833 The Day Before the Heavenly Battle (2)
“So, you guys have come.” A burly man in a ninja assassin robe muttered as he stared at the small bursts of hot lava.
“Yeah, you are the last one, after all. Too bad, the God Game has been ruined for granted, Arthrozan.” Gaia opened her palm and smiled faintly.
“What are you going to do next? Defeat me with the large forces you brought with you?” Arthrozan turned around. His blood-red eyes stared intently at the two people in front of him.
“I think you can already guess the purpose of the two of us coming here. The God Game is just a side plan to support the greater scheme in heaven. Dozens of deities have been duped outright.” Gaia shook her head.
“You’re trying to tell me to do what you want? You’re under the assumption that I’m at a disadvantage?” Arthrozan frowned behind his red skull mask.
“Who knows? You shouldn’t be participating in the God Game, and shouldn’t be involved in the Earth Realm. I’m aware of your meddling with the demon-worshipping humans in recent years. However, I need to end that immediately.” Gaia grasped her hand and looked around.
“An anomaly is affecting and corrupting the Heavenly Council from the shadows. A heavenly change is about to occur. Can you stop it? Can you eliminate the cause? Do you have the power to do that? Where did your confidence come from?” Arthrozan glanced at Zhao Fu and Gaia once before turning around.
“That anomaly is the Curse God from another world, the higher realm. We’ve teamed up with Goddesses from another world to resolve the celestial problem and eliminate an enemy who fled here.” Gaia felt that Arthrozan had predicted many things. She had a great chance of succeeding in recruiting another ancient one.
“Another world, higher realm… I thought it was just an unreachable myth.” Arthrozan looked up at the black sky with a distant gaze.
A few moments later, he sighed and descended from the rocks to face the two uninvited guests. “Even so, I didn’t expect you to cooperate with them, Zhao Fu. What would you do if I refused?”
“It would be so much better if you joined in and smacked that Cursed God in the face. I know you’re feeling irritated and furious. How does it feel to find hope and see it just disappear?” Zhao Fu grinned mockingly.
“Yeah, I’ll give them a painful agony. Even the world law guardians can stray. However, you two are still not enough to overpower me. You don’t have the power to talk a deal with me.” Arthrozan made a hand-claw gesture as he emphasized his words.
“The current me or the current Zhao Fu cannot match your peak strength. However, you are not even a match for a Goddess from another world. One of them defeated Zhao Fu so easily. Do you think you are at the peak when there is still a lot of sky above you?” Gaia heaved a subtle sigh.
“Gehaha! That’s an interesting thing for you to say, Earth’s ruler!” Arthrozan burst out laughing. He then looked up and became interested. “So, that’s them. You have so much faith from outlanders, huh. I shall meet them and exchange some moves then.”
After saying that, Arthrozan jumped high into the sky. Gaia and Zhao Fu also flew out of the volcano.
“Divine beings from another world and Divine Association members from heaven.” Arthrozan landed and emitted an aura of dominance.
Lifa just sighed and ruled out the oppressive aura from her group.
“It’s a futile attempt to try to test your luck. However, we will gladly cater to your ego. Say, obey our terms or fight it out?” Elena folded her arms and looked at the Ancient Demon God with a cold gaze.
“Hou~ So, you are the strongest? What kind of offer?” Arthrozan revoked his oppressive aura because he realized it didn’t have the effect he expected.
“Fight the Ruvoid God who is currently messing around in heaven with us. You can think of this as a temporary cooperation.” Elena got straight to the point.
“What’s in it for me to join you and this Divine Association even if only temporarily?” Arthrozan was starting to feel wary. His interlocutor didn’t consider his existence a threat?
“You can at least vent your anger on the mastermind behind this entire farce. Other than that, we can’t give you anything because you are a free laborer.” Elena shook her head and sighed.
“Hahaha! Free laborer, you say? That’s an interesting thing for you to say.” Arthrozan laughed disdainfully. He instantly prepared to attack. “Defeat me if you have the strength to back up your arrogance.”
*Swoosh*
Arthrozan covered a distance of tens of meters in less than a second. However, he didn’t have the chance to get close to anyone, and he was suddenly blown away by intense gravity push.
“Exception.” Arthrozan activated his innate skill and kicked out empty air. He lunged at the Golden Goddess once again.
Surprisingly, he was once again thrown into the air by the intense gravity. It was not the interference of the Earth Mother or the forces of nature, but who could overpower him, and he failed to notice?
‘Lifa, you handle him. Xero refuses to jump into action because he’s conserving energy for tomorrow.’ Elena gave an eye signal to the graceful woman with long leaf-green hair next to her.
‘Alright.’ Lifa accepted the request. She had actually thought of a scenario where she needed to defeat that Ancient Demon God for Elena’s sake.
“Too bad, bad boy. I am the one who will beat you here. I hope, you can control your arrogance after realizing the difference between us.” Lifa stepped forward to approach her opponent.
“Bad boy, me? That’s funny for a young Goddess like you to say. Your arrogance probably comes because you’ve never been defeated before. However, you’ll know your place after I defeat you. You’ll realize how pathetic you are.” Arthrozan gathered his demonic energy and wrapped himself in dark armor.
“Mm, let’s see how it goes. You should have some courtesy and manners towards the older one, little boy.” Lifa nodded slightly.
“You are older than me? Is that a joke? You boast so much seniority, old lady.” Arthrozan frowned.
“No, the oldest one here is Earth Mother. She is the Earth Realm’s absolute ruler, but you don’t give her any face at all. What do I need to do, hmm? Is it enough to just beat him up black and blue?” Lifa glanced at Gaia for an opinion.
“I don’t know if that’s a compliment or not… However, I’d appreciate it if you could make him realize that he’s not the top of the sky.” Gaia was pretty amused. She had no idea why this powerful Goddess was stalling with this conversation.
“She is nothing more than a crippled old divinity. She is so weak without the spirits of nature.” Arthrozan snorted.
“You just don’t know about her well. She is actually very strong, but just peace-loving and doesn’t like violence like you. Are you ready to lose?” Lifa again walked over and stopped twenty meters from the Ancient Demon God.
“I will defeat you, and seize your divine power. After that, your comrades will be my next target. The real hunter here is me. You are stalling for too much time. You are all my preys! Activate, Calamity Domain!” Arthrozan shouted loudly into the black sky. He raised his hand upwards, and a surge of energy shot out of the ground.
The black flames spread to all sides of the land for two kilometers, forming a dome of black flames with no way out.
“I also came with preparations, you know? Let’s fight somewhere empty.” Lifa tapped her feet to the ground lightly. Two layers of golden and green magic circles covered a thirty-meter zone.
*Poof*
Lifa and Arthrozan instantly disappeared from everyone’s sight.
“Where did they go? This Disaster Domain took effect but the caster moved elsewhere? How could she bypass the space resistance of this black flame dome?” Zhao Fu asked in wonder. He couldn’t understand what had just happened.
Several deities from the Divine Association muttered amongst each other. They wondered what was really going on. However, they immediately flew so as not to be affected by the black flames.
“She has more understanding of the dimensional space than you or I. Perhaps, she has already crossed the circles of samsara and ascended to the Godly-being for the umpteenth time, just like you. The other world holds too many mysteries beyond comprehension and imagination.” Gaia shook her head.
“…” Xero looked down and sat cross-legged. This domain oddly provided little comfort because his divinity was compatible with the destructive energies around him. Instead of hurting him, it actually healed him.
“Huff… In the end, we’re not doing anything here.” Nell sighed and cast some blessing magic for her core group. She created a safe zone free from black flames.
“Mm, our task after this is only to repair the damaged world’s law and barrier. This may end sooner than we thought.” Rhea already felt the urge to hurry back and join Elysia.
“Thanks.” Elena appreciated Nell’s consideration. She then signaled Gaia to come closer because she feared this domain would be dangerous.
“Fufu, thanks for your concern. This domain is activated, but it can’t hurt me because the caster isn’t in this realm anymore.” Gaia covered her mouth and went over.
“Hmm…” Zhao Fu crouched down and picked up the black flame to prove it. The fire burned his hand and couldn’t be put out, but he wasn’t hurt. He then threw the black flames to the ground.
“Yeah, that’s because you are an ancient one too. It will be different for those deities. They should not be hit by these black flames.” Elena glanced at the deities in mid-air. They smiled wryly at her because her statement was true.