Returning to the Mysterious Era-Chapter 700 - Gods Against Gods!

Chapter 700 - Gods Against Gods!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Above Yakasen Island, a massive black hand slammed down from the sky. At the same time, a colossal vulture flapped its wings violently, soaring upward in a fierce charge. Two beings beyond human imagination shattered the clouds as they collided with transcendent force.
Boom!
A rapidly expanding mushroom cloud burst outward at a speed the naked eye could not catch. It swept across the entirety of Yakasen Island in an instant.
"Ahhh!"
Outside the storm belt of Yakasen Island, Andrea shut her eyes the moment the collision happened. Two streams of bloody tears dripped from her eyes, sliding down her flawless pale skin. She could no longer sustain her foresight, the power that had existed in her heart and dreams. It had shattered. Her origin had been damaged, and she had no idea how long it would take to recover.
At the same time, the four artifacts brought from Starwatch Tower were instantly destroyed. The great ritual energy on the vessel was drained dry in an instant. It was the price of peering into the divine, even if it lasted only a few seconds.
"In that vision just now... Such a terrifying scene... That was a battle of gods against gods!!!" Andrea gasped as she pressed her palms against her eyes, enduring the pain. "The final revelation my foresight gave me is that Yakasen Island will become a battlefield of gods, and the shockwaves will cover thousands of kilometers along the southern coastline of Blue Star Continent. The people and forces there must evacuate!
"Also, I don't know if it's an illusion but I faintly foresaw that this battle will alter the entire world and humanity's fate. Unprecedented destruction or prosperity... The outcome of this battle will determine it!"
She recorded these two revelations into a golden coffer as fast as possible and snapped it shut. It was a royal treasure that was a part of a pair. Whatever information was placed into one, the other would instantly reflect it even if it was separated by thousands of miles.
"Go, quickly!" Andrea staggered to her feet and rushed toward the ship's cockpit. She pulled off her silk sash and tied it quickly around her wounded eyes, shouting loudly as she ran. "Get away from Yakasen Island! Return at full speed!"
The ship started to turn at full speed; however, it was already too late. In just a few seconds, the terrifying aftershock from the clash at Yakasen Island's core had arrived. It was like an army charging through the clouds. The most horrifying was a massive shockwave visible to the naked eye. It raised waves over a hundred meters tall as it swept across the sea.
"No... no... no! Oh my god! The sky is collapsing!"
Boom!
The aftershocks blotted out the sky as they raced across the sea. Even an aircraft would be overturned and smashed into the depths, much less a ship. As for the members of Starwatch Tower wielding supernatural abilities, it was up to everyone’s luck. At least their survival rate was hundreds of times higher than ordinary people. Some of the stronger ones might just make it out alive.
***
A cataclysmic battle had erupted on Yakasen Island.
Xiadu had charged from the northern abyss to Yakasen Island, piercing everything along the way. It drove straight down from the stratosphere, intent on suppressing everything it found. However, it never expected another figure of perfected power lying in wait beside the mysterious man breaking through his limits. Furthermore, this being was all too familiar to Xiadu. It was one of the Southern Dipper Three Fists, Blood Vulture Dominator Fist!
"Southern Dipper Red Falcon Fist! Blood Vulture, how could it be you?!" The scaled giant hand that hurtled down collided with the burning bird surging upward. They were quickly locked in a struggle. Calamity energy gushed out endlessly from the cracks between the scales of the giant hand, polluting the surroundings. However, the Qi on the vulture's colossal wings blazed like fire.
The two energies frantically canceled each other, unleashing terrifying aftershocks. Xiadu's thoughts spun wildly. The sudden appearance of Blood Vulture Dominator Fist shook it deeply!
"Why can't it be me?!
Heh
, Xiadu, we meet again!"
The colossal vulture's eyes burned with crimson light. Unlike the shaken Xiadu, Blood Vulture Dominator Fist was calm, and was even tinged with a strange excitement. His strength had returned to its peak and his Qi was stronger than ever before. So what if Xiadu was here? Fuck it, they’d fight! Xiadu had only opened one Gate of Heaven, so it was still not worth fearing. At worst, like White Bird Holy Fist, he would burn himself completely. Let Xiadu hear the thunderous cry of the vulture!
"You... you actually recovered to your peak strength without me knowing..." Xiadu grew warier and more serious than ever. Before its last seclusion, the situation in the World of Calamity had favored calamity. Blood Vulture Dominator Fist and the Totem King had nearly destroyed each other, and he had been ambushed by the newly born Annihilation Disaster. He had been left nearly dead, surviving only as a remnant thought. If he had been exposed, he would have been obliterated without doubt.
Who knew, in just a little more than a decade, Blood Vulture had somehow escaped his doom. In fact, his state was healthier than when he had fought the Totem King! His Qi was vast as the sea, and his domineering Will was sweeping across the land.
"It's him! Blood Vulture's transformation, it must be because of him!!!" Xiadu’s focus snapped to the mysterious man. Seated on the plains of Yakasen Island, a Golem-like figure devoured tome after tome. Tricolored divine light lit up the Southern Dipper stars one by one. His aura, already at perfect strength, began pressing against its limits. It surged slowly but resolutely toward the supreme realm once only Xiadu resided.
"Golem Sect? The sect master of the Golem Sect! When did you..." Xiadu was shaken yet again, twice in mere seconds. It was not the likely outsider it had guessed, but the sect master of the Golem Sect, who had opposed them everywhere! How could it be him? Hadn't he just broken into the realm of Holy Fist a few months ago?
Xiadu’s avatar had once been slain by Cassius. At that time, Cassius was far stronger than an ordinary Holy Fist, but nowhere near perfected power. He couldn't even stand against Moon God or Pale Origin. Yet after another time-travel, Cassius's strength had soared, condensing the thousands of years needed by ordinary Holy Fists into only a few years within the era of his time-travel.
Xiadu quickly realized what Cassius was attempting. "The three Southern Dipper Fists cultivated together... You're trying to fuse the Southern Dipper's three fist arts into one!"
The union of the three fist arts was unprecedented. If he succeeded, Cassius would become Xiadu's greatest enemy in the future! Why the future? Because now, with only one Gate of Heaven open, Xiadu was no match for Cassius! Only with all three gates unsealed and the descent of its true body could Xiadu rival him.
"I will never let you succeed! I will cast you into calamity for all eternity!"
Bang!
The black hand blasted Blood Vulture aside. Each scale spewed black calamity until dense dark clouds covered half the skies of Yakasen Island.
Crack crack crack...
A grotesque spear was born from the dark clouds. Black chains formed around it, and a row of blinking eyes gleamed like fallen crimson gems at its tip. Curved white bones grew from those gems like spider legs. From afar, the spear looked like the skeletal remains of a fearsome beast with its spine and ribs fused.
The Spear of Fallen Annihilation!
It was the core ability of the being known as Eternal Fallen Demon, one of the top ten Ultimate Dark Forms. The Spear of Fallen Annihilation had been forged from its spine. To wield it was equivalent to wielding seventy percent of Eternal Fallen Demon's power. Its penetration ability was unmatched. It was the perfect tool to forcibly interrupt Cassius's unification of the three fist arts.
Now that a third of its true body was unsealed, Xiadu could wield other top ten Ultimate Dark Forms endlessly. Xiadu's true body was infinitely stronger than its projection in the sixth time-travel, and had countless more methods.
"No one can defy me! Go! Spear of Fallen Annihilation!"
The giant hand seized the spear, tearing off its chains. Its palm slid down, forcing each rib into the grooves of the shaft. Waves of power intensified until they reached a peak.
Whoosh!
The spear hurled forth, piercing space in an instant. A black meteor streaked across the sky, hurtling toward the Golem.
Just as the Spear of Fallen Annihilation neared its target...
Clang!
A radiant figure blocked its path. Blood Vulture Dominator Fist had unleashed the first stage of his Blood Rainbow Piercing Kill without hesitation. It was his strongest penetrating strike!
Two devastating piercing powers collided. A deafening explosion swept over a third of Yakasen Island, swallowing forests and hills in fire. In just seconds, they were all reduced to ash.
Whoosh!
The spear and a figure flew backward at tremendous speed. The figure spun in midair, then landed heavily with a
thud
. He immediately dropped into a fearsome stance aimed skyward. Blood Vulture Dominator Fist drew back his palm like an eagle diving for prey, radiating crimson Qi in concentric rings.
On the other side, Xiadu gripped the Spear of Fallen Annihilation. It watched a third of the eyes on the spear close and felt a headache start to form. When a being of perfected power was determined to fight to the death, even Xiadu had no easy solution. Furthermore, the opponent was in his Dominator Self state, where his power had multiplied.
If Xiadu were struck by the third stage of Blood Rainbow Piercing Kill, it would pay a heavy price. If its wounds from White Bird Holy Fist had been completely healed, it could still gradually suppress Blood Vulture and gain the advantage. However, it still needed a month to extinguish the over hundred burning marks that remained.
Moreover, as it fought Blood Vulture, the marks also sensed the Southern Dipper Qi and stirred within to distract Xiadu. It had no doubt that the remnants of White Bird's Will would explode at the very moment it was about to succeed, turning its surest strike into its greatest flaw. If Blood Vulture seized the chance at that moment, it would be fatal!
Thus, a dilemma arose. Xiadu wanted to interrupt or even kill Cassius in his critical breakthrough, but feared White Bird's burning marks and Blood Vulture’s vicious and predator-like offensive. It dreaded sustaining injuries that might ruin its greater plan. It still intended to open the remaining two Gates of Heaven during the second calamity. If it was gravely wounded, it would be nearly impossible.
Such concerns stopped Xiadu from trading injuries to interrupt Cassius's breakthrough. It could only battle Blood Vulture and wait for an opening. Once an opening appeared, Xiadu would strike without hesitation!
Meanwhile, Cassius sat cross-legged with his hands folded before his chest, surrounded by tricolored divine light and Southern Dipper stars. The terrifying shockwaves of Xiadu and Blood Vulture's battle did not touch him. Cassius had entrusted Blood Vulture with his safety, so he had faith that Blood Vulture would definitely protect him, even at the cost of his life. Even if Blood Vulture himself died, he would never allow Cassius's breakthrough to be broken!
Cassius raised his head, glancing at the crimson vulture clashing with the giant hand, then at the heavens. His eyes seemed to pierce all illusions as he saw the world's hidden depths, where undercurrents churned. He could see, bit by bit, the accumulation that would create a colossal calamity tide!
"The calamity tide is coming soon. I must hurry..." Cassius resolved.
High above, Xiadu summoned a storm and blasted Blood Vulture back. "Judging his state, he still needs time. If he hasn't broken through by the time the calamity tide falls, that will be my best chance! However, that chance will only last for a brief moment when the tide begins. If I still cannot seize him then, I'll have to open the Gate of Heaven. The second calamity tide cannot be missed... When my three seals are undone, that will be the moment you Southern Dipper trash are done for!"