The surrounding Stone Statue Soldiers and Han Qi's men began closing in. They didn't interfere in the duel; they simply formed a ring to stop King Ming from escaping.
King Ming—no, Jelath Norton—looked at Fang Wenyu, a faint smile curling his lips. "From the moment my own brother died in your scheme, I swore I'd never join you. Enough talk—fight, to the death!"
Fang Wenyu said nothing more; the three Golden Orbs behind him surged, flooding the air with light as his force-field climbed to maximum output.
Clang, clang, clang! At full power the force-field could no longer be pierced by the Silver Sword; sparks instead danced across Jelath's Armor as his own strikes were reflected back.
Clang, clang, clang! The metallic ringing echoed all around, and with Jiang Ao no longer holding it back the surrounding dust and soil began collapsing inward.
The exchange between Fang Wenyu and Jelath did not last long.
Shhk! Under the relentless barrage, Jelath's Armor finally gave way to his own power; a bone-deep gash split across his chest.
Yet Jelath did not stop. His gaze remained calm—he knew Fang Wenyu's ability: to stop attacking was instant death; to keep attacking was merely a slower one.
Shhk! Shhk!
Once the Armor broke, within seconds Jelath was drenched in blood and his movements slowed.
Still the sword rose and fell, every swing of the silver blade carving another wound into his tattered body.
Fang Wenyu blocked expressionlessly, never counter-attacking. Moments later, as he prepared to parry the next strike—
—he froze, eyes fixed on the Silver Sword suspended mid-descent.
Across from him, Jelath's pupils had already lost their focus.
"Dead?" Han Qi murmured, watching from the sidelines.
Azakaya studied the corpse still locked in its swing. "He died two seconds ago; what followed was pure instinct. A formidable warrior indeed."
Wei Gaocheng stared at Jelath's lifeless form, astonished. "Just how strong was that man's will… to hold on this long?"
Salo gazed silently at Ming Wang's body, emotions churning. He had steeled himself for betrayal, yet with the Bureau of Gods truly annihilated, a bitter taste filled his mouth.
Fang Wenyu looked up. "It's over. Time to withdraw."
"Right." Han Qi nodded.
He walked forward, hoisted Jelath's corpse onto his shoulder, and turned back.
Nearby, Wei Gaocheng collected the bodies of Xiang Jing and Nancy—so long as they were intact, they still held research value.
The group strode into the settling dust with their grim cargo.
The sudden battle ended as quickly as it began: every Level Five of the Bureau of Gods slain, the Deputy Director of Xuanjian Division fallen, and Beika Country's capital left a charnel house.
When the mountain crashed down and the blast bloomed, overhead satellites auto-locked onto the site.
News of the event shot straight back to Xuanjian Division headquarters, which had been monitoring the globe.
In Town City, Wu Yuan sat in his office tracking which Awakened organizations might be heading his way.
Suddenly he looked up, face darkening. "The life-saving item I gave Jiang Ao… it's been destroyed?"
Beep-beep-beep!
The desk phone rang; Wu Yuan glanced at it and the handset answered itself.
"Director, something terrible!" a frantic female voice burst through—a voice that always gave him a headache.
"Speak!" Wu Yuan ordered.
"Satellite feed shows Teya Alliance's capital in Beika Country appears to have been hit by a nuclear-class weapon—the entire capital is rubble!" his secretary rattled off.
A video file popped up on Wu Yuan's monitor; he clicked play.
The footage showed a vast yellow-grey dust cloud blanketing nearly seventy or eighty kilometers.
"Looks like Jiang Ao's chances are slim." Wu Yuan's brows knit so tightly they nearly fused as he watched.
The distance was too great; by the time he arrived it would all be over.
"Still, after this, every other Level Five will beg to come to Nanwu Country." Wu Yuan leaned back, expression flickering.
Two Level Six homegrown fighters had already joined; once the remaining Level Fives arrived, they could at least defend themselves.
Defend—that was all Wu Yuan aimed for. The golden monster that had batted aside a hundred nukes and stood laughing left him awestruck.
The last hawk, Bai Wenliang, had ended up dead.
Even with two veteran Level Six fighters he wasn't certain of beating the Monster Association—especially with that centipede creature whose strength was equally terrifying… News that Beika's capital had been vaporized hit the internet within hours.
Following Nanwu Country's HQ City battle, the Bureau of Gods now mirrored Xuanjian Division's tragedy.
The two strongest human Awakened organizations struck down in succession sent morale plummeting worldwide; suicides spiked—no one wanted to live in such a hopeless world.
Nanwu Country's official site became the planet's gathering spot, for only Xuanjian Division still held the line against the Monster Association.
Bailinzhier: "Why hasn't Xuanjian Division acted? Human Awakened factions are being picked off one by one—stop the infighting, please cooperate!"
CrazyOldMan: "Heard Xuanjian's already dispatched envoys to recruit global Awakened groups—just didn't expect the Association to move so fast; before anyone could regroup, the Bureau of Gods was wiped out."
WhiteDancerDavid: "Nanwu should open its borders so us ordinary folk can enter. My tiny country hasn't a single Level Five Awakened—every night I fall asleep wondering if I'll wake up."
SuperiorBeing: "Piss off, white devil—why would Nanwu want your trash?"
HunterOfNiks: "Racist above—I'm screenshotting and doxxing you!"
The thread derailed instantly into a flame war.
While netizens worldwide tore into each other—
—the day after the Bureau of Gods' fall, Nanwu Country dropped a bombshell announcement.
A pinned post appeared on the nation's homepage.
[To oppose the evil Monster Association, the Blue Star Federation is hereby founded under Xuanjian Division's leadership, with participation from major global Awakened organizations. Three Level Six and twenty-nine Level Five fighters from across the world will stand guard, headquartered in Town City!]
The news ignited the planet overnight, giving humanity its first real hope against the Monster Association.