Chapter 602 - 555: Divine Blood Soil

Bertutan instantly unleashed three of his trump cards.

"Stupefy!"

This was one application of his authoritative Light of Enlightenment. It dimmed a target’s intellect, making them ignorant and forcing them to rely on pure instinct in battle, which would lead to frequent mistakes.

"Ultimate Treasure! Divine Blood Soil!"

This was a plot of pure land, stained red with the blood of a fallen god. When activated, it could briefly grant Bertutan a status comparable to a true god for one second. Each use irreversibly burned away a portion of the divine blood within the Divine Blood Soil, but for now, its supply was still abundant.

Bertutan’s three-part combo did indeed have a remarkable effect.

He ’perfectly’ broke free from the time-stop debuff and ’perfectly’ dodged a probing basic attack from the Sword in the Stone. Then, his Light of Dimming ’perfectly’ struck Shi Ming, who was wielding the blade. The Divine Blood Soil merged with his own body, making him appear supreme and inviolable, like a true god.

...

On the other side, Amonev plunged her Tempered Starblade viciously into Creator Uncle Tian’s head, then detonated it.

The starlight erupted into a million sharp fragments, blasting this Uncle Tian’s brains into a shower of gore that scattered like fireworks.

Stillness!

Herakrode had voluntarily entered a state of deathly stillness, thereby negating part of the attack.

Severely wounded.

It wasn’t a fatal blow.

Even with Amonev’s power, killing a New God in a single strike still required a bit of luck.

No matter.

There was still a chance.

Meanwhile, for Shi Ming, who was locked in a fierce battle with Bertutan, his designated Nirvana skill, [Time], activated again. This time, it wasn’t a time stop, but a time rewind.

It was a pre-set protocol.

If the first wave of attacks from both him and Amonev failed to produce the desired effect, [Time] would initiate a reset, rewinding time to just before the engagement and granting them a ’do-over’.

Given Shi Ming’s current mastery of [Time], he could rewind the timeline by up to 60 seconds approximately 32 times.

’I can make 32 mistakes,’

’but you can only make one.’

...

...

...

The golden sigils in his eyes morphed into an hourglass. It flipped over, and the fine, pale-gold sand began to pour once more. Time rewound to the moment before the battle began.

Attack!

Just like before, [Zero] nullified Bertutan’s [Void] power, and Amonev, wielding her infinitely-tempered starblade, plunged it down into the top of Herakrode’s head.

This time, however, Shi Ming didn’t use time stop.

The steles beyond tens of millions of battlefields would form a torrent, rendering the flow of time unstoppable. It was pointless to repeat a past failure. This time, he used time acceleration!

His speed increased tenfold.

Amonev’s speed also increased tenfold. Her starblade shot like a beam of light, plunging straight into Herakrode’s skull. Amonev unleashed her skill, [Star Annihilation], once more. It gave Herakrode no chance to evade before it detonated into millions of fragments!

[Concealed Thought]!

Amonev even had enough time to use a divine authority to permeate his shattered cells, concealing their very impulse to reform and resurrect, ensuring a complete kill.

The ultimate assassin’s performance was, once again, flawless.

Shi Ming’s target, meanwhile, shifted from Bertutan himself to the lamp in his hand.

The Twilight Lamp of the Prosperous Age!

Like Shi Ming’s [Wishing Star of All Worlds], it was one of the thirteen Companion Treasures of the gods. It could guide one’s return journey, nourish the body and Spiritual Power, and help restore one’s condition.

CLANG—

The Sword in the Stone struck the Twilight Lamp. The lamp was sent flying by an unstoppable force, instantly extinguishing and shattering. It dissolved into raw energy and fell somewhere beyond the battlefield.

If it were found and repaired, it would still be usable.

But Shi Ming wasn’t about to waste time crying over spilled milk. He had destroyed the lamp because he saw Amonev’s attack had been a perfect success. Herakrode, who had not yet fully recovered, had now suffered a fatal blow. Shi Ming would not allow Bertutan to interfere with this death sentence.

Bertutan grew visibly enraged, a rare sight.

The dragon scales on his body grew even more fearsome. Just like before, he unleashed [Perfect], the [Light of Dimming], and [Divine Blood Soil] in sequence. When time is rewound, ordinary creatures remain completely unaware. However, beings like New Gods and pseudo-gods—especially Nirvana Powerhouses who command divine authority—retain a certain degree of awareness.

Sometimes, however, this awareness is more of a hindrance than a help.

It can cause confusion in the one being rewound, making them occasionally forget whether they’ve already used an ability. In a high-level battle, such a lapse can be fatal.

"I’ve done it."

"Herakrode has entered eternal stillness. But I can’t rule out the risk of his resurrection."

’Good.’

’A risk of resurrection?’

’He’ll need the chance for that.’

’Next, I just need to deal with this master of the Light of Enlightenment. And I have to watch out for two things: first, that backstabbing trump card he once used to fell a god, and second, that method of his for "sacrificing a civilization".’

’The first one is extremely dangerous. Its power is on a level that even my Eye of Destiny can’t fully perceive. Not even Candela had a trump card like that.’

’As for the latter—sacrificing a civilization—I don’t want that to happen either. The closest civilization to Bertutan that had received his "grace of enlightenment" was the New God Star Civilization, located on the outer edge of the First Civilization Cosmic Country’s domain. I lived on that planet for a time, and its primitive tranquility gave me a strange sense of déjà vu.’

"Watch out! I’m accelerating time again!"

[Bore] couldn’t penetrate Bertutan’s body while he temporarily possessed the status of a god, so Shi Ming used the steles to accelerate time across the entire battlefield, hoping to burn through the effective duration of the Divine Blood Soil.

...

"You’re strong."

Bertutan, utterly ignorant of the timeless rule that villains die from monologuing, split off a sliver of his Spiritual Power to chat while they fought.

"No wonder."

"No wonder Huang Ji fell at your hands."

"And the real Candela? I suspect she met the same end... It seems [Zero], the very thing I’ve been plotting to acquire, has indeed fallen into your hands. You must come from that special planet, don’t you? You used the traitors in our midst to defeat us one by one, but you have no idea that in the face of true power, all of it is for naught."

The scales on Bertutan’s arms burst open.

His clothes, made of some unknown material, disintegrated into dust just as Herakrode’s skull had! His form, less than two meters tall, instantly swelled into a colossal dragon large enough to shatter a planet!

The great dragon roared, its eyes filled with bottomless, murderous intent.

The space above New God Star solidified, then shattered like pristine ice.

’A dragon?’

’A unique life-form?’

’??? That’s not right.’

On the other side, Amonev’s shock was visibly far greater than Shi Ming’s. The starblade gripped tightly in her hand trembled slightly as a single word escaped her lips involuntarily:

"A god?"

"Bertutan, how dare you use a god’s power in such a way!"