623 Balance
[POV: Da Wei]
The projection I had created through Divine Phantasm of Dreams abruptly vanished, severing whatever connection I had to the arena below us.
Pain exploded through my chest.
I looked down and found a spear buried through me. It was the cause of my dream projection suddenly dying on me.
Supreme Heart stood before me.
I had not sensed his approach. Not even for an instant. The realization alone was enough to make me tighten my grip around the shaft of the spear. Divine blood ran down my robes as I clenched my teeth and stared into his eyes.
"Don't let him get away this time, Starshroud."
The armor spirit immediately answered from within my soul.
"I'll do everything I can, Master. I swear to you, I will destroy him."
My robes dissolved.
Black and gold armor erupted across my body.
Starshroud wrapped around me in layers of divine metal, sealing my wounds and reinforcing my body as I gripped the spear embedded in my chest. I had no idea what Heart was playing at. He had abandoned whatever scheme he had been pursuing and attacked my true body directly at this moment of all times.
But I was not going to complain. If he wanted a fight, I would gladly give him one. I opened my pocket dimension. Silver Steel appeared in my hand. At the same time, I reached for the Dark Veil. The enormous dark sphere beneath us stirred.
The Hollowed World itself seemed to awaken.
Countless weapons emerged from the darkness. Swords, spears, axes, chains, and blades rose from the endless black layer before launching upward.
They converged on Supreme Heart from every direction.
"That's more like it."
Heart's lips stretched into a manic smile. Golden dragon scales spread across his body. They rapidly formed a suit of armor that covered him from head to toe, each scale radiating an ancient and oppressive aura.
"Let's fight to the death!"
He twisted the spear.
I moved with it.
The moment he attempted to pull the weapon free, Silver Steel came down.
CLANG!
The Dark Veil's weapons reached him simultaneously. Heart laughed. The first hundred weapons shattered against his armor. The next hundred exploded. Then the entire sky disappeared beneath an ocean of darkness. And Supreme Heart charged directly into it.
...
..
.
[POV: Ding Cai]
The explosion erased the lake and the mountain.
By the time Ding Cai reached the center of the destruction, the landscape no longer resembled the place where the battle had begun.
The lake had been completely glassed.
Molten earth stretched beneath her feet, reflecting the distant flames like a shattered mirror. The mountain had been reduced to a mangled mass of blackened stone, while smoke and dust continued to rise from the enormous crater.
But Ding Cai barely noticed any of it. Her eyes were fixed on the figure standing in the center and the corpse at his feet. Nongmin was dead. Loki had killed him.
"You don't even seem surprised."
Loki wore a nasty smile.
His shapeshifting weapon shifted within his hands. The sword melted into liquid metal before separating into two daggers. He lowered his body and took a predatory stance, looking almost as though he were preparing to pounce.
"In the end, it's you and me."
His gaze slowly traveled across Ding Cai, smile widening.
"I can't say I didn't miss your pretty face, but I suppose this has to end somehow. How about we get this over with?"
Ding Cai raised her hand and the Human Soul emerged.
The guardian born from her master's power shifted forms as it materialized, becoming a long, curved sword that settled into her grasp. Ding Cai lowered her stance and faced Loki without taking her eyes off him.
The Human Soul's voice entered her mind through their bond.
"Hey, can I give you some advice?"
Ding Cai did not answer immediately.
"Bring Nongmin back to life," the Human Soul said, sounding pissed. "I don't know how you feel about him being an enemy, but that bastard has got to be pissed after getting backstabbed by this slimy fucker."
Ding Cai's grip tightened around her sword.
"I was actually thinking the same thing."
She vanished with Flash Step. Ding Cai crossed the distance between them in an instant. Her sword swept toward Loki's neck. At the same time, divine power surged from her body.
"Divine Word: Raise."
A brilliant light descended toward Nongmin's corpse.
Loki's eyes narrowed. As if he had already anticipated her intention, he kicked Nongmin's body backward.
Ding Cai's sword collided with one of his daggers.
CLANG!
The second dagger flashed toward her ribs. Ding Cai twisted away, but Loki had already completed another spell. Flames erupted. A pillar of fire swallowed Nongmin's corpse.
"You underestimate the divine," Ding Cai said, her voice remaining calm. "Divine Word: Raise."
The resurrection spell intensified. Ding Cai did not need the fallen's physical body. As long as she could reach what remained of their existence, her divine power could restore them.
Loki's smile returned. "I didn't say anything about underestimating the divine."
The ground split apart and a shadow surged from beneath the crater. A massive snake made entirely of darkness burst from the ground and swallowed Nongmin's corpse along with the pillar of fire.
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The serpent immediately collapsed into mist. The darkness condensed, and then it disappeared. Ding Cai felt the connection to her resurrection spell vanish. The corpse had been sealed away from her resurrection.
Ding Cai immediately moved with Zealot's Stride. Divine energy flowed through her body as her speed exploded. She rushed toward Loki from the left, right, and then left again. Her movements became increasingly difficult to follow as she circled him, searching for even the smallest opening.
Her sword struck.
Loki blocked.
She changed directions.
He was already there.
She attacked from his blind spot.
He turned before the blade reached him.
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG!
Every exchange became more frustrating than the last. The longer their battle continued, the more powerful Loki's illusions became. Ding Cai could feel reality shifting around her. It was not simply an illusion that deceived her senses.
The laws themselves were being altered. Distance changed. Timing changed. Space bent in ways that contradicted everything her instincts told her.
Ding Cai still had no countermeasure against his illusions, rendering her impotent. She was merely an Ascended Soul. Loki was operating on a level that her cultivation could not properly comprehend. And that was not even the worst part.
Loki currently possessed at least five layers of immortality.
Each layer reinforced his existence and made his Immortal Art, Loki's Mischief, more formidable. The technique allowed him to deceive, distort, and interfere with reality itself, and his localized Dao Domain amplified those effects even further.
If this battle continued like this, Ding Cai would lose. Her Immortal Art, Godslayer, could not save her unless she made contact. She needed to actually damage him. But Loki was always one step ahead. He avoided her decisive strikes while slowly chipping away at her defenses.
If she allowed him to continue dictating the pace of the battle, defeat was inevitable.
Loki suddenly disappeared, his voice echoing around her.
"Immortal Art: Flame of Transformation."
Fire appeared around her as Loki had become the fire. His body transformed into an intangible mass of flames as he passed directly through Ding Cai.
ππππ¦ππππππ·ππ.πΈπ°π
Ding Cai screamed. Agony consumed her body. The flames did not merely burn her skin. They invaded her. She immediately retreated and raised her hand.
"Blessed Regeneration!"
Divine energy surged through her body. Her wounds began to close, but the flames remained. They continued burning her from within.
Loki appeared several hundred meters away. He raised both hands. Spells formed behind him.
Ding Cai immediately responded.
"Shield of Faith!"
A silver barrier surrounded her. The incoming flames crashed against it. Explosions engulfed the crater. Ding Cai clenched her teeth as the barrier trembled, and then she pressed her free hand against her own chest.
"Cleanse."
A wave of divine power spread through her body. The unnatural flames finally began to weaken. The pain remained. Her body continued to regenerate. Ding Cai lowered her hand. Smoke rose from her skin.
Across the crater, Loki casually twirled one of his daggers.
"You're running out of options."
Ding Cai tightened her grip on the Human Soul.
"No."
Her eyes sharpened.
"I'm running out of patience."
The Human Soul chuckled inside her mind.
"Now that's the attitude befitting the disciple of the Holy Emperor."
Ding Cai moved.
Her speed increased with every exchange.
The difference was gradual at first. A step became slightly faster. A swing became slightly sharper. Her footwork adjusted to Loki's movements, and her swordsmanship grew stronger as though every clash with him was teaching her something new.
Loki noticed.
His daggers met the sword with a ringing clash.
Ding Cai struck again without pause. He blocked. She came on once more. This time his eyes narrowed.
βWhat did you do?β
Ding Cai did not answer.
There was no reason to reveal her trick.
It was faith.
At this very moment, the rest of the world must have been experiencing its own upheaval. Wars were spreading across the territories controlled by both sides, as the factions ruled by their respective teams finally came into open conflict.
Mortals were dying. Souls were being tested. Armies were fighting for the convictions they believed in. And through desperation, faith shone brightest.
Ding Cai understood how terrible that sounded.
She understood how unforgiving it was.
Even if the war had been inevitable, even if both sides had been marching toward conflict long before this battle began, it did not change one simple fact.
Ding Cai had lit the fuse, and the knowledge sat heavy in her chest. Necessity did not grow gentler simply because she hated it. Faith poured into her through the Human Soul from the prayers of the living, the last stands of the dying, and the refusal to surrender. She took it all and drank in there strength.
Her sword came down.
Loki barely avoided it. His expression changed, and then he suddenly burst into laughter.
"Ha ha ha ha ha~!"
He leaped backward, his eyes shining with amusement.
"I get it now!"
His laughter continued, grinning as he twirled his daggers between his fingers.
"So, you lot are no different from the gods and pantheons back home. This is really the height of comedy. But it would take more than that to beat me."
Ding Cai advanced and her voice was cold. "No. I got everything I need to defeat you."
There was something that every disciple of Da Wei possessed. Something special. Something they had inherited from their master. It was born from the Sagehood Da Wei had shed when he was reborn into a true Supreme Being, becoming fully conscious of his Supremacy Trait.
This special power began with the Path. For Hei Mao, it was the Ghost Path. For Ding Cai, it was the Human Path.
"Human Path: Enlightenment of the Fool."
The world went silent. The flames still devouring Ding Cai suddenly weakened, and then they vanished. They simply ceased to exist. Ding Cai's eyes opened. A faint change passed through her presence.
Loki stopped smiling.
Ding Cai raised the Human Soul.
"Heavenly Punishment."
The heavens answered. A massive golden sword descended from above. It tore through the clouds. Loki's eyes widened. The weapon was enormous. The world beneath it seemed insignificant.
Loki immediately fled.
BOOOOOOM!
The golden sword struck the earth. The impact tore apart the landscape. The coastline in the distance trembled as mountains cracked and the ground collapsed beneath the force of the divine attack.
Loki escaped the direct strike, but not completely. Golden light tore through his side. Blood sprayed into the air.
Ding Cai did not give him an opportunity to recover. She chased him.
Loki retreated. His daggers transformed. Liquid metal stretched between his hands before forming into a bow. He drew the string. Fiery arrows appeared, and he fired. The first arrow crossed the battlefield. The second. The third.
Ding Cai moved through them.
The battle spread.
They crossed mountains, tore through forests, passed over ruined cities and fractured plains. Loki fought with manic delight, laughter echoing farther with every mile. He drank from the dragon veins beneath the continent, siphoning qi when he could not detonate them. Ding Cai stopped each attempt, divine power clamping down on the unstable flows. The pattern repeated: he accumulated power; she bled time.
The faith she was receiving was not infinite.
Wars could produce tremendous conviction.
But even faith had a limit.
The believers from whom the Human Soul drew its strength would eventually reach a tipping point. Death, exhaustion, and despair could strengthen conviction, but only until the point where there was nothing left to believe in.
She needed to finish this battle before that happened.
More importantly, she needed time.
Ding Cai's eyes narrowed as another arrow exploded against her Shield of Faith. Was the Human Path her special power? No. Not even close. It was only the beginning. The tip of something far greater, a catalyst. Something that would bring forth the true power sleeping within her. How special was it?
It was a power believed to belong only to Supreme Beings.
Their battle eventually reached the coast. The sea stretched endlessly before them. The continent behind them was scarred by their passage. Loki stood above the shore. Qi gathered around him, then more, and more.
Ding Cai's expression darkened. The qi he had accumulated had reached a terrifying level. It no longer mattered how much faith Ding Cai could draw upon. The difference in their available power had become overwhelming.
He smiled. βItβs time to end this.β
Arms wide, he released everything.
βDao Domain: Harbinger of Ragnarok.β
The world changed.
Blue sky vanished beneath black clouds. Crimson lightning tore the horizon. The ocean boiled; waves rose like mountains. Fire erupted from the earth; ash fell from the sky. Distant silhouettes of dead worlds haunted the edge of sight. Death grew heavier. Destruction became law. Everything within the domain moved toward an inevitable end. Ragnarok, the death of an age, the end of gods and monsters and all that had believed itself eternal.
Ding Cai looked at him. βI feel the same.β
She lowered her sword and released the power she had bought time for.
βSupremacy Trait: Balance.β
For a heartbeat, nothing.
Then the Dao Domain simply ceased. It did not shatter or collapse under greater force. It was balanced against nothing. The black sky lightened. The boiling sea stilled. Lightning and ash vanished as though they had never been. Even the laws Loki had invoked could not escape equilibrium.
CRACK.
Fractures spidered across Ding Caiβs skin like porcelain. Blood welled at the corner of her mouth. The incomplete trait was more than her present existence could safely hold. She had forced it out anyway.
Loki suffered worse. He staggered, then dropped to his knees. Ash drifted from his flesh as it began to come apart. The backlash of a forcibly balanced Dao Domain was devastating. For several seconds, he stared at his hands in silence. Then a weak laugh escaped him.
βHa. Wellβ¦ I have to admit, this isnβt how I imagined it ending.β He glanced at the ruined continent, then at the calm sea. βI came expecting to deceive a few idiots, stab a few backs, start an apocalypse, and somehow walk away looking handsome.β
Another piece of him crumbled to ash. His lips curved. βHonestly? This is so absurd I almost respect it.β
Ding Cai said nothing. She gripped the Human Soul as the fractures continued to spread. In the end, it was Ding Cai's victory as the last of Loki drifted into ash until he was no more.