Last time, the Faith Faction had failed. But the ancient war had ended for two reasons: the Truth Faction had risen in time to bolster the Endless Continent's defense, and the twelve Demon Monarchs had ultimately chosen to retreat, wary of being suppressed by the laws of the Endless Continent itself. That second reason mattered. It meant the Demon Monarchs were not invincible on this ground, and everyone who had survived that era knew it.
This time, the math for the Endless Continent was even better. Faith, Truth, and the Castle Faction together. Tens of millions of Gods, more than thirty Supreme God Tier powerhouses, against the twelve Demon Monarchs.
The weakest Demon Monarch was an intermediate-stage Supreme God, while the top three—the First, Second, and Third Demon Monarchs—were at the peak. Formidable, for sure, but not unbeatable, and not on a planet whose laws didn't support them.
"At most half a month." The Gods said to each other, "When the Shrine falls to the Endless Continent and the wall cracks, the Burning Legion will come through. But this time, we'll be ready."
…
On the world chat channel, the reaction was louder and considerably less composed.
The channel erupted the moment the gate appeared, Castle Lords and Rangers chatting between combat actions as they continued their assault on the Light Empire.
'Did the demons come this fast?'
'These projections… each one looks bigger than the Blood Moon. There are twelve of them.'
'You remember the Demon Monarchs' strength? They have three peak Supreme Gods among them!'
'No wonder the Gods of Faith lost. Just these twelve could sweep everything.'
'But that was Ancient Era. Right now, the Great Aetherium alone has two peak Supreme Gods.'
'So do we retreat? Pull back from the Light Empire?'
'Why would we retreat? That's just a projection. The Burning Legion isn't here yet. The Throneveil Shrine is still on its way.'
'We've barely started. Speed up — we want to be Gods before that infamous legion arrives. We need Billions of Gods. That's our target.'
The war in the Light Empire didn't slow. It accelerated. Within hours of the gate's appearance, more than a dozen cities fell to the Castle Faction. Demigod Tier troops that had been rare weeks ago were now everywhere across the battlefield; many had even ascended to Godhood!
Castle Lords who had been grinding toward ascension tipped over the threshold mid-battle, and among all of the Castle Faction, they outpaced Rangers because alongside their own kills, they also had their troops who fed them exp.
Even the girls from the Sisterhood Collective fought with open ruthlessness now. Fear of the battle of planets had burned away whatever restraint remained.
The Castle Faction spread across hundreds of thousands of kilometers of Light Empire territory, flames of war burning west, south, and creeping into the northwest. With every interval, another city fell.
…
In Angel City's square, Haru stood with his head tilted slightly upward, eyes fixed on the space near the Blood Moon. He picked out the twelve projections one by one.
One of them he recognized.
The Fifth Demon Monarch of the Abyss—Temerith. He knew her face from another source: the [Sorrow of Time], the Supreme God Tier artifact he'd taken from the Elf Empress Aurelyss, which had once shown him its former mistress' image through its spiritual intelligence. The beautiful woman in that memory and the Demon Monarch standing in the blood sea were identical.
"Great master."
A voice surfaced in his mind. The phantom of a blood-red magic bow materialized in front of him, the Sorrow of Time, the weapon he'd used to 'kill' Skarion in a single arrow during the war against the Evil Pantheon.
"I feel the wrath of my former mistress."
Haru glanced at the phantom, "Want to go back to her? I can arrange for it."
"No-no, great master, you are my eternal master. Temerith is a minor witch. Her strength isn't even a ten-thousandth of yours. Even the Demon Emperor would only be a corpse if he met you. You will become the ruler of the Endless Continent. Master of the real universe—"
"As long as you know." Haru said, cutting off the flattery.
Temerith had been cultivating for hundreds of thousands of years and was still only a late-stage Supreme Goddess, while Haru had been cultivating for less than two months and had already hit the peak.
The artifact had done the comparison and reached its conclusion: it wanted to follow Haru for the rest of its existence, chase the dream of one day becoming a God Monarch Tier Artifact, and if Haru ever tried to discard it, it would find its way back.
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