move? If you’re too scared, then just leave!" Ian said again, his face now showing a hint of contempt. Then he sat down cross-legged in midair and popped a pill into his mouth to recover.
For a moment, all the gods’ faces turned extremely ugly.
"What now? Do we keep going or just give up and leave?"
After a long silence, one god finally asked the others, sounding completely torn.