Chapter 1287
The Beloved of Ten Thousand Wounds
The attack launched by Abyss Heavenly Envoy against Calamity Red was exceptionally effective.
Calamity Red had absolutely not anticipated that there would be a Pillar God-tier enemy sneaking an attack from the cracks of the World—
Previously, the White Dragon and the Red Dragon had fought and torn at each other for so long, and it felt like they had only left minor superficial wounds. It was nothing more than shedding skin and losing blood, but the moment the Abyss Heavenly Envoy’s tentacles struck directly, a scarlet fountain splattered and burst forth!
Each tentacle was like a ravenous demon snake, its scales as sharp as blades. The defense of dragon scales was completely useless against this level of piercing damage—and the tentacles in their activated state possessed Pillar God-tier priority, capable of easily breaking through the war aura protecting Calamity Red.
At this time, the Abyss Heavenly Envoy, having fully utilized the residual power of a forbidden Pillar God, was now on completely equal footing with Calamity Red in terms of divine standing. Furthermore, outside of the priority granted by the Pillar God position, the actual difference in strength between the two was as vast as the difference between the heavens and the abyss. Even the Silver Crown Dragon in its full glory might not have been able to contend with a fully enraged Abyss Heavenly Envoy. This was, in the truest sense, a Fallen Empire in an awakened state!
In the past, the Silver Crown Dragon had to be extremely cautious when fighting against the significantly weakened Bear Heavenly Envoy. It required Eivass to act as bait with his physical body, and two Pillar Gods to assist from the side, before they could completely eliminate him through a ritual. As a remnant of a fallen Pillar God himself, the Abyss Heavenly Envoy possessed far more power than the Bear Heavenly Envoy.
And now, Calamity Red’s power was clearly inferior to that of the Silver Crown Dragon. It was even harder for him to contend with the Abyss Heavenly Envoy.
It was ironic, in a way.
The Seventh Origin River, representing “Violence,” symbolized all power in the world—it was the fundamental reason for the emergence of differences above absolute and fair order: when the world, originally in balance, developed disparities in strength and weakness, a new order was born based on “violence.” In a sense, the Seventh Origin River was born after the Father Snake “refuted” the Hourglass’s path, serving as a “weapon” to attack order.
Yet, the Pillar Gods of the “Violence” Origin River grew weaker with each generation. They lacked “violence” more with each passing generation.
From the Path of Food to the Path of Power, from the Path of Power to the Path of Authority, and from the Path of Authority to the Path of War… the primitive concept of the strong preying on the weak was gradually diluted. The Seventh Origin River was increasingly influenced and assimilated by civilization and order. It was like the social relationships of the Material Realm, which had developed from primitive tribes to modern civilization.
It still possessed the ability to shake order, but it could no longer rebuild a new order. The Abyss Heavenly Envoy’s fierce, beast-like attacks had almost instantly dealt a heavy blow to Calamity Red.
The world-shattering mournful cry of the Red Dragon in the Dream Realm pierced directly into the Material Realm—not only in Holy Spring City or the Ancient Kingdom of Anxi, but it even reached the neighboring Horus, and the distant Primordial Heaven and New Hrasal!
Calamity Red cried out in pain as he tried to escape, but more tentacles pursued him, encircling him from all directions, almost completely engulfing the mountain-sized Red Dragon into a sphere.
Eivass, observing from the shadows, knew… this wasn’t necessarily because Calamity Red was too weak, but more due to the restraining relationship between their divine powers.
This could be explained within the knowledge of High-Tier Divine Arts.
The Silver Crown Dragon controlled authority and storms. he was also the God of Stillness, the God of Fury, and the God of Order. The reason he could use the power of frost was because “authority” tended to solidify itself; and his skill with storms and lightning was because “authority” also tended to punish and intimidate others. The monarch controlling the celestial phenomena was a representation of authority.
Calamity Red’s abilities, to a certain extent, countered the Silver Crown Dragon.
The divine power of War symbolized change and more primal “violence.” It was a step backward, overthrowing the power solidified by authority once again, returning the world to a chaotic state where “power” determined victory or defeat.
However, it was still not the absolute, unquestionable rule of the strong preying on the weak and the powerful bullying the weak from the Supreme Heaven era. Rather, it was a constantly changing, chaotic “weaker” form of violence.
In other words, although its divine power was born from authority, its most effective counter was the conservative and static Path of Authority. It was closer to the Path of Transcendence than the Path of Authority. This was proof of his past existence as a Disciple of the Ring Heavenly Envoy and the remnants of his past influence.
But similarly… the Abyss Heavenly Envoy also countered Calamity Red.
Since it was war, there would inevitably be bloodshed. The divine power of War must be related to blood—thus, the fall of the Blood Heavenly Envoy also meant the unsealing of this concept, and Calamity Red’s power increased. And since he possessed blood, he would inevitably bleed when injured, just like in the past Supreme Heaven.
However, blood was also a liquid, and as a Sea God, the Abyss Heavenly Envoy could still manipulate it.
The massive amount of dragon blood that erupted like a fountain, or a bursting dam, when pierced by the tentacles, was the power being plundered by the concepts invaded by the Abyss Heavenly Envoy!
Just as the Children of the Moon of the past feared the power of the Twilight Path. “Blood,” a pure and vibrant concept of creation, whether petrified or falling into the sea, whether solidified or sacrificed, meant falling into the void. And Calamity Red, who relied on the concept of blood to strengthen himself, was almost completely unable to resist the fierce thrust of the Abyss Heavenly Envoy’s tentacles!
Even setting aside this restraining relationship and considering pure strength, Calamity Red was still a notch weaker than the Abyss Heavenly Envoy—this was the Heavenly Envoy of Amber, the strongest Pillar God. As Pillar God Candidates, they were only slightly weaker than their respective Pillar Gods, but it did not mean they were necessarily weaker than Pillar Gods of other paths.
In this kind of divine confrontation, as long as a god transformed into their mythological form, their size did not necessarily directly represent their strength, but it was also closely related to their resonance with the Origin River… just like Amber’s sky-covering giant eye, or the Silver Crown Dragon that could cover mountains.
It was like in religious paintings, where the artist would adjust sizes based on strength and divinity. Thus, a dragon-slaying hero would appear almost as large as the dragon, and the dragon would look like a dog.
The Abyss Heavenly Envoy’s physique was more than twice as large as Calamity Red’s!
From Calamity Red’s perspective, all of this was utterly inexplicable—
The former Pillar God, his own clone, whom he had killed with his own hands, suddenly appeared inexplicably, possessing power not much inferior to his own, and looking aggressive as if intending to seize territory.
Arthur then knew that Vothigern was surely unconvinced—so he transformed into the form of a Red Dragon and began the most primitive physical combat with the opponent once again.
It was not that they lacked other means; however, this was a war of “self” against “self.” Whoever first used power other than their “own” would be considered to have fallen into a disadvantage.
But then, he inexplicably saw Vothigern exhale a breath of dragon’s fire into the void, and then charged at him. He was prepared to defend against the impact, but the next moment, the White Dragon suddenly disappeared, and then hundreds of tentacle spears pierced him completely.
—It was like being in a boxing match, and halfway through, the opponent suddenly dodged and jumped down, and then thirty bald burly men with Gatlins appeared and started shooting at you.
If it weren’t for his divine body being constructed from spirit—if this blow had been borne by a Red Dragon in the Material Realm, he would have immediately died from all his organs being pierced. It was only because the interior of their divine conceptual shells was filled with the power of Origin River water that they could survive this inexplicable blow.
Each strike pumped a large amount of power from his body, and Calamity Red was continuously bled dry. And by the time he was stunned and wanted to escape, these tentacles still pursued him relentlessly.
Calamity Red then realized—this was not a newfound power of Vothigern’s, but a third party had entered the fray.
He immediately became enraged.
“I am the Beloved of Ten Thousand Wounds, the lord of all blades and generals! Who are you to dare oppose me!”
In an instant, countless swords, spears, and halberds flashed in the air, accompanied by the roar of countless cannons from the void—
Countless hero afterimages appeared, instantly severing the myriad of tentacles.
Among them, one could even see the mortal form of the Wing Heavenly Envoy, or “Arthur” himself in his White Dragon form.
And countless fiery scarlet flames, mixed with a small number of dazzling white light beams, descended and completely incinerated the remaining tentacles!
