As the other Outer Gods bickered among themselves, Phainon remained unfazed, his gaze fixed on the Mother of Flesh before him. Despite her maternal title, she bore no resemblance to a female figure.
Instead, she resembled a colossal Buddha statue towering over the cosmos. Phainon suddenly recalled having seen something similar before—the phantom Buddha statue that appeared behind Pan Ming when he wielded his Divine Artifact.
However, the two were not identical. The one behind Pan Ming had been a simplified version, while the entity before Phainon now was far grander, more intricate, and infinitely more malevolent.
In truth, the Mother of Flesh had died countless times. Sometimes she was slain in conflicts with other Outer Gods, and sometimes, dissatisfied with her current form, she chose natural extinction. Each time she resurrected, she emerged in a different world, evolving into distinct forms. This time, she had happened to manifest as a Buddha statue.
The Mother of Flesh gazed at the figure before her, who had suddenly erupted in blinding light. Being closest to him, she could clearly sense the immeasurable and indescribable energy surging ceaselessly from Phainon's body.
The sheer magnitude of this energy far exceeded her wildest imaginings. Even all the worlds she had devoured combined likely wouldn't amount to even one percent, perhaps one-thousandth, of this energy!
Yet the Mother of Flesh felt no fear, or rather, the concept of fear simply didn't exist in her mind or consciousness. This was precisely why she had fought other Outer Gods to the death, resulting in her being slain multiple times. After all, she could always revive.
This time would be no different. The Mother of Flesh sighed wistfully, "Such an enviable form! I never imagined such a being could exist in this small world. If I devour you, I'm certain I can evolve into an even more perfect form!"
No, it's not just devouring, she realized. Even prolonged combat with such an adversary could propel her evolution to levels she had previously dared not dream of. The Mother of Flesh's nearly limitless capacity for evolution remained her most overpowered ability.
At that very moment, a massive, gilded greatsword materialized in Phainon's hand. Instead of immediately attacking the Mother of Flesh, he swung it casually. With each arc, the golden greatsword's arc widened, until it slashed towards the Moon, which was still relentlessly assaulting the Main World.
Boom—
Golden light tore through the earth and cleaved the planet. In the blink of an eye, the entire Moon was split in two, severed cleanly down the middle!
Molten, lava-like golden liquid boiled and churned at the cut edges. Golden flames began to scorch the celestial body, spreading rapidly until the entire Moon was ablaze.
Simultaneously, within the World Barrier, the Arcane Federation's capital city, the Floating City, had been continuously channeling energy to reinforce the barrier against the Moon's relentless assault. Thus, they naturally witnessed this cataclysmic event.
The wizards needed no special observation devices. A simple glance skyward revealed that the Moon's relentless bombardment of light beams had abruptly ceased. Then, in an instant, the entire sky turned golden.
"What's happening? Why did the Moon suddenly stop attacking?"
"Why did the sky suddenly light up? Is it the Sun God?"
Since these wizards had never even heard of Phainon, their first reaction to this sudden, dazzling light was naturally to assume it was the Sun God. After all, only this deity seemed capable of such a feat.
But the problem was, wasn't the Sun God supposed to be incredibly weakened?
Meanwhile, in the observation room of the Prophecy Mage Tower, Heinrich rushed in and demanded sternly, "What's happening outside?"
The same Female Wizard who had wrapped herself completely in protective robes, never ceasing her observations, stood frozen in place. After a long pause, she finally murmured in a daze, "The Moon... it's been cleaved in two..."
Heinrich frowned slightly. "Cleaved in two... what do you mean by that?"
The words "cleaved in two" were easy enough to understand, but it was utterly incomprehensible to apply them to an entire planet. Are you sure you didn't misspeak?
The Female Wizard exclaimed, "No, I'm not exaggerating! It's exactly what it sounds like! A colossal golden greatsword just cleaved the planet in half with a single strike! And it set the entire Moon ablaze! It's burning right now!"
"The wielder of this greatsword seems to be... to the north. Wait, wait, let me take another look—just a quick peek!"
Heinrich urgently stopped her. "Don't look! Isn't that the direction of the Mother of Flesh?!"
The Arcane Federation had recently learned that the Mother of Flesh's True Body had approached the Main World. Since then, they had been extremely cautious during their observations, knowing that even with all their protective measures, they couldn't withstand a direct confrontation with the Outer God's True Body—the Source of Corruption itself.
While speaking, Heinrich used Mage Hand to pull the Female Wizard away from the Magic Telescope. Just then, Hyacine arrived.
She glanced around before saying, "It must have been Phainon who acted. He's one of Okhema's twelve Demigods—the World-Bearing Demigod."
"Wait a minute—that golden light in the sky and that colossal Greatsword... are they the work of an Okhema Demigod?" Heinrich blurted out, stunned. He knew the term "Demigod" was just a title, their true nature being Ancient Gods, but illuminating the Cosmic Sea and splitting a planet with a single strike seemed a bit far-fetched, didn't it?
Hyacine nodded. "Let him handle the Mother of Flesh. After all, in a sense, the combined power of the other eleven Demigods, multiplied by thirty million, equals his individual strength."
Heinrich, the Female Wizard who had just been pulled down, and everyone else in the Observation Laboratory wore expressions of utter bewilderment and confusion.
"Multiplied by thirty million...???"
Hyacine affirmed, "Yes, that's right. He couldn't come earlier due to certain matters, but now that he's free, trust me—we can entrust the safety of this world entirely to him. After all... he is the World-Bearing Demigod."
Beyond the World Barrier, in the Cosmic Sea, after casually shattering the Moon, Phainon finally turned his gaze back to the Mother of Flesh. He slowly raised his right hand, pointing the Greatsword at her. "I shall... grant you a dawn where all stars burn to ash!"