Lord of Prayer

International Financial Mansion.

Under the transformative power of the Spirit Realm, the modern steel skyscraper had become an ancient, immense tower of pure white. This pristine white was immaculate and radiant, as if from the hallowed halls of Heaven, standing tall amidst the burning, chaotic night.

At the very top of the tower, inside a simple, pure white hall, the Eternal Life Machine roared to life. A vast torrent of space-time energy continuously erupted from it, keeping the Space-Time Tunnel open and allowing two separate timelines to gradually overlap and merge.

Illusory Investigation Mirrors floated in mid-air, monitoring the battlefield.

From a pure white throne, the Spirit of the End stared at the Hell Tank carving a bloody path through an ocean of monsters. He glanced coldly at the kneeling members of the Blood Race below before pointing toward the battlefield:

“Pansi, take your people and stop them.”

“…Yes.” The Blood Race Saint Child, Pansi, took a deep breath and bowed his head in acceptance. He had no other choice.

The Blood Royal Prince was already under the Spirit of the End’s mental control. Even he, the pure-blooded Saint Child, could not defy an order given by the Prince, leaving him as nothing more than a tool for the Spirit of the End.

After Pansi departed with the throng of Blood Race members, the Spirit of the End turned to the Blood Royal Prince, whose eyes had turned completely black, and issued a command: “You go, too. Block the Star Association.”

The Blood Royal Prince vanished instantly, reappearing high in the sky outside the tower to block the path of a Tier Four Uncrowned. Without a word, they immediately began to fight.

‘Such a farce. They truly have no respect for me.’

Watching the pair dance in deadly unison on the Investigation Mirror, the Spirit of the End grew visibly displeased. His finger twitched.

A sliver of the dark Curse locked onto Li Xiye’s Soul was triggered, allowing the corrupting power of the Abyss to spread.

A moment later, he turned to another Investigation Mirror and said with a smile, “I wish you a pleasant time.”

The Investigation Mirror showed only pitch-black darkness. Vaguely, one could make out a behemoth raising its ferocious eyes and grinning with cruel delight.

On the battlefield where the Star Association’s Ascenders clashed with creatures from the Spirit Realm—at the very convergence of the Spirit Realm and reality—the Gate of Hell burst open. A deep torrent of Darkness erupted like a geyser, carrying with it a colossal figure that blotted out the sky.

In that instant, a piercing alarm blared from the Star Association headquarters.

—Tier Five Monarch, the Dragon of Calamity!

If the Spirit of the End was going to enact a plan to destroy the world, he would naturally need help from the Abyss. He required powerful fighters to help him hold back the Star Association.

As the embodiment of Fear and disaster, the Dragon of Calamity was the first ally he sought out and won over. The creature was more than happy to meddle in a catastrophe of such immense scale; the more desperate the doomsday, the more Power it could draw from it.

If the two timelines truly managed to merge and dealt a devastating blow to history, the Dragon of Calamity could use that immense disaster to ascend to the rank of Abyssal King. Even if the plan failed, it could still harvest the ensuing calamity. It was a win-win situation.

Following that, the Star Association’s observation systems blared another alarm.

—Tier Five Monarch, Lady Spider.

“I hope you enjoy yourself, too, my lady,” the Spirit of the End said courteously.

“How much longer until the timelines fully merge?” a sinister voice replied from the Investigation Mirror.

“About fifteen minutes.”

“Then I will only help you for ten minutes,” Lady Spider said. “I have no desire to be swept up in the torrent of a timeline’s destruction.”

“As you wish.”

After a moment of silence, Lady Spider scoffed, “You don’t actually think your plan can succeed, do you? If you succeed now, then how can the future exist?”

“My lady, I’ve always believed that time can be changed, just as history is written by the victors.

We exist in the present. Why shouldn’t we be able to rewrite a future that holds countless possibilities?”

The Spirit of the End smiled. “As for why the future still exists…

My lady, time is a vast, surging river. If my plan succeeds, it will only blast a temporary hole in that river. Before long, the water will fill the gap and continue to flow onward. That is the self-correcting nature of time.

To be honest, my plan cannot destroy the entire World, but the destruction it causes—the death, despair, and calamity it gathers—will be enough for me to return to my peak, and enough for the Dragon of Calamity to take a great stride forward.”

Lady Spider fell silent, seemingly in thought.

The Spirit of the End chose this moment to urge her, “My lady, time is short. I must ask you to make your move.”

“I understand. But I will still only help you for ten minutes.”

“As you wish.”

After disconnecting, the Spirit of the End no longer paid attention to the battlefield. Instead, he closed his eyes.

He quietly waited for that radiant Soul.

·

「Atop the speeding Hell Tank.」

Li Xiye, who had been busy slaughtering enemies, suddenly let out a muffled grunt. The flesh of her beautiful face split open, revealing a pair of monstrous eyes beneath. Her neatly trimmed fingernails shot out, becoming sharp and pointed. Amidst her shoulder-length hair, a single lock began to grow frantically, writhing like a serpent with a will of its own.

Her body was showing signs of mutation!

Li Xiye gasped heavily as she fought to suppress the corruption in her Soul. She focused her will, and her eyes flared with a scorching cyan light. A searing Cyan Flame surged from her Soul, igniting and incinerating the corrupting power.

In the next moment, the extra eyes on her face closed. The hair that had writhed like a black serpent went still, and her nails stopped growing. The corruption had been successfully purged.

“The Spirit of the End saw us dancing, and it made him antsy,” Li Xiye said with a mocking smile. “He wants to make you nervous. Don’t fall for it.”

He was just like some twisted villain from a movie, the kind who enjoys psychologically torturing his victims, breaking down their mental defenses one by one to derive a sick sense of pleasure from it.