Chapter Sixty-One: Battle

When Yue Longze soared at full speed above the Pacific Ocean, his one minute of activity was almost up; the timer on his chest emitted such a rapid succession of beeps that the sound was nearly a single unbroken note.

“Dive straight into the sea!”

Camilla’s commanding voice rang in Yue Longze’s mind, brooking no refusal.

“But my time is almost—” Yue Longze had just begun to protest when he noticed the timer on his chest suddenly burst into a brilliant blue light. He felt his energy restored, as if Camilla had never drained it at all.

“There is only success. Failure is not an option!” Camilla’s voice sounded again.

Glancing down at the timer radiating intense blue light, Yue Longze plunged into the ocean with a sharp, decisive movement.

Deep in the Pacific, darkness stretched endlessly, broken only by the strange, eerie glow in isolated pockets. The oppressive atmosphere made Yue Longze feel as if a heavy weight pressed upon him. Strange, grotesque fish—creatures he had never seen before—darted away in panic, clearly startled by his sudden intrusion.

Yue Longze pressed on, descending further. He began to sense a powerful, dark aura.

“This aura...”

A jolt ran through him. The sensation was hauntingly familiar.

He remembered now—this was the aura of the Lord of Darkness: the evil god Gatangehe!

But at this moment, Gatangehe should still be in the depths of slumber. With that realization, Yue Longze let out a long breath of relief.

He couldn’t help but imagine—if he could somehow draw the dark energy from the evil god, what a windfall that would be! It would be a tremendous boon. Yet, no matter which timeline, the evil god Gatangehe was beyond his current strength to provoke...

“Angle left and downward!”

Camilla guided Yue Longze toward the location of his counterpart in this timeline.

He followed her instructions, adjusting his course and flying ahead.

In the abyssal depths, a massive, forbidding island loomed, submerged in the briny sea. Through the murky water, it resembled a monstrous, devouring beast.

Yue Longze hesitated for a moment, then plunged into the island.

Within a dim cave on the island, three stone statues—each roughly his own size—stood rigidly in place, a faintly wicked aura swirling around them.

“Their bodies are restrained, but their consciousness remains intact,” Camilla informed him promptly.

“How do I absorb their energy?” Yue Longze asked.

“Engage them in a battle of wills! Erase the consciousness within their flesh!”

Camilla replied.

“How do I—” Yue Longze didn’t finish his question. Suddenly, darkness swallowed his vision, his body froze, and he lost all control. He couldn’t move a muscle, as if transformed into a living statue.

...

At that moment, Yue Longze felt dazed. Gradually, a faint light emerged before his eyes. He looked around; his surroundings were a hazy, ambiguous space, neither fully real nor illusory. The timer on his chest still glowed blue, reminding him he was still transformed.

“Thirty million years... At last, someone has come?”

A cold, mocking voice echoed, startling Yue Longze out of his lingering confusion.

“Hitlera?” Yue Longze guessed inwardly, judging by the tone.

A sharp, feminine voice laughed, “Heh heh, welcome to our spiritual world.”

A slender, elegant figure slowly appeared before Yue Longze in the shadowy chaos.

“So this is... a spiritual domain?” Yue Longze mused, surveying the indistinct scene.

As the three figures drew nearer, Yue Longze finally saw their faces clearly—it was the Dark Trio. Yet he wasn’t especially surprised.

!!!

“Who are you!” As Yue Longze’s form became distinct, Camilla—the leader—froze, then fixed an intense, probing gaze upon him, as if trying to discern his true nature.

Even with his transformation, Yue Longze could sense the shock on Camilla’s face.

In this timeline, Hitlera and Daram were equally astonished. After all, this was their former chief—Dark Tiga!

“Hand over all your energy,” Yue Longze intoned. He decided he would help this world’s Daigu by eliminating these future threats today.

“You?” Camilla could sense that Yue Longze’s aura was not strong; she alone could handle him, to say nothing of all three together.

“I don’t know how you possess his body, but your ambition is laughable!” As soon as she finished speaking, Camilla conjured a dark divine sword in her palm, gleaming with a purple, icy light. She moved in a flash, leaving a trail of afterimages as she charged Yue Longze, who had already assumed a fighting stance.

“So fierce?” Yue Longze had intended to engage her barehanded, but at that instant, the giant Cloud Cluster Sword appeared in his hand, shining with dazzling silver light.

In this realm of consciousness, everything about himself was nearly identical to the outside world.

Yue Longze raised the sword to parry, and when the dark divine sword clashed with the Cloud Cluster Sword, it was as if ripples spread through the very fabric of space.

In the dim, chaotic domain, silver and purple sword shadows danced, filling the air with radiant blades.

Yue Longze felt that Camilla in this timeline was truly formidable. If not for the Cloud Cluster Sword, he would have been no match for her.

The Cloud Cluster Sword was crafted specifically to restrain evil and demonic forces. Against Camilla and her ilk, it wielded an innate advantage.

Yue Longze hadn’t fought much with Camilla and the others in his previous timeline, as she had soon transformed into Demogea and absorbed Daram and Hitlera. So he was not entirely familiar with their true solo strength, and there might be differences between the Dark Trio of various timelines.

He waited patiently, searching for the right moment—

To unleash his sword-drawing technique for a decisive strike against Camilla!

He didn’t forget that two other warriors—Hitlera, the agile fighter, and Daram, the powerhouse—were eyeing him hungrily from afar. He had to conserve some strength to deal with them.

“You’re not without skill, I see!” Camilla pressed her attacks relentlessly with the dark divine sword. “But compared to the true Tiga of thirty million years ago, you’re sorely lacking!”

With a furious shout, Camilla’s sword morphed into a dark divine whip, lashing toward Yue Longze.

“It seems that no matter the timeline, Camilla always reveres the original Tiga from thirty million years ago...” Yue Longze muttered inwardly. “But you ought to know when to stop!”

“Hyaah!”

Yue Longze channeled all his energy into the Cloud Cluster Sword, causing it to blaze with blinding light.

With unstoppable force, the sword met Camilla’s dark whip head-on.

Whip against blade.

Would the sword be ensnared, or the whip severed?

Yue Longze’s answer: the sword was caught by the whip.

With a cold laugh, Camilla gave a sharp tug. The Cloud Cluster Sword was torn from Yue Longze’s grasp.

Deprived of his weapon, Yue Longze was suddenly in extreme peril. Camilla seized the opportunity, closing in with swift, elegant grace.

Her sturdy knees drove hard into Yue Longze’s chest. He gritted his teeth through the searing pain, enduring the fierce blow.

With agony coursing through him, Yue Longze managed a cold, victorious smile.

“My turn to strike back!”