Whoosh~
The howling wind whipped past as Pollux maintained a steady distance above the ground, moving swiftly forward. Soon, a massive black shadow came into view.
The creature resembled a black panther, its entire body jet-black and moving on all fours. Dense, shadow-like tentacles sprouted from its back, swaying incessantly from side to side. Hyacine had encountered this beast once before, when she used Anaxa's Titan Divine Body to destroy the Moon. The creature had intervened at the last moment, only to be caught in her self-destructive blast.
An aura of Greater Divine Power and a thick miasma of corruption emanated from the panther-like entity. If it needed a name, "Child of Flesh" seemed fitting.
The Child of Flesh leaned forward slightly, its tentacles relentlessly pounding against a gilded barrier. Within this barrier, a white-haired, white-bearded man sat cross-legged on the ground, his brow furrowed in pain, his eyes tightly shut. Upon closer inspection, dark, vein-like marks could be seen snaking across his exposed skin—his arms, neck, and other areas not covered by clothing.
The sight was akin to an infected wound oozing pus, radiating an almost palpable sense of pain.
It didn't take a genius to guess that the figure within the Barrier was the Sun God. Without hesitation, the trio launched their attack the moment they drew near.
Pollux opened her maw, and a torrent of crimson flames, gradually shifting to purple, poured down from above, slamming into the Child of Flesh's back. Beyond the intense heat, Castorice, as the God of Death, imbued Pollux's breath with a certain 'death attribute.'
Against weaker foes, this meant instant death upon contact. However, against the colossal Flesh Membrane from before, and now against this Child of Flesh, this lethal attribute proved less potent.
This initial breath attack caught the Child of Flesh completely off guard. Utterly unprepared for any other presence in this place, it let out a shrill cry of agony.
Yet, enduring Pollux's fiery torrent, the Child of Flesh swiftly redirected its rear tentacles, sending them whistling toward Pollux with a terrifying roar.
Hysilens immediately leapt off the Dragon's back, her crimson blade materializing in her hand as she charged toward the attacking tentacles.
Her focus was razor-sharp. Just as the first tentacle was about to strike, she swiftly pivoted sideways in mid-air, nimbly evading the blow. In the same motion, she swung her weapon in a horizontal slash, cleaving the tentacle clean in two!
Against such a massive foe, conventional swordsmanship proved utterly useless. What good were techniques like chopping, thrusting, pointing, flicking, parrying, deflecting, or redirecting force?
It was like a meteorite had crashed down. Could anyone possibly parry or deflect a meteorite with swordsmanship?
Of course, if someone possessed a sword technique capable of splitting mountains, Hysilens would have no argument. Despite her novice status and lack of deliberate training, her basic skills were more than sufficient to deal with this enemy.
After severing the first tentacle, Hysilens began repeating her earlier maneuver. Her agility was remarkable, like a slippery fish darting through water. Each time a tentacle lunged toward her, she evaded it with minimal movement before retaliating with a backhand slash, cleanly severing the appendage.
From an outsider's perspective, Hysilens appeared to be dancing in mid-air, her movements so fluid and graceful that the battle could even be described as "a sight to behold."
However, the reality was far from effortless. The Child of Flesh, a Greater Divine Power-level enemy, possessed immense physical strength. Each incoming tentacle struck with lightning speed and ferocious force. Hysilens had to maintain razor-sharp focus to evade them. Had an ordinary person been in her place, even a glancing blow from these tentacles would have instantly vaporized them into a cloud of blood mist.
Moreover, Hysilens could clearly see that the severed ends of the tentacles were sprouting dense clusters of tiny flesh nodules. These nodules rapidly grew, intertwined, and within moments, the severed portions regenerated completely.
Only the tentacles struck by Pollux's breath showed a marked decrease in healing speed. This was hardly surprising: the Mother of Flesh wielded an Authority akin to "Life," perfectly countering Castorice's Authority over Death.
In other words, Pollux's attacks severely hampered the Child of Flesh's regeneration, but conversely, Castorice's instant-kill abilities proved completely ineffective against it.
Most of the tentacles were drawn toward Hysilens, while Hyacine stood on the Dragon's back, conjuring blades of wind to intercept the remaining few. Having just unleashed a powerful attack, Hyacine was slightly drained, leaving Castorice and Hysilens to take over as the primary offensive forces.
BOOM!!!
As Pollux continued to breathe fire, the flames she spewed grew increasingly intense, their color deepening until her throat seemed to glow with an eerie light. It gave the unsettling impression that she was about to vomit up her own bile.
And in truth, that's precisely what was happening. Pollux was exhaling with reckless abandon, as if her life meant nothing. After all, she was a Death Dragon—what need did she have for life? Even if she burned herself to death or exploded from the strain, Pollux could be resurrected indefinitely as long as Castorice remained.
Under the relentless onslaught of flames, the Child of Flesh finally began to buckle. With a low growl, it slowly sank to the ground, then vanished into thin air like a phantom.
Castorice immediately furrowed her delicate brows, scanning the surroundings in search of the vanished creature. Yet it had truly vanished as if it had never existed.
Castorice and Hyacine remained vigilant, staying mounted on the Dragon without moving. Hysilens, however, slowly descended and approached the crimson barrier. As she drew near, she could feel an intense heat radiating from it, like the scorching breath of a red-hot branding iron. Waves of blistering heat washed over her face.
Hysilens raised her right hand, and a deep blue sphere of water swiftly enveloped it. She then gently tapped the barrier, as if knocking on a door, and called out, "Are you alright?"
Instantly, the Sun God, who had been inside the barrier with his eyes tightly shut, snapped them open. His bloodshot eyes locked onto Hysilens's position, and amidst his pain, a flicker of confusion and surprise crossed his face. "Who are you?"
Hysilens introduced herself. "I am Hysilens, God of the Ocean from Okhema in the Material World. Since the light of the sun has vanished, and the sun has extinguished, I came to investigate."
"The Sun... extinguished?" The Sun God seemed to falter at these words. He turned his head, looking around at the scorched landscape where flames had nearly died out, leaving only embers burning on the ground. With a sigh, he murmured, "Have I finally reached my limit?"
The Sun God paused, glanced at Hysilens, then looked up at Pollux flying overhead. "You're not native gods of the Material World, are you?"
Hysilens raised an eyebrow, surprised. The Moon Goddess had said the exact same thing when she first met Tribios, calling her an "outsider god." Now the Sun God had instantly discerned her non-native origins as well.
The Sun God explained, "It's not hard to deduce. You possess minimal Power of Faith, yet wield immense divine power. Clearly, you're Ancient Gods, but I know all the Ancient Gods of the Material World, and you're not among them.
"Moreover, your strength is so formidable that you couldn't have recently become Ancient Gods. That leaves only one possibility: you must be outsiders from another world."
Hysilens replied, "Rest assured, we harbor no ill will toward this world. On the contrary, protecting it from the threat of Outer Gods aligns with our current interests."
The Sun God nodded. "I understand. Otherwise, you wouldn't be speaking to me so calmly right now. So, what is the purpose of your visit?"
Hysilens said, "To investigate the Sun's condition and see if we can assist you."
The Sun God shook his head. "I'm sorry, you can't help me. I'm at my limit. The Mother of Flesh's corruption is irreversible. Rather than become her puppet, I'd prefer to burn myself to ash in this final moment. Perhaps that's my best fate."
Just like the Moon, the Sun has always remained beyond the Barrier. The Sun must hang in the sky to provide light to humanity, but if it were too close to the ground, it would scorch the earth. Therefore, it must maintain a proper distance.
While this comfortable distance suited everyone else, it placed the Sun in a perilous position: beyond the World Barrier.
After the Mother of Flesh targeted this world, the Sun naturally became her primary target for corruption. However, the Sun God had resisted far longer than Artemis, the Moon Goddess.
For three centuries, the Mother of Flesh had relentlessly attempted to influence, corrupt, and decay the Sun God, much like the relationship between the Prayer Beads and Pan Ming. The difference was that the Prayer Beads were merely a Divine Artifact affected by the Mother of Flesh, at most shoving an earbud into Pan Ming's head. In contrast, the Sun God was directly influenced by the Mother of Flesh, as if having a colossal loudspeaker jammed into his mind.
Of course, the actual impact was far more terrifying than a mere loudspeaker. Even a single drop of water can erode stone over time, let alone the Mother of Flesh's corruption, which wasn't a drip at all but a high-pressure water cannon. Day after day, the Sun God was nearing his breaking point.
Even as he spoke with Hysilens, a profound pain etched across the Sun God's face. He suddenly sighed, "Perhaps... if I hadn't chosen to become a god and had instead lived an ordinary life with Christine, it would have been a better choice..."
Christine was the name of Artemis, the Moon Goddess. Artemis had once mentioned that all twelve True Gods were once ordinary humans before their ascension. Combined with the Sun God's current words, it seemed there might be some deeper connection between the Sun God and the Moon Goddess.
Thinking about it this way, it was indeed tragic. Two choices lay before them: one, to live an ordinary but blissful life with their beloved; the other, to become the Sun of the world. The latter choice meant the Sun God would be forever separated from Artemis, able only to gaze upon her from afar, never to draw near.
Then, the Sun God could only watch helplessly as Artemis perished, powerless to intervene. Knowing he would be the next target, he endured the agony, clinging desperately to survival.
Becoming a god might sound like a blessing at first, but for the Sun God, it had brought nothing but hardship. Ever since his ascension, he had never experienced a single moment of true happiness, only relentless trials.
Hysilens pondered this, then asked a pointless question, "If you had the chance to choose again, would you still become the Sun?"
The Sun God chuckled softly. "Of course. Even though I now bitterly regret my decision and long to experience the ordinary life I could have had, if given the chance again, I would still unhesitatingly choose to be the Sun that illuminates this world."
"Because this world must be illuminated. Someone has to step forward to become the Sun, and at that time, I was the only one who could."
After a pause, the Sun God turned to Hysilens and said, "There's no need to dwell on my past. Let's talk about you instead. In times like these, the arrival of foreign gods like you in the Material World is undoubtedly a blessing."
"You helped me repel the last wave of attacks, but that won't be the last. Still, it's given me a brief reprieve. I should be able to hold out a little longer, but time is running out."
"There's a Magic Ship I left behind in the Material World. Our only hope now is to use that ship to find a passage to other intact worlds and orchestrate an unprecedented mass evacuation."