The perspective shifts back to Abyss Layer Seventy-Nine, where Hysilens has just breached the Plague Lord's Great Stomach. She manages to retreat swiftly, but Arthur, who is closer, isn't so lucky.
As a surge of strange dark green gas erupts from the breach, Arthur happens to be swinging the Demon Axe for an attack, his strike landing squarely in the toxic cloud.
Unlike ordinary gases, the Plague Lord's 'poison gas' is exceptionally dense, almost solidifying into a gelatinous mass. Arthur's axe feels as if he had struck a giant slime.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The Demon Axe's inherent explosive property causes each swing to detonate. But this single strike triggers a chain reaction: the flames ignite all the gelatinous poison gas instantly, and as it burns fiercely, even more toxic fumes are released.
"Get back, quick! Ugh!" Demon Axe groaned, gagging violently. Arthur, no fool, immediately began leaping backward. Just as he was mid-air, a fish materialized beside him, caught him, and swiftly pulled him away.
With Hysilens' help, Arthur narrowly escaped the toxic gas's range. But while Arthur had avoided direct contact, Demon Axe hadn't!
Demon Axe continued, "Numb... So disgusting! I feel like I just chopped into a pile of shit! Ugh!"
"Dude, seriously, pay attention next time before you start hacking! So gross!"
Arthur shrugged helplessly. "What could I do? I'd already swung the axe when that stuff erupted."
As the two bickered, Hysilens' fish pulled them away from the battlefield. Looking back, half the sky over Layer Seventy-Nine of the Abyss had turned a deep, dark green, completely saturated with poisonous gas.
Hysilens could even see Mushroom Demons, buried alive nearby, their eyes rolling back as they convulsed on the ground, foaming at the mouth from the toxic gas.
If even the most venomous creatures couldn't withstand it, the sheer absurdity of the Poison Gas became terrifyingly clear.
The Plague Lord's voice echoed through the toxic fumes: "Heh heh, you can't escape! This poison gas is a treasure I've been hoarding for countless years. It's enough to fill every corner of Abyss Layer Seventy-Nine!"
Hearing this, Arthur and the Demon Axe exchanged grim looks. The Demon Axe turned to Hysilens and pleaded, "Sister True God, do you have any other useless ultimate moves left? Hurry up and use them!"
Hysilens pondered, her expression thoughtful. Truth be told, she did have options, like creating a massive, ultra-dense wall of water to seal off the toxic gas and continue her attacks uninterrupted. But for some reason, another idea suddenly sparked in her mind.
Fueled by this sinister thought, a Century Gate materialized directly above the Plague Lord, unleashing a tremendous suction force.
Of course, even with Tribios maximizing her suction, she couldn't pull in the mountain-sized Plague Lord. However, siphoning away the poisonous gas was a trivial matter.
As for the other side of the Century Gate... it led to the Moon, beyond the World Barrier.
Serving as the Mother of Flesh's forward base for invading this world, the Moon was teeming with all manner of monsters, poised to flood into the Material Plane the moment the Barrier weakened. However, Hyacine had previously purged these creatures, inflicting catastrophic casualties.
Yet the Mother of Flesh's very name hinted at her extraordinary ability to reproduce. In the intervening time, the Moon's monster population had begun to recover slightly.
Then, a golden Century Gate materialized overhead, and torrents of dark green poisonous gas cascaded downward.
At first, the Moon's monsters had no idea what was happening. They craned their necks to stare at the strange portal in the sky, and some winged creatures even curiously approached, until... the first monster made contact with the poisonous gas.
The winged monster, originally crimson-black, turned entirely green in less than a second. The verdant hue rapidly spread across its body. Its eyes widened like copper gongs, their whites shot through with a dense network of blood vessels.
It opened its mouth, but no sound escaped. Then, with a literal explosion, it dissolved into a viscous green liquid that splattered in all directions.
Witnessing this, the other monsters froze for a moment before turning tail and fleeing. But Tribios had opened an exceptionally large Century Gate, and the poisonous gas descended with terrifying speed, creating a visual effect akin to watching an avalanche.
From a distance, avalanches appear majestic and deceptively slow. In reality, they move with astonishing speed. By the time one draws near, escape is impossible.
Within moments, the vast majority of the land beneath the Century Gate was engulfed in the toxic cloud. Countless monsters writhed in agony, their bodies gradually changing color before succumbing to despair and death.
The commotion naturally drew the Moon's attention. A massive chasm slowly opened in its surface, resembling a vast canyon, from which a colossal eyeball emerged.
Moon: Let's see what's going on here.
In the next instant, the poisonous gas enveloped the enormous eyeball.
The pupil of the eye instantly constricted, as if witnessing something utterly terrifying, and then rolled upward uncontrollably.
The entire Moon began to tremble violently. From the pitch-black depths of space, a faint, guttural whisper from an Outer God echoed from a distant realm.
"#¥@%@!"
As these were the whispers of an Outer God, no one could possibly understand their meaning.
The Moon's transformation continued. After its eyes rolled upward, dense clusters of pustules, resembling blisters, erupted across the exposed whites of its eyes upon contact with the poisonous gas.
The perspective shifted to Okhema, where Tribios covered her mouth with one hand, but couldn't suppress a soft chuckle.
Melly, who happened to be standing beside her, noticed her strange behavior and asked, puzzled, "What's going on?"
Melly could sense that Tribios had used divine power to open a Century Gate, but she didn't know where the gate led or what purpose it served.
Tribios replied, "Hmm~ I think I've done something a little mischievous..."
Melly remained puzzled. "What?"
"I dumped some garbage from one place onto someone else's doorstep," Tribios explained.
Melly blinked in confusion. "?"
As she spoke, Tribios rose and walked to the window, gazing outside. Though it was daytime, the Moon was still visible, albeit faintly.
Tribios could see, or perhaps it was her imagination, that the Moon seemed to be moving... very slowly.
Of course, while it appeared slow to her, the Moon itself must be hurtling through space at tremendous speed.
But it was all in vain. Tribios had opened the Century Gate based on the destination's appearance, so even if the Moon tried to escape, the gate would remain fixed in place, relentlessly following it.
-
The perspective shifted back to Abyss Layer Seventy-Nine. Under the Century Gate's immense suction, the toxic gases across the layer visibly diminished at an alarming rate. The Demon Axe, witnessing this, was completely stunned. "Wait, sis, what's this move?!"
"Aren't you supposed to be the God of the Ocean? What's with this ridiculously powerful-looking portal?"
Hysilens shook her head. "This isn't my Authority. I simply called in a little backup."
The Demon Axe muttered, "B-backup?!"
Hysilens paused thoughtfully. Since she'd already called for reinforcements, why not summon a few more while she was at it? She could easily bring over her other Identities who weren't currently busy and could spare some time to assist.
The Demon Axe continued, "Wait a minute. If you can summon help to teleport us out of this hellhole whenever you want, why are we even fighting? Why haven't we left already?!"
Hysilens nodded. "Indeed, I considered that option—abandoning you and escaping with Arthur."
Demon Axe, "???"
Hysilens said, "The Plague Lord already knows the Material Plane's coordinates. I don't want it coming here just to find you."
Demon Axe immediately understood. "Oh, oh! I get it! Then let's fight! We can't kill the Plague Lord outright, but if we beat it badly enough, it won't be able to threaten the Material Plane for centuries!"
In an instant, Demon Axe had switched from being a staunch advocate of fleeing to the most fiercely determined combatant. But how to cripple the Plague Lord remained a problem. As Demon Axe pondered this, two more Century Gates materialized beside Hysilens. A golden-haired man and a pale purple-haired girl emerged from the gates.
Without a doubt, it was Mydei and Castorice.
Without needing further communication, Mydei immediately leaped forward. Since everyone was standing on Hysilens' fish, floating in mid-air, it wasn't an ideal position for Mydei to exert his full strength.
Boom!
Mydei plummeted from the sky like a cannonball, without any attempt to cushion his descent or perform any flashy maneuvers. He crashed straight into the ground, shattering the earth beneath him into a web of cracks. Yet Mydei remained standing upright, seemingly unshaken by the impact.
He took a heavy step forward, raised his right arm high, and mimed a throwing motion. In the next instant, a crimson spear materialized in his hand. As his grip tightened around the spear, an immense pressure radiated outward, causing the ground within hundreds of meters around him to sink inward. An aura of overwhelming terror emanated from Mydei's body.
Even the Plague Lord, who had been moving at a leisurely pace, now sensed the imminent danger. For the first time, it moved proactively, attempting to disrupt Mydei's attack.
The Plague Lord raised its colossal scythe, but at the same moment, Castorice struck from above. Wielding her own scythe, she slashed at the space behind her, unleashing a command: "Go, Pollux!"
The dragon tore through the fabric of space with its massive claws, and a massive purple dragon emerged, its jaws snapping open. A torrent of scorching breath erupted from its maw, unleashing a massive attack—a furious torrent of flames cascading like a celestial river, crashing down upon the Plague Lord's scythe.
Faced with an equally devastating strike, the Plague Lord had no choice but to raise its scythe in defense, leaving it no time to deal with Mydei.
Mydei hadn't needed much time to charge his attack. Narrowing his eyes, he aimed at the Plague Lord's head and hurled his spear with all his might. "Hah—!!!"
Everyone watched as a crimson streak blazed across the sky, piercing the Plague Lord's body in an instant. The impact carved a semicircular trench spanning several kilometers across the ground, its edges scorched black. The trench extended beyond the horizon, leaving Demon Axe to wonder if the spear had pierced through this plane of existence altogether.
Where the spear had pierced the Plague Lord's body, crimson crystalline formations began to spread rapidly, filling the wound and blocking its self-healing capabilities.
Demon Axe's eyes widened as he muttered, "Holy hell, what the hell is all this?!"
Arthur's expression mirrored his, utterly bewildered and stunned. He stood frozen like a statue for a long moment before finally stammering, "So... so powerful!"
In terms of raw offensive power, Mydei, the God of Strife, undoubtedly far surpassed Hysilens, the God of the Ocean. Moreover, the spear thrust was merely the opening move; its true purpose wasn't to kill the Plague Lord, but to temporarily restrain it.
Having wounded the Plague Lord, the follow-up attack would be impossible for it to evade.
The Century Gate, which had been sucking in poison gas, vanished mid-air. In its place, the colossal phantom of a Greatsword slowly materialized. Mydei declared, "Witness the strike that will level heaven and earth!"
Long ago, when Mydei first appeared, he had used a similar technique against the Dragon Ember Empire's armies. However, at that time, he had only just drawn Mydei, and his control over his Authority was still rudimentary, making it little more than a severely weakened version. This time was different—this was the real deal, a true ultimate move!