Chapter 1281: The Change 1

[In the Prime Universe]

Three days had passed since the battle began, yet the void of the ancient battlefield remained filled with the sounds of destruction.

After Billion and Amun had eliminated six enemy Demi-Gods, everyone had expected the Eternals to react immediately. They had lost too many powerful warriors in a short period, and the disappearance of Sovereign Eternal Time, and Sovereign Annihilating Lightning alone should have been enough to trigger an investigation.

However, the Eternals had neither launched an attack nor made any obvious move to discover what had happened to their missing forces. Their silence had given Amun an opportunity he had been waiting for, and he had decided to use it before the enemy could change its mind.

Rather than remaining on the defensive, the Prime Universe had launched a fierce counterattack against the Demi-Gods already stationed along the battlefield. Amun, Aurora, Silver, and Ash had joined the assault, while the other defenders moved to engage their respective opponents.

The conflict had now spread across an enormous stretch of the void, where the powers of countless Origins collided and tore apart the already ruined remains of ancient galaxies.

At the center of the battlefield, Amun was engaged against three High Demi-Gods simultaneously.

Crimson chains covered the surrounding void, twisting around enormous structures of Order that repeatedly formed and shattered under the combined attacks of his enemies. Every time one of the High Demi-Gods attempted to break through his defenses, Amun answered with a command that forced their attacks to deviate, weaken, or collide with one another.

Despite being outnumbered, he continued to hold his ground, his expression calm even as the battlefield around him was reduced to fragments of broken space.

Elsewhere, the Dragon Sovereign fought with terrifying ferocity against two Middle Demi-Gods, his enormous dragon form coiling through the void as golden scales deflected attacks powerful enough to shatter planets.

The Naga Matriarch had joined forces with Essari Sovereign, their combined attacks keeping another pair of enemies occupied, while the remaining defenders struggled to prevent the Eternals from gaining an advantage through their superior numbers.

Yet one of the most intense battles was unfolding farther away, where Aurora faced an Eternal who wielded Lightning Origin.

She floated regally in the void, her hair moving gently despite the absence of wind, while an enormous storm of lightning surrounded her body. Blue-white bolts twisted around her arms and shoulders, and every movement caused the storm to expand across the surrounding darkness.

Her opponent, a tall man with long silver hair and dark metallic armor, stood within a separate storm of black lightning, his expression growing increasingly irritated as their attacks continued to cancel each other out.

Both were Peak Low Demi-Gods, and neither had managed to gain a decisive advantage.

Aurora raised her right hand, and the lightning storm behind her gathered into a gigantic spear. Its long silver shaft was wrapped in twisting currents of elemental power, while the spearhead burned with a brilliant white light. She flicked her wrist, sending the weapon tearing through the void.

The Eternal answered with his own spear, formed from black lightning compressed around a dark metallic core. The two weapons crossed an enormous distance in an instant before colliding with a thunderous explosion. Lightning spread in every direction, illuminating the battlefield as the two attacks disintegrated into countless sparks.

The man sighed and lowered his hand. "This is becoming a waste of time. Neither of us can defeat the other quickly, and there is no reason for us to keep exhausting ourselves. Why don’t we stand aside and wait for the main battle to end?"

He gestured toward the distant region where Amun was fighting the three High Demi-Gods, and his expression suggested that the outcome of that battle would determine everything else.

Aurora tilted her head, considering his suggestion before a playful smile appeared on her face.

"I don’t like sitting around idly while someone else decides the outcome of a battle. Why don’t I simply end your life, allowing you to rest permanently instead?"

The man’s expression hardened. "You may be a Peak Low Demi-God, but killing me is impossible. We have been fighting for three days, and you haven’t managed to gain even the slightest advantage."

Aurora was about to reply when something changed.

An immense fluctuation suddenly swept across the battlefield, so powerful and abrupt that even the most experienced Demi-Gods momentarily turned their attention toward it. It did not originate from any of the combatants present. Instead, it seemed to arrive through the invisible connection linking three particular beings to a distant existence.

Aurora’s smile vanished as energy surged through her body.

Her lightning storm erupted.

The countless bolts surrounding her suddenly turned brighter, and an overwhelming aura burst outward from her body, forcing the nearby void to tremble. Her Origin Resonance rose violently.

She had broken through.

From Peak Low Demi-God, Aurora had advanced into the Middle Demi-God realm.

Before the Eternal standing opposite her could even process what had happened, two more auras erupted elsewhere across the battlefield.

One came from a gigantic silver-steel hawk whose wings stretched across an enormous region of the void. The beast had been locked in combat with an Eternal when its aura suddenly surged, and the spatial fluctuations surrounding its metallic feathers became so intense that the enemy was forced to retreat several thousand kilometers.

The other belonged to Ash.

He had been fighting his own opponent, using his unique abilities to withstand a relentless series of attacks, but the moment the distant connection strengthened, his aura exploded with renewed power. The energy around his body grew denser, and the pressure he released swept across the surrounding battlefield like a storm.

Both Silver and Ash had also broken through to the Middle Demi-God realm.

For a brief moment, the entire battlefield seemed to pause.

Defender Aurora, who had been fighting near the Dragon Sovereign, turned toward the three surging auras with open astonishment. Even the Dragon Sovereign, despite being occupied by two enemies, could not hide his surprise as he sensed the sudden changes.

"Their realms just increased simultaneously," the Dragon Sovereign exclaimed, his enormous eyes narrowing as he tried to understand what had happened.

The Naga Matriarch felt the same shock. She had known that Billion’s summons possessed unusual abilities, but seeing three of them advance at the same moment was something entirely different. Their power had not increased gradually through the usual process of cultivation. It had surged as though a barrier separating them from the next realm had suddenly disappeared.

The Eternals were equally disturbed.

Several of them momentarily halted their attacks, sensing the sudden shift in the balance of power. Three Middle Demi-Gods had appeared on the battlefield where there had previously been three Peak or lower-stage opponents, and the change had occurred without warning. More troubling was the fact that the three newly advanced Demi-Gods seemed to be growing stronger even after their breakthroughs.

Amun, however, understood almost immediately.

His gaze moved briefly toward Aurora, Silver, and Ash before a faint smile appeared on his face. He had already witnessed the strange relationship between Billion and his summons, and he knew that their realms were connected to his own progression. If all three had advanced at the same moment, then there could be only one explanation.

Billion had reached the High Demi-God realm.