Ye Chen moved so fast the air caught fire. He was a meteor of black and gold.
Mo Tian met him in the middle of the continent, above the Great Plains.
BOOM.
Sword met Spear.
The impact shockwave flattened a mountain range ten miles away. The clouds evaporated instantly.
"DIE!" Ye Chen screamed, his face a mask of magma and hate. He stabbed with the spear a thousand times in a second. "Solar Devil Art: Thousand Sun Funeral!"
Mo Tian parried with the Heaven-Splitter. His Chaos Eyes spun, analyzing every trajectory.
"Too emotional," Mo Tian said. "Chaos Law: Distortion."
He bent space. Ye Chen's spears missed by millimeters.
Mo Tian retaliated.
"Heaven-Splitter: Void Slash."
A cut of pure white darkness sliced across Ye Chen's chest.
It cut through the obsidian skin. Magma sprayed out.
But Ye Chen didn't flinch. The wound healed instantly.
"I am immortal!" Ye Chen laughed, a distorted, demonic sound. "The Abyss feeds me! As long as there is hate, I cannot die!"
He headbutted Mo Tian.
CRACK.
Mo Tian's nose broke. He was sent flying backward, crashing through three hills.
Ye Chen didn't let up. He teleported above Mo Tian.
"REMEMBER THE TOMB? REMEMBER MY SISTER? REMEMBER MY SECT?"
Ye Chen gathered a ball of energy the size of a city. It was black fire mixed with red lightning.
"SOLAR NOVA!"
He threw it down.
Mo Tian lay in the crater. He watched the sun falling on him.
"Immortal, huh?" Mo Tian wiped the blood from his nose. "That just means you're an infinite battery."
Mo Tian dropped his sword. He raised both hands.
"System. World Eater Mode: 200%."
"Domain Expansion: The Maw of the Void."
The black sun hit Mo Tian.
It didn't explode.
It stopped.
Mo Tian's domain wasn't a barrier. It was a mouth. A giant, spectral jaw clamped shut around Ye Chen's attack.
CRUNCH.
Mo Tian ate the attack.
His skin turned red, then black, then normal.
"Spicy," Mo Tian burped.
He flew up, hovering face-to-face with the shocked Ye Chen.
"You have limitless energy," Mo Tian smiled. "And I have limitless hunger. We are a match made in hell."
"Monster!" Ye Chen attacked again.
They fought across the sky. Every clash destroyed a city. Every parry altered the weather.
Below them, the armies collided.
Xue Yao was a red blur. She had abandoned her mount. She was fighting a Bone Dragon from the Abyss. She jumped onto its back, hacking at its spine with her Zanbato.
"Is that all?!" She screamed, laughing maniacally as she bathed in necrosis dust.
Yan Luo stood on a floating platform, directing beams of light to incinerate waves of skeletons. She looked at the duel in the sky. She saw Ye Chen—the monster he had become.
"I saved you..." she whispered to herself. "I saved you so you wouldn't become this. But destiny... destiny is cruel."
Strategic Room - Shadow Court
Ghost One watched the battle map. The Abyss army was infinite. For every demon killed, two more crawled out of the gate.
"Master," Ghost One transmitted. "We are losing the war of attrition. We cannot kill them fast enough. We need to close the Gate."
Mo Tian heard the message. He blocked a spear thrust from Ye Chen.
"Close the gate?" Mo Tian laughed. "Why would I close the fridge when I'm still eating?"
"Ye Chen!" Mo Tian shouted.
Ye Chen paused, panting. His magma blood was dripping.
"What?! Begging for mercy?"
"No," Mo Tian pointed to the ground. "I'm just wondering... do you realize who you are killing?"
Ye Chen looked down.
His demon army wasn't distinguishing between Eternal Night soldiers and the mortals. Villages were being overrun. Farmers were being eaten.
"They are collateral damage," Ye Chen growled, his voice wavering slightly. "They served you. They are complicit."
"Are they?" Mo Tian smirked. "Or are you just making excuses because you enjoy the killing now?"
"SHUT UP!" Ye Chen roared. "I AM JUSTICE!"
He charged again.
But the seed was planted. The Seed of Doubt Mo Tian had sown in the first arc... it was still there. Buried under the lava.
Mo Tian dodged.
"I have a surprise for you, Hero," Mo Tian whispered.
He snapped his fingers.
From the Eternal Night headquarters, a figure was teleported to the battlefield.
It was a young girl. Blind. Sickly. Sitting in a wheelchair.
Ye Qing. Ye Chen's little sister.
Mo Tian had found her months ago. He had kept her alive. Kept her hidden.
He floated her in a bubble between him and Ye Chen.
Ye Chen froze mid-charge. His spear stopped inches from the bubble.
"Qing'er?" Ye Chen's demonic voice cracked.
"Brother?" The blind girl whispered. "Is that you? It feels... hot. And scary."
Mo Tian hovered behind the girl.
"Look at him, Qing'er," Mo Tian said gently. "Your brother came back. But he brought some friends."
Ye Chen trembled. He looked at his claws. His bone wings. The army of monsters destroying the world below.
"No... don't look at me..." Ye Chen covered his face.
"He did this for you," Mo Tian lied. "He became a devil to save you. Isn't that sweet?"
"Brother?" Qing'er cried. "Why is everyone screaming?"
"Let her go!" Ye Chen roared at Mo Tian. "This is between us!"
"It is," Mo Tian smiled. "But you are immortal. I need a way to make you vulnerable."
Mo Tian placed his hand on the bubble.
"Choice time, Hero."
"Option A: You drop the spear. You deactivate the Abyss Gate. And I let her live."
"Option B: You attack me. And the bubble pops."
Ye Chen looked at his sister. He looked at Mo Tian.
The Solar Tyrant in his head screamed: "KILL HIM! SACRIFICE THE GIRL! SHE IS WEAKNESS! BE A GOD!"
But Ye Chen looked at the blind eyes of the only person he ever truly loved.
His black skin cooled. The fire in his hair dimmed.
"Don't..." Ye Chen whispered. "Don't hurt her."
He dropped the Asura Spear.
It fell miles down to the earth.
"Close the Gate," Mo Tian commanded.
Ye Chen gritted his teeth. He formed a seal.
"Abyss... Seal."
The massive tear in the East began to stitch shut. The demon army wailed as their connection to the mana source was cut. They began to crumble into dust.
Mo Tian smiled.
"Good boy."
Then, he stabbed the Heaven-Splitter through the bubble.
And through Ye Qing's heart.