Within the Netherworld, the battle had not yet ceased, but the outcome was already obvious.
Having broken through the seal of Stable Keeper, and having woven his own divine domain within this place while restoring his body of defiant heresy, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven released all of his Buddhist vow power.
On the other side, Fudō Myōō chanted the Supreme Secret King Sutra of the Vajra Three Karmas of All Tathāgatas, likewise manifesting a form with three heads and six arms.
In its six hands it held a sword, a treasured blade, a lasso, a vajra, prayer beads, and a purification flask... Behind it blazed raging karmic fire, and it fought the Great Sage on equal footing.
By now, there was little technique left in this battle. The two world-shaking giants simply used the most primitive and direct methods, smashing the weapons in their hands straight into each other's bodies.
Both originated from Buddhism, which meant they were thoroughly familiar with one another's divine abilities—so although they fought with heaven and earth overturned, neither inflicted significant damage upon the other.
Their bodies were absurdly durable. As long as they were not struck in a fatal vital point, they would not be injured at all. Dodging had become unnecessary.
Under such circumstances, the situation was quite unfavorable for Fudō Myōō.
Sun Wukong was acting here through his own power, whereas Fudō Myōō was merely a projection manifested through Luo Hao's Diamond divine power and the assistance of an external formation. The time it could remain manifested in this world was limited.
As time passed, it realized that this battle would likely end as inconclusively as before.
After dozens of minutes, the Demon Cult Leader Luo Hao could no longer sustain such an immense release of curse power. In the end, she had no choice but to halt it.
After blocking the opponent's Ruyi Jingu Bang with the Sword of Wisdom in its hand, Fudō Myōō's figure blurred, then transformed into a massive burst of golden light and dissipated within the Netherworld.
"It's been a long time since Old Sun had such a satisfying fight—but it ended too quickly. Now all this fire in me has nowhere to go."
The Great Sage Equal to Heaven—Sun Wukong—flipped upright onto his feet.
Incidentally, he also dismissed the Three Heads and Six Arms and the Heaven-and-Earth Manifestation. His body gradually returned to its original state.
Though a god whose divine power was nearly inexhaustible, such high-intensity use of divine arts and brute close-quarters combat inevitably consumed energy.
However, the Great Sage was a battle-hardened and ferocious deity. His thirst for combat came from the depths of his heart, so—
"Next, it's your turn."
Dissatisfied by Fudō Myōō's sudden disappearance, the Great Sage once again transformed into a streak of golden light at beyond-limit speed.
This time, his target was still Erica.
Even with the dynamic vision enhanced by a Campione's physique, it was extremely difficult for Erica to clearly follow the Great Sage's movements.
Both his movement speed and attack speed were astonishing. In the blink of an eye he was already before her, unleashing a relentless barrage of strikes with the Ruyi Jingu Bang.
Moreover, unlike at the beginning, these attacks were no longer merely fast. They were clearly calculated to account for her acceleration and deceleration through the authority of the Raptor.
Several times, Erica could only narrowly evade his strikes by the width of a sheet of paper. It felt like walking a tightrope—one misstep and she would be consigned to eternal damnation.
So fast! In an instant, he unleashed more than ten consecutive strikes, each one layered with variations in speed.
The Ruyi Jingu Bang appeared to sweep in from the right—yet that was merely a feint. In truth, he spun and delivered a mid-level roundhouse kick from the left, targeting Erica as she attempted to dodge sideways.
Strike south while pointing north. Attack east while feigning west.
At first, Erica could barely evade using the instantaneous speed shift of the Raptor. But eventually, she was struck.
Even with the Bull authority reinforcing her body, Erica felt as though she had been slammed by a high-speed train.
Her collarbone shattered without question. Agonizing pain shot through her left shoulder.
As she attempted to pull away, the opponent dashed behind her at divine speed, cutting off her retreat.
"No, no—stay and play with Old Sun a bit longer."
This god of Steel completely controlled the rhythm of battle and saw straight through Erica's intentions.
Then, with a forward thrust of the Ruyi Jingu Bang—squelch!
Before Erica could comprehend what had happened, the Great Sage pierced through her heart with unimaginable speed.
Yet in the next moment, Erica's figure dissolved into shadow. That had been nothing more than an illusion created through curse power.
However, the Great Sage's next action was baffling. Without even looking, he turned and swung his staff behind him, striking an empty patch of air.
There was clearly nothing there. Yet the tip of the Ruyi Jingu Bang transmitted the unmistakable feedback of striking solid matter.
Another Erica appeared in midair, sent flying. Her face was filled with shock as she vomited blood and fragments of internal organs.
With just one blow, she was gravely injured.
Lying on the ground, Erica could not understand. Even Athena had been unable to see through this technique. Why, when facing the god before her, could she not create even a fleeting opening?
Perhaps seeing through her confusion, Sun Wukong boasted proudly.
"Trying to outsmart yourself, huh? Think you can fool Old Sun with trickery? Don't you know about my Fiery Golden Eyes?"
In the next instant, Sun Wukong flipped forward at divine speed, intending to finish off the severely wounded Campione in one go.
At that very moment, a soft sigh echoed through the void.
"Such a reckless Campione... how many times has this been?"
With the appearance of that voice, Sun Wukong—who had transformed into a streak of golden light—suddenly froze mid-charge, as though struck by a binding spell. His form reappeared in place, the killing aura that had wrapped around him vanishing in an instant.
Compassion and savagery still coexisted within his gaze. He remained poised in a charging stance—yet utterly motionless.
In the distance, Luo Hao, who had been circulating her energy to recover, also froze at that same instant. Every reaction in her body and every intense thought in her mind halted abruptly, as though time itself had stopped without reason.
In that frozen moment of the world, beneath the boundless glass-like starry sky, all light that had once concealed everything transformed into a river of stars.
The star river deepened, adorning some unimaginably distant expanse of glazed radiance. It was breathtakingly beautiful.
A crystalline starlight descended from within the galaxy. Within it, a faint, indescribable figure gradually emerged—forming a stark contrast with the increasingly dim surroundings. It was strange beyond words.
This figure, as though composed of the night sky itself, walked through the silent stillness. Yet it brought no hope, no warmth. Instead, it mercilessly severed all vitality in the world, cloaking the entire space in an atmosphere of pure destruction.
The star-woven silhouette glanced at the gravely wounded Erica, then turned a pair of golden eyes—cold and impartial as heavenly law—toward the Great Sage Equal to Heaven.
Even though he was still protected by vow power, and guarded by the divine art that rendered the Twelve Evils of Sattva empty, immune to malice—
The starry figure spoke no unnecessary words. She made no extraneous movement.
Calmly, she raised two fingers in a sword gesture—and pointed across the void at her opponent.
Zzng—
A sound like the heavens collapsing and the earth shattering resounded directly within the heart of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, who stood as the target. At the point in space lightly touched by the white starry figure's finger, an incomparably deep, spiraling black fissure suddenly tore open.
The space that had been filled with glazed Buddhist light and faintly twisting Sanskrit characters was entirely swallowed by that dark vortex, plunging into utter blackness like a crescent moon stained in shadow.
Not only that, countless streaks of black lightning spread wildly outward from the fissure as their core, radiating absolute destruction capable of annihilating all things. The black arcs extended in every direction, their overwhelming power continuously slicing apart space. The projected glazed realm, under this single move, began to fracture like a crescent-shaped crack across the sky. What had first been no more than the length of a palm expanded within milliseconds to a yard, ten yards, a hundred yards—still spreading madly.
That darkness was nothing else—it was the power of Kalpa that Satsuki had once observed in the world of Inuyasha, from Kikyo and Naraku.
Māra, the Demon Buddha, was a true enemy of the Buddha. When it came to Buddhism, Demon Buddha Satsuki was not ignorant—on the contrary, her understanding had reached a level sufficient to deliver both others and herself.
In truth, the core of Buddhism lay in impermanence and dependent origination. The existence of Māra represented precisely the aspect of impermanence.
It was Māra's existence that signified that even the enlightened ones who had transcended the Six Paths and reached the Other Shore were but part of dependent origination, and would ultimately dissipate with the changes of impermanence.
The power capable of accomplishing such a thing was precisely the power of Kalpa. Thus, the name of this move was: Reincarnation Sword · One Thought, Infinite Kalpa!
It was as though the brilliant, profound starry sky had suddenly been torn open by a massive rift. Or as though the crescent moon in the heavens had been plucked down, dyed pitch-black, and transformed into an inescapable sword of tribulation.
Countless space-rending fissures, sharp beyond compare, swept across everything. All Dependent Origination was silently severed and separated. Before a force that targeted the very core essence of things, all physical solidity and even spiritual resilience were meaningless. Every tangible and intangible existence was shredded by the escaping darkness, collapsing into fragments.
Shk!
Shk!
Shk!
Facing this sword that shook heaven and made ghosts weep, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven remained frozen in place. Yet within his Fiery Golden Eyes was only chaos and confusion.
His current state bore no resemblance to the overwhelming might he had displayed when facing the two Campione.
That was because the enemy was different.
As one of the few sword gods possessing considerable authority and martial valor, whenever he faced more than one Campione, he could draw upon the heavens and the stars to gain the power to destroy his foes. That was also the reason he possessed vow power.
The structure of gods and humans was fundamentally different.
Gods were the embodiment of rules. Even Heretic Gods were merely beings whose actions did not conform to humanity's concept of "justice."
Though they appeared chaotic, in truth these deities were strictly bound by their own powers and the names under which they manifested.
In terms of the harm they posed to the world—
Campione, who acted entirely according to individual will, were the more dangerous factor. Their power was largely stolen through usurpation. Without understanding its essence, they used it freely, unaware of the chain reactions such usage might trigger. And Campione were not gods. Their considerations extended only to the present moment. They brought turmoil not only to the earth, but also upset the balance between the mortal world and the Netherworld.
The existence of a Campione was akin to Pandora's Box—while representing hope, it simultaneously unleashed boundless calamity.
But Satsuki was not a Campione.
Thus, although Sun Wukong's sixth sense issued faint warnings, his power still remained calibrated to the level he had used against two Campione—making him utterly unable to respond to Satsuki's strike.
He could not even comprehend what was happening. Only his thoughts could still move.
"What is this..."
"Where is this..."
"Trying to trap Old Sun again? How outrageous...!"
In his dazed state, his Fiery Golden Eyes seemed to see once more the Tathāgata's palm that had descended from the heavens and sealed him for five hundred years.
Yet this time, that Buddha Palm transformed midway into a pitch-black crescent, spanning heaven and earth—severing spatial barriers, cutting through the flow of time, freezing everything into absolute stillness.
Behind that moon of tribulation that extinguished the Buddha, a divine figure stood observing him. Within those golden eyes was only indifference—a lofty, emotionless gaze that regarded all things as straw dogs.
In the next instant, the tribulation pierced through vow power, ignored Sun Wukong's protective divine arts, and swept across him.
His thought processes halted entirely.
Countless dense, horrifying blood-red lines spread across his body like a spiderweb. The fiery red of his burning eyes and the gold of his pupils dimmed simultaneously.
It continued to spread. Continued to spread. The crescent rift in the void showed no sign of stopping. Even with the protection of the Dead Line Boundary, the glazed Buddhist projection could not withstand such power.
The power of Kalpa had already transcended vectorial distance. It was an equal annihilation embracing all living beings.
And so—
The world collapsed.
...
When consciousness returned to Erica and Luo Hao—
They were already outside the seal of the Western Heaven Palace. The wind moved gently around them, clouds drifted across the sky, and time had returned to normal. Before them stood Candle Nine Yin and Yuri, looking at the two with curiosity.
"Eh? Lady Erica, you're out already. Did you defeat that god?" Yuri asked curiously.
"..."
Erica had no answer. In truth, she herself did not understand what had happened.
On the other side, Cult Leader Luo Hao also cast a suspicious gaze around her. She let out a rather adorable cough. It seemed that summoning Fudō Myōō had indeed inflicted a certain degree of internal injury.
Frowning with her beautiful brows, she spoke in a slightly hoarse yet melodious voice. "This is outside the Western Heaven Palace... have we already left that place?"
"Master's internal organs are severely damaged, already affecting the circulation of your qi. And this Campione here has broken bones and shattered viscera. It seems the result of this battle was quite tragic..."
The young man named Lu Yinghua spoke in a sarcastic tone. Still, he knew his limits. Aside from his poor tone, he made no excessive movements.
However, he was secretly pondering a question: which side had obtained the god's authority?
"What a coincidence. We were just speaking of you, and now we meet the two Campiones who have just finished such a fierce battle."
Princess Alice from France looked at the two severely injured Campiones in surprise. Just as she was about to inquire about the situation—
Her prophetic senses suddenly perceived danger.
"Leave here at once."
As she spoke, her astral body rose high into the air.
At the same time, the one who reacted in perfect synchronization was the girl who had been waiting all along—Candle Nine Yin.
Forming hand seals rapidly before her chest, she utilized the Candle Dragon's power over space-time. In the blink of an eye, she transported everyone to a position a thousand meters above the Western Heaven Palace.
Before anyone could comprehend what was happening, a sudden mutation erupted below.
From the shrine that had symbolized the seal, endless sword light burst outward—
Shkshkshkshkshkshkshk!
With a shrill tearing sound like the void splitting apart, hundreds upon thousands of cracks suddenly appeared across the site of the shrine, spreading outward until they encompassed the entire Western Heaven Palace.
Like a once-mended piece of porcelain shattering again, the ancient divine palace fragmented in an instant into countless pieces of dust, scattering across the ground.