"Prepare... for battle."
"My children."
When the lesser god spoke those words, his fate was already sealed.
A world nearly devoured by the Zerg—no matter if a true god's body descended—was beyond saving.
If these had been ordinary Zerg, perhaps there would have been the faintest sliver of hope.
But now...
With those powerful Zerg beyond the legendary rank having hatched, even a lesser god could no longer stop them.
The difference in strength was simply too vast.
Yet even so, as the ruler of that world, the god still had to let out one final roar on behalf of his people.
Roaring, he led the last warriors of his realm into battle against the swarm.
After some time, all beings across the embryonic multiverse saw a light.
A faint, but unmistakable light appeared above a dying world.
---
Elsewhere.
Peter stared silently at that flicker of light within the image.
From the look on his face, it seemed he felt a pang of sorrow—perhaps pitying the fall of a fellow lesser god.
But before Maeve could say anything, Peter had already calmed himself.
After all, his mission came above all else.
The order of that old fool sitting atop Heaven Mountain was one he could never defy.
"Maeve," Peter said slowly as he looked at the map before him, "send my command as the Angel of Judgment to the troops that have finished regrouping."
"All secret realms invaded by the Zerg—carry out total annihilation."
"Tell the commanders that weapons capable of destroying continents, including the Continental Quakers and Elemental Annihilators, can be deployed without my direct approval. Authorize… hmm..."
He paused for a moment.
"Authorize up to fifty percent of the stockpile. We'll need to keep the rest for other targets."
"These secret realms have lost all value. Rather than letting them become nests for the swarm, we'll turn them into weapons to destroy the Zerg instead."
Maeve blinked her blue eyes as countless streams of data flashed through her mind, transmitting Peter's orders to all divisions of Heaven's Army.
Countless angels went to the armories, retrieving sealed containers and delivering them to the commanders.
Each of these weapons could easily destroy an entire continent.
Originally, they were designed to fight the Zerg directly—but since the Zerg worlds lacked stable continents, Peter hadn't used them before.
Now, however, their time had come.
"Next," Peter continued, "have thirty percent of Heaven's forces move to the areas near divine worlds that haven't been completely overrun. Assist their warriors in purging nearby void swarms and prevent more worlds from falling and turning into hives."
"And during this period, send several angels to persuade those gods to cooperate with Heaven Mountain against the Void Swarm."
He looked at Maeve again.
"But remember—control the number of swarms they destroy!"
"They must not eliminate more Zerg than the gods' own armies do. And make sure our forces remain intact and undamaged."
For the first time, Maeve turned her head to look directly at Peter.
Clearly, she didn't understand why he was so cautious—or why he would help outsiders at all.
Peter only smiled, his expression flawless and calm.
"Don't look at me like that, Maeve."
"I won't openly defy the orders of the Holy One of Heaven Mountain."
"I know I must eventually eliminate all these lesser gods to preserve our secret."
"But right now, we should all be united against the swarm."
"If we attack the other gods too early, they might turn on us in desperation, sabotaging our war with the Zerg."
Maeve nodded slightly, finally understanding.
"Destruction is always easier than creation," she said softly. "Even though the Void Zerg are weaker than Heaven Mountain overall, we still can't underestimate them."
"Most divine worlds have far greater resources than secret realms. If their rulers, knowing death is near, choose to turn their divine worlds into Zerg hives, the swarm's numbers could rise to terrifying levels again."
Peter nodded.
"You're right. Divine worlds are not the same as secret realms."
"Their resources are far beyond comparison."
"In any case, send out the angels as I've ordered. I'm sure those gods have long been waiting for Heaven Mountain's 'support.'"
Peter smiled faintly as he gazed at the images of the divine worlds.
"No matter what they think, they can't escape the fate of destruction."
---
With Peter's orders issued, Heaven's Army began operating under a new strategy.
Part of the army advanced toward the secret realms, eradicating those worlds along with the Zerg infesting them.
Their devastating weapons shattered countless continents—turning them into nothing but elemental soup.
Such overwhelming attacks left no chance of survival—not even for the Zerg, let alone the native inhabitants.
Meanwhile, the other divisions of Heaven's Army, escorted by angels, headed to the borders of various divine worlds to help fend off invading swarms.
Most of the lesser gods, except for a single mid-tier one, welcomed these angelic reinforcements with open arms.
The pressure from the Void Swarm had simply been too great.
And deep down, many of them held unrealistic fantasies about cooperating with Heaven Mountain—a mighty power of legend.
The emissaries sent by Heaven Mountain—true angels—spoke with words that subtly hinted at "alliance" and "cooperation."
This only deepened those gods' hopes and delusions.
But not everyone greeted the angels with joy.
A certain group of "special" beings reacted very differently toward the beautiful, untouchable angels.
---
An angel carrying Peter's message of "goodwill" arrived at the edge of the Endless Abyss battlefield.
But as soon as she appeared, she noticed something strange—
The grotesque, twisted followers born of this world were watching her with an unsettling level of... enthusiasm.
Countless scarlet eyes fixed on her, unblinking.
For reasons she couldn't explain, her body began to tremble uncontrollably.