Chapter 335: Arrival of the Godkings

The colossal giant made of water slowly lowered its enormous arm, and before the strike had even landed, the entire battlefield groaned beneath its overwhelming weight. Air distorted around the descending palm and the attack transformed from what appeared to be an ordinary slap into an attack capable of crushing continents beneath its unimaginable pressure. 

Arthur teleported out of its way as the sea below erupted violently, sending waves a few kilometers high crashing against the shattered remains of floating islands while the surrounding mist thickened until the battlefield resembled the heart of a storm. 

Arthur’s eyes calmly measured the attack while his divine sense simultaneously tracked Gaius, who had already begun gathering another enormous quantity of divine energy beneath the ocean. He knew the two Godkings had finally abandoned all restraint. They intended to overwhelm him through the sheer scale of their Divine Domains.

The waters beneath him suddenly bulged outward before exploding skyward. And a gigantic stone hand erupted from the depths, each of its fingers larger than an entire mountain. The surrounding sea poured away from its surface as another enormous arm emerged, followed by a colossal head whose glowing amber eyes radiated endless fury. Within moments, a second giant stood upon the battlefield, its body towering alongside Thalassor's avatar. 

Unlike the fluid grace of the water giant, Gaius' construct appeared rugged. Each of its movements caused the ground to tremble while countless fragments of floating islands instinctively drifted toward it, pulled by the overwhelming gravitational field surrounding its body. 

The two giants stood side by side like ancient titans born during the creation of the world itself, one embodying the endless fury of the oceans while the other represented the eternal stability of mountains. Even the Minor Gods observing from hundreds of kilometers away involuntarily stepped farther back. Merely witnessing the manifestation of two complete Divine Domains made breathing difficult.

Arthur slowly exhaled. "So..." he murmured to himself while tightening his grip upon the Godkiller. "I suppose it's finally time to stop warming up."

Aether quietly emerged from within his body before spreading across every inch of his skin. Unlike divine energy, it produced no overwhelming pressure and no dazzling radiance. It simply flowed over him like silk, forming a second skin that perfectly wrapped around every muscle. Yet the instant the final strand settled into place, the surrounding space started trembling. 

Every fiber of his body resonated beneath the amplification provided by Aether. His already terrifying physical strength multiplied once more and he found the sensation strangely exhilarating. His heartbeat slowed instead of accelerating, while every movement around him seemed noticeably clearer. 

The distant crashing of waves, the circulation of divine energy inside both Godkings, all of it entered his perception simultaneously. Slowly, he raised the Godkiller before him. At the same time, energy gathered behind his back.

And within seconds, twelve enormous black spears floated silently behind him, each one radiating an aura that caused even the surrounding divine energy to retreat instinctively. Unlike the original Judgement spell he had learned during his time in Brightwater Academy, these weapons no longer relied solely upon lightning. 

That primitive version had served him well against mortal enemies, but it had become inadequate after his encounter with many powerful opponents. During the secret realm expedition, he had begun integrating fire elements into the spell, discovering that elemental fusion dramatically increased its destructive power. 

Since then, he has refined the technique further. Lightning became merely the foundation, fire, wind, earth, water, holy energy, darkness, gravity, and several other compatible forces had gradually been woven together into a single construct. 

Under normal circumstances, combining so many fundamentally different energies would've resulted in immediate instability. Yet Aether ignored conventional limitations, acting as the ultimate stabilizing medium, it bound every element together into perfect harmony. This caused the spell to evolve into an entirely different technique, one whose destructive capability far surpassed the original spell.

Neither godking understood what those black spears truly were, yet every instinct warned them not to allow Arthur the opportunity to use them freely and they had already seen what only one spear could do when Arthur used it against Gaius.

Without exchanging a single word, both giants attacked simultaneously.

The stone giant's colossal fist descended first, carrying enough gravitational force to collapse the surrounding atmosphere, while Thalassor's avatar swept both hands across the battlefield, generating twin tidal waves that towered above him before compressing into razor thin blades of water. The attacks arrived together, completely sealing Arthur's forward and backward escape routes.

Arthur smiled as he vanished.

The gigantic fist slammed into the sea, producing an explosion that split it apart for hundreds of kilometers. Before Gaius could recover, Arthur had already appeared beside the stone giant's shoulder, and the Godkiller flashed once.

A deep black line crossed the giant's arm. The next instant, an explosion erupted from within the wound as one of the twelve black spears descended like divine punishment, piercing directly into the slash Arthur had created. 

BOOOOOM!

It detonated as lightning, fire and gravity tore through the construct from within, blowing away an enormous section of its shoulder. Fragments the size of cities scattered across the battlefield before crashing into the sea below. Arthur disappeared again before the debris even touched the sea.

He reappeared behind Thalassor's avatar and used the same tactic.

The Godkiller carved through the giant's back before a second spear followed immediately afterward, exploding inside the wound with devastating force. The detonation sent violently opposing elemental energy tearing through the construct's internal structure as a huge part of the giant's body evaporated while an enormous hole opened through its torso. 

Thalassor immediately attempted to redirect surrounding seawater to repair the damage, but Arthur gave him no opportunity. The battlefield transformed into a blur of violet afterimages as he continued his attacks.

He did not remain in one location for any longer than a fraction of a second. Each time he appeared, it was accompanied by the black flash of the Godkiller followed almost instantly by a few descending spears. 

Sometimes he attacked the Thalassor's avatar’s arms before vanishing toward Gaius. Other times he appeared atop the stone giant's head, carved through it with a single sword stroke, then instantly redirected three spears toward Thalassor before either Godking recovered. Massive chunks of stone exploded away from Gaius' construct while gigantic sections of the Thalassor's avatar evaporated into steam beneath the relentless bombardment. 

Each successful strike weakened the integrity of the giants slightly further. Neither construct possessed enough time to regenerate before Arthur struck another vulnerable point. The battlefield filled with continuous explosions as the black spears crashed one after another into the two titans, each impact sending shockwaves racing across the Divine Realm.

Thalassor's expression gradually darkened. "Damn it..." he muttered in disbelief.

Gaius clenched his jaw. "What should we do..." he asked while desperately reinforcing the giant through divine authority. If it was someone without Spatial Manipulation power, they might have suppressed them or even killed them. But currently they couldn’t even hit their opponent much less hurt him, and the enormous power of the two giants became useless.

Arthur wasn't attacking randomly, each of his attacks targeted critical structural nodes where divine energy flowed most densely. Every spear struck those exact same locations moments later, multiplying the damage severalfold. 

Minutes passed in an endless storm of destruction. The once magnificent giants no longer resembled the divine avatars they had proudly summoned. Gaius' stone titan had lost nearly half of its upper body, enormous cracks spreading through its frame despite the Godking's constant attempts at restoration. Entire arms regenerated only to be blown apart again moments later. 

Thalassor's avatar fared little better. Gigantic holes stretched through its torso while one leg had almost completely dissolved beneath Arthur's relentless assault, forcing the construct to lean awkwardly as it struggled to maintain balance.

…

As he was going to finish the godkings, he suddenly stopped. Without warning, he teleported several tens of kilometers away from the battlefield, lowering the Godkiller slightly as his eyes shifted toward the distant horizon.

Seven overwhelmingly powerful divine auras appeared simultaneously at the edge of his perception, each one carrying authority equal to the two opponents he had been fighting.

His expression gradually became solemn. The seven newly arrived Godkings hovered silently above the battlefield, their gazes sweeping across the devastation left behind by his clash with Thalassor and Gaius. The smaller floating islands surrounding the territory had long since ceased resembling their former selves. 

Even the two colossal Divine Domain avatars were now barely recognizable. Realizing that continuing to maintain such heavily damaged constructs would only consume divine energy without providing any meaningful advantage, both Godkings quietly dissolved their avatars. 

The endless waters returned to the sea below while Gaius' crumbling giant collapsed back into countless mountains of black stone, leaving the two Godkings themselves standing beside the newcomers with noticeably pale complexions. Neither of them spoke, their silence alone conveyed how unexpectedly difficult this battle had become.

Arthur's attention, however, slowly moved across the newly arrived figures until they finally settled upon the only woman among them. Unlike the others who wore heavy armor or elaborate robes symbolizing their respective authorities, she stood clad in a flowing white dress that seemed woven entirely from light. 

Her silver hair flowed gently despite the complete absence of wind, and her calm golden eyes carried neither hostility nor panic as they quietly observed Arthur from across the battlefield. There was no need for introductions, even before the System silently confirmed her identity, Arthur already understood who she had to be. Among the nine Godkings described by Steve, only one possessed such unmistakable authority over light, Theia. The strongest of the faction seeking to return to Thyrandel.

For several long seconds neither side moved. The remaining six Godkings quietly spread apart, instinctively forming a loose semicircle around Theia without needing instructions. They had already received Thalassor's message regarding the reappearance of the Godkiller, yet witnessing the battlefield personally proved far more unsettling. 

They could clearly see the condition of Thalassor and Gaius. Two veteran Godkings fighting together had not only failed to subdue the intruder, but had been pushed to the point of abandoning their Divine Domain avatars altogether. More importantly, every one of them noticed the same impossible contradiction Theron had observed earlier. 

The young man standing before them radiated no divinity whatsoever. Yet the vitality overflowing from his body rivaled, and perhaps even surpassed, that of ordinary Godkings. Such an existence should not have been possible.

Arthur finally broke the silence. "Are you," he asked Theia calmly, his voice carrying clearly across the battlefield, "the one who sent those five Minor Gods to Thyrandel?"

The surrounding Godkings exchanged subtle glances while Thalassor quietly watched Theia from the corner of his eye. Even Gaius, whose temper normally surpassed his patience, remained completely silent. Theia herself continued studying Arthur as though attempting to solve an impossible puzzle. After several moments, the corner of her lips lifted into a faint smile.

"And what if it was me?" There was no denial in her words or any attempt to justify her actions.

Arthur vanished and the next instant, the Godkiller was already descending toward Theia's neck in a perfectly executed horizontal slash. Unlike Gaius or Thalassor, however, Theia did not appear surprised. Her figure shifted almost imperceptibly, moving only a single step. The black blade sliced through the space she had occupied an instant earlier, leaving behind nothing but her fading afterimage.

Swoosh!

Arthur's instincts screamed and without even attempting to identify the source, he disappeared once more.

A brilliant beam of condensed light passed silently through the exact location where he had been standing. Unlike ordinary attacks, the beam produced no explosion and no visible shockwave. It simply continued across the heavens until it disappeared beyond the horizon. Only afterward did everyone notice the aftermath. Every floating island lying along its trajectory had quietly separated into two perfectly smooth halves before beginning their slow descent toward the sea below.

Arthur reappeared several kilometers away, narrowing his eyes ever so slightly. His surprise lasted only an instant, he had expected the strongest Godking to possess extraordinary abilities. Theia was unquestionably stronger than either Gaius or Thalassor.

Behind Theia, the remaining Godkings unconsciously adopted more defensive positions. None of them had expected Arthur to launch an assassination attempt the very moment she admitted responsibility. Yet what unsettled them even more was how close that attack had come to succeeding. Had Theia's reactions been even slightly slower, the battle might have ended before it truly began but they were still confident they could subdue Arthur.

Theia, meanwhile, lowered the hand she had casually raised to release the beam of light. Her golden eyes never left Arthur.

"What..." she asked quietly, genuine curiosity finally entering her voice, "...are you?" For the first time since arriving, uncertainty flickered across her otherwise composed expression.

Arthur's expression remained completely indifferent. "You don't need to know."

He slowly raised the Godkiller once again. "Just remember in the afterlife..." His voice became noticeably colder and a current of Aether spread across the blade. "...that you made the mistake of sending those Minor Gods after my people."

For the briefest instant, even Theia seemed as though she intended to speak further, perhaps to negotiate or even bring him to their side. But Arthur had already lost all interest in words. Everything he needed to know had been confirmed the moment she failed to deny responsibility. 

He stepped forward and the battlefield erupted once again. Only this time, every remaining Godking moved together.

***

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