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Time was running out.
Ian didn't hesitate for a moment. He cast one final glance at the rift, where golden divine flames intertwined with purplish-red ichor. Then he looked at the fading golden figure, which was still struggling to maintain the crack. Even after the Ghost Bride had become "Lost", that figure persisted, its divine power already weakening as it was slowly engulfed by the surrounding writhing flesh.
It was the Sun God Ra, burning the last of his strength to grievously wound the enemy from within.
"May the Sun guide your path." Ra's voice echoed directly in Ian's mind.
"Then take care of yourself first!" Raven let out a sharp cry, spreading its wings and charging towards the rapidly shrinking passage. Ian murmured inwardly, then transformed into a streak of black light... Raven, flapping its wings with unwavering resolve as it shot out of the rift torn open by the Sun God's power, escaping the battlefield of destruction.
Ian could feel Set-Apep going berserk as he desperately tried to heal the torn wound. Behind him, countless lost Ghost Brides wandered within paradox.
The furious roars of the evil god shook the entire space.
The inner walls of the passage were covered in pulsating blood vessels and nerve bundles, and viscous liquid dripped constantly. Ian flew at top speed, dodging writhing flesh tendrils and suddenly contracting walls.
A faint light appeared ahead, the exit was close!
However, just as he was about to break free, the entire passageway suddenly contracted as if the evil god's internal immune system had finally reacted. The flesh walls surged inwards like a collapsing mountain, threatening to trap Ian inside the tunnel of flesh completely.
"No!" Ian poured all his magical power into one final burst, increasing his speed even further.
At the critical moment, a beam of golden light shot in from behind, temporarily stabilizing the collapsing passageway. Ra's voice sounded again, weaker than before:
"Go!"
It was truly a narrow escape.
Like an arrow released from a bow, Raven shot out of the passageway and back into the outside world.
"That was close!"
Ian immediately reverted to human form after emerging, landing somewhat unsteadily. Turning around, he saw the massive rift closing rapidly under the evil god's furious roars and berserk regeneration of flesh. The opening sealed itself completely, as if it had never existed.
The once-glorious pillar of golden light had almost been entirely devoured and covered by writhing, proliferating dark-red flesh. Only a faint glimmer remained, like a dying candle flickering in the wind, before it, too, was swallowed by the healed flesh.
In the sky, the battle had reached its climax.
"This thing's rate of evolution is truly astonishing."
Osiris, the Lord of the Underworld, and the goddess Isis were clearly at a disadvantage. Their divine power was beginning to falter.
Although Set-Apep had sustained internal injuries, his presence remained overwhelming. Sixteen wings of light blotted out the sky. The moment Ian emerged, he focused entirely on the center of the battlefield, that colossal evil god covering half the sky. Its sixteen handsome, flawless faces were contorted with agony from the internal damage.
Its giant, purplish-red eyes burned with fury and pain. Countless tentacles lashed out wildly in an attempt to fend off the divine couple's attack. At its mountain-like, undulating neck, formed of pulsating flesh, the Eye of Ra pulsed like a heart, wrapped in pus and radiating an ominous purple-red glow.
With each beat, it drew power from the evil god's massive body. At the same time, a stream of Sun God power, sharing the same origin that Ian had sensed, yet completely twisted and corrupted, flowed endlessly into the evil god, forming the foundation of its resistance against Osiris and Isis.
"As expected, his source of power still comes from the Sun God."
Ian's gaze locked onto the Eye of Ra around the evil god's neck. The amulet emitted a sinister glow, resembling a miniature sun providing endless energy.
"That thing must be destroyed," he thought.
Tightening his grip on his wand, Ian began to approach the battlefield silently. He would only have one chance. The question was: how could he lower the evil god's guard enough to get close to the Eye of Ra?
He thought carefully.
The evil god had already sensed that Ian Prince had escaped from within it and returned to the battlefield. Its vigilance towards him was at its highest level.
Naturally, Osiris also noticed him the moment he appeared.
As Ian reformed into human form in mid-air, the two ancient gods' gazes shifted almost simultaneously from the battling evil god to him, just as its attention did.
No words were spoken.
On Osiris's solemn face, formed from wailing souls, his golden vertical pupils contracted slightly. Then, an extremely subtle yet unmistakable signal was sent to Isis beside him.
A trace of understanding flashed across Isis's face, woven from starlight and moonlight.
They felt it.
It wasn't a fluctuation of magical power from the outside world but a resonance arising from the depths of Ian's soul, a faint yet genuine echo of the power of the Sun God, sharing the same origin as Ra, yet diluted by a mortal bloodline. More precisely, it was the 'Prince' bloodline within Ian that had been forcefully ignited and was still surging like molten gold. This bloodline itself was proof of an ancient covenant, an indirect extension of the will of the Sun God Ra.
Everything was understood without words.
The two gods instantly perceived the change within Ian. They knew that the Sun God Ra, whose true body had long been devoured by the evil god, had established contact with this 'traveler' from the future through his final core will.
The plan could already be considered half successful.
Like a faint ray piercing through heavy storm clouds, hope broke through the despair of the twilight of the gods. The solemn chant of the surrounding wailing souls quickened subtly by a single beat, while the radiance of the stars around Isis grew noticeably brighter.
"Good."
Osiris gave an almost imperceptible nod. The attack with his hooked staff suddenly intensified, creating an opening for Ian. Isis cooperated seamlessly, her Ankh Cross blooming with an even more brilliant radiance that firmly drew the attention of the evil god.
The two exchanged a glance. No words were needed.
After all, they had been husband and wife for countless years.
"Shatter that... container!" Ian's voice rang out clearly amid the thunder of the War of the Gods, filled with unwavering resolve. "Then the Sun God Ra can reclaim the power that was stolen from him!"
There was no time to hesitate.
Ian took a deep breath. Before his words had even faded, he formed seals with his hands before his chest, raising his wand high. The 'Prince' bloodline power within him, ignited by the Sun God and flowing like molten gold, fully merged with his power as a legendary wizard.
In that moment, he was no longer a mere mortal looking up to the gods.
The resonance of his bloodline forcefully elevated his status, enabling him to stand briefly on the same 'stage' as the evil god.
He was no longer 'Ian Prince.'
He was the executor of the Covenant of the Prince.
"What a remarkable origin for this bloodline," Ian muttered, sensing the awakened power within him. It felt both foreign and familiar, as if a dormant contract had come alive after a thousand years. Blessed with the power of the Sun God, his magical status had temporarily risen to match that of the evil god.
A glory beyond mortal imagination.
And yet…
Ian's emotions weren't particularly turbulent. Unlike ordinary people, he didn't have much respect for the gods. Ultimately, he just wanted to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.
He wanted to take the Eye of Ra as an opportunity to leave this bizarre era.
"Paradox Chains!"
Ian swung his wand, casting a modified spell enhanced by the power of the Sun God, naturally mixed with his own Paradox Authority.
In the next instant, countless semi-transparent silver chains shot out from the void. These chains were not physical objects, but constructs of pure paradox. Ignoring the evil god's adaptive force field, they wrapped directly around Set-Apep's light wings.
Astonishingly, they managed to restrain the evil god's movements, if only temporarily.
"What?"
"You can influence me with that kind of power?"
For the first time, Set-Apep showed genuine surprise. He was familiar with Ian's Paradox power... after all, Ian had used it against the Ghost Brides earlier.
However, in the evil god's prior assessment, a power capable of dealing with Ghost Brides should not have been able to affect him. Now that the difference in their statuses had been levelled, however, he found himself influenced.
"So… this is also a form of Divine Authority."
The evil god was not just chaos and malice; he was intelligent and could think. Realizing this, his gaze turned intensely greedy.
To him, devouring Ian meant obtaining this power as well.
"You cannot kill me! As long as the Sun does not fall, I will not die!"
Now that Ian had glimpsed the truth, the evil god no longer bothered to conceal it. His immortality was based on the power of the Sun God Ra. Despite being bound by the Paradox Chains, he showed no signs of panic.
In fact, he was attempting to analyze Ian's power.
Of course, Osiris and Isis were not going to let this opportunity slip by.
The Lord of the Underworld's hooked staff struck straight towards the evil god's chest, while Isis's Ankh Cross targeted the Eye of Ra. The evil god was immediately forced into a passive position under this three-sided assault.
"Detestable insects!"
Set-Apep roared, his sixteen wings of light beating wildly as he tried to break free from the Paradox Chains. But the nature of those chains was peculiar indeed, they both existed and did not exist; they were both solid and fragile.
The more he struggled, the tighter they bound him.
Meanwhile, Ian continuously shifted spells, wielding Paradox power with masterful precision.
Existence Erasure!
He pointed at one of the evil god's tentacles. Instantly, it became semi-transparent, as if it might vanish from reality at any moment.
"Time Paradox!"
He pointed to another spot.
The wound on that part of the evil god's body began to exhibit two opposing states simultaneously, healing and worsening at the same time. Facing such power for the first time, the evil god seemed momentarily overwhelmed.
"Now!"
The chant of wailing souls from Osiris suddenly surged in pitch, transforming into sonic blades that sliced at the core flesh nodes exposed by the evil god's agony. At the same time, Isis swept her hands through the void, and countless spears formed from pure starlight and engraved with ancient sealing runes rained down like a storm, striking the energy nodes that maintained the stability of the Eye of Ra with precision.
Three against one!
The true chaotic battle finally erupted in full.
Ian's Paradox magic acted like a precise scalpel, constantly severing the evil god's power foundations and conceptual existence. Osiris's wailing soul hymn was a brutal hammer, targeting the weaknesses of body and soul alike. Meanwhile, Isis's starlight spears formed an inescapable net, restricting movement while continuously applying sealing pressure.
Their assault was relentless, like crashing waves, and their coordination was flawless.
The evil god's massive body struggled to keep up under the three-pronged attack. Its purplish-red eyes burned with disbelief and fury.
Cracks appeared in its once perfect form. Some tentacles were severed by Osiris's hymn and dissolved into ichor that rained down. Starlight spears pierced its flesh deeply, erupting with purifying radiance. Meanwhile, the conceptual annihilation ripples created by Ian clung to the evil god like parasites, steadily eroding its stability.
With each strike, the evil god let out pained roars, its power fluctuating and declining visibly.
"Damn it! Damn it!"
Set-Apep had never appeared so battered before. Its wings of light were entangled by Paradox chains. Multiple parts of its body were affected by existence erasure, and the Time Paradox prevented it from healing efficiently. The deadly power of Osiris and the life force of Isis were continuously eroding its essence.
It was a one-sided beating with no chance of fighting back.
Of course, both Ian and the evil god knew this would only be temporary.
After all, the evil god possessed monstrous adaptability and the ability to evolve.
Given enough time... it could adapt to these attacks and evolve into something even more terrifying, eventually tilting the scales of victory in its favor.
"We absolutely cannot drag this out when fighting something like this."
A thought flashed through Ian's mind. He raised his wand and pointed it directly at the Eye of Ra.
"Ultimate Paradox - Self-Contradiction!"
It was the strongest Paradox magic he could cast, forcing the Eye of Ra into two contradictory states at once: 'destroyed' and 'completely intact'. Such a fundamental contradiction would usually be enough to shatter a magical artifact.
Ian had not forgotten his primary goal: to destroy the Eye of Ra and allow the Sun God to reclaim his divine power. That was the safest path to victory.
His strike came suddenly and with unstoppable force.
However, just as the magic was about to hit, the Eye of Ra suddenly erupted in an unprecedented display of brilliance. The evil god let out a roar filled with agony and ecstasy.
Its body began to undergo a rapid transformation.
"Adaptation and evolution are the ultimate truth!"
Countless voices rang out in unison.
"Even Paradox... can be analyzed and understood by me!"
The moment those words were uttered... Ian watched in shock as the evil god's body turned semi-transparent.
It was as if it existed in multiple states simultaneously. The Paradox chains began to fail. The effects of existence erasure were neutralized. Even the Time Paradox had completely adapted.
"Impossible! How can it be happening so quickly?!" Ian could hardly believe it.
Set-Apep burst into triumphant laughter.
"Foolish wizard! Do you think Paradox is an incomprehensible, profound concept? Perhaps for you, but for an existence that has devoured countless intelligent beings and fused their cognition, even a single second can be divided into countless moments for analysis and understanding."
The evil god's ability to adapt was terrifyingly fast.
Initially, Ian's Paradox magic dealt significant damage, but its effectiveness soon plummeted. In just a few minutes, Set-Apep had almost completely become immune to its influence.
"Troublesome..."
Ian could feel the situation turning grim. His magical power was draining rapidly while the evil god only grew stronger as the battle dragged on. Osiris and Isis realized this as well. Osiris's expression became more solemn than ever, while beads of golden sweat appeared on Isis's forehead.
The two gods had already given their all, but the evil god's adaptability was simply too much.
"So this is the insignificant favor that the coward granted you after your little conversation?"
The evil god had fully regenerated again and spoke in a lofty, mocking tone.
"It seems... You chose the wrong side."
It was as if he were pronouncing Ian's death sentence.
(End of Chapter)
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