Chapter 285: Triumphant Return

The Starry Tree, a manifestation of the Lady of Night’s power, collided with the colossal palm pressed down by the Lord of Immortality. Their powers clashed and annihilated one another, forming a chaotic, swirling vortex of void energy at the junction of the giant hand and the tree’s crown.

"Hng..."

The Lord of Immortality felt a flicker of confusion; how could an entity so similar to itself appear so abruptly?

Void Evil Gods rarely fought each other in the void. Their goals were largely the same: to breach the barrier between the void and the material world, then spread chaos and disorder.

"Hum..."

Yet, the Lord of Immortality did not abandon its attempt to erase Wang Yu because of the tree’s appearance. These Evil Gods, whose minds were more or less fractured, did not bother to weigh the pros and cons.

If it wanted to kill Wang Yu, it had to kill him. If another Evil God intervened, it would simply shatter that god’s power and then kill Wang Yu.

A second palm was pressed down by the Lord of Immortality onto the top of the Starry Tree. Endless void energy, laden with unimaginable madness and chaos, converged from all directions, coating that massive hand to unleash its supreme, absolute power.

"Boom, boom, boom, boom!"

The collision of such immense power caused the Starry Tree to tremble. The points of light in the night sky upon it began to flicker, and the water-like darkness rippled in waves. It was clear that the Starry Tree was losing ground in its confrontation with the Lord of Immortality.

"Is this alright? If it's going to cause you harm, you can drop me here. It can't do anything to me; just protect the two-way passage, and I'll find a way up later."

Wang Yu, enveloped by the Starry Tree, felt the swaying and vibration of the giant tree. He turned to the tall lady in a black gauze dress beside him.

"It is of no consequence. I am not the only one who has come. I can still provide temporary shelter."

The Lady of Night, Darkness, shook her head, rejecting Wang Yu’s proposal. She indicated it was unnecessary; while her power was insufficient to rival a true Void Evil God like the Lord of Immortality, providing temporary refuge for Wang Yu was well within her capabilities.

"That's good. Many thanks."

Wang Yu flashed a smile and gave a thumbs-up to his theoretical superior. Once again, he, an Archbishop, had to be saved by his own deity.

"Boom, boom, boom, boom!"

The Lord of Immortality’s onslaught grew more violent. Upon discovering that the giant tree’s defensive power was far sturdier than anticipated, it flew into a rage. Nothing could stop it; it would crush everything that stood in its way.

The Starry Tree shook and shuddered, and as it collided with the Lord of Immortality’s power, large amounts of black substance peeled away from its surface.

As the outer layer of darkness faded, what lay beneath the bark was revealed: a sky filled with brilliant stars, possessing colors far more dazzling than the outer layer, with starlight flickering incessantly, rich with life and vitality.

If the previous layer of darkness was a dim night sky, then now, with the outer darkness stripped away, the Starry Tree revealed a resplendent galaxy.

Wang Yu knew that the points of light in this starry sky represented the Lady of Night’s believers. It seemed the Church of Night had developed quite well during his absence.

The starlight varied in density and size, with faint, dim specks alongside large, radiant stars. This represented the depth of faith; the more devout the believer, the brighter their corresponding star on the tree.

To be honest, Wang Yu found the Lady of Night to be a fascinating deity. She had told him her domains were Night and Concealment, but looking at this Starry Tree—the manifestation of her power—it seemed that as her believers increased, the starlight grew brighter and more vibrant.

Overall, the Lady of Night gave Wang Yu the impression that her domains were drifting, yet he couldn't find any fault in it.

The powers of Concealment and Night were indeed strengthening within her. Standing by her side, Wang Yu could feel that her power was entirely different from when they were at the Shadow of the Royal City.

The Starry Tree, now revealing its celestial exterior, began to show signs of instability. The power unleashed by the Lord of Immortality was gradually exceeding the tree’s limit. If they continued to hold out, the foundation of her divinity might be damaged in the collision.

However, since the Lady of Night had said she was not the only one who had come, there was nothing to worry about.

The reason Qi Ge had not arrived at the Spellcaster’s Wizard Tower with Wang Yu and Avia was that Wang Yu had asked him to find reinforcements in Alastair.

After all, why follow rules when dealing with these disgusting devils? Why not gang up on them? Besides, Wang Yu was not the type to show off; if they could fight together, he would never intentionally face the enemy alone.

Just as the Starry Tree began to sway violently and the Lady of Night’s protection over Wang Yu was about to be pierced by the Lord of Immortality, a phantom longsword, shimmering with holy, crimson-gold light, pierced through the spatial blockade from the two-way passage above Wang Yu’s head and plunged into the void, aimed directly at the Lord of Immortality.

The holy golden sword moved with unimaginable speed. In a flash of gold, it had already struck the body of the Lord of Immortality.

Compared to the massive form of the Lord of Immortality, the sword stuck in the center of its chest looked pitifully small.

However, the purpose of this object was not to use its meager divine power to defeat the Lord of Immortality; its function was similar to the Evil God’s mark—a beacon.

"Father Fang is here too?"

Wang Yu asked the Lady of Night beside him with some surprise. The longsword was condensed from pure divine light; though it appeared small, it would be impossible for anyone below the level of a high-ranking priest to manifest it.

"Fang? Stuart has important matters to attend to. He sent the newly appointed Temple Paladin."

The Lady of Night replied, her tone carrying a hint of amusement.

"Let me guess, Edward?"

Wang Yu pondered; the identity of this newly appointed Temple Paladin seemed easy enough to guess.

"Correct."

The Lady of Night nodded.

"Doing well for himself, then."

Folding his arms and watching the void undergo changes, Wang Yu spoke casually. He had begun to understand the Church of Light’s inexplicable way of doing things; they probably saw that Edward was qualified and just found some excuse to bestow a ridiculously impressive title upon him.

It was much like when Father Fang became an Archbishop years ago. He just wondered how many big shots of the Church of Light Edward had to knock down to get this status—though it seemed Edward’s own identity was already impressive enough.

Similar to the light that once poured through the crack above the mental palace in Father Fang’s mental space—a memory Wang Yu still held—a light appeared behind the Lord of Immortality.

This time, it did not appear in the mental space where the material world and the void intersected, but manifested in the void itself, releasing its power.

Through the crack that appeared in the void, Wang Yu saw an incredibly dazzling sphere of light, with countless golden threads of light coming from nowhere, connecting into the giant orb.

The orb itself, at this moment, transmitted a tidal wave of golden radiance through the rift, transforming into a waterfall of light that poured down from the crack, flowing onto the spot marked by the sword-beacon: the body of the Lord of Immortality.

"Is that the God of Light? It certainly looks completely different from the Lady of Night, and different from those Evil Gods as well."

Wang Yu glanced at the sphere radiating endless golden light, then turned to look at the Lady of Night beside him.

She had closed her eyes, not looking at the conspicuous orb within the bright crack; it seemed the existence of the God of Light was not something the Lady of Night could look upon directly.

For Wang Yu, however, it was the same as always; other than the brightness stinging his eyes, he felt nothing unusual.

"Sshhh!"

A faint, almost imperceptible sound echoed. The moment the stream of light touched the body of the Lord of Immortality, its form began to dissolve under the radiance.

Pain surged into its consciousness, followed immediately by fury. It violently turned its massive body, churning up mountain-crushing waves of void energy, preparing to completely erase the thing that had harmed it.

Then, the giant orb was caught by the Lord of Immortality. Memories surfaced—that familiar power, the same aura as the golden-clad figure who had once charged into the void and torn several Void Evil Gods just like it to shreds.

The only scar on its perfect, immortal body began to ache faintly; it was the one left behind by that golden figure.

In the long passage of time, it had thought its assessment of that existence had become "interesting," but when it truly saw that being again, the Lord of Immortality chose to retreat without a moment’s hesitation.

This behavior, which was not at all like an Evil God, was the very reason it had survived all those years ago.

Silently, the Lord of Immortality, its body largely destroyed by the golden light, gradually vanished into the void. It had left.

After it disappeared, the crack radiating the brilliant golden light also gradually closed, obscuring the existence of the great orb.

"OK, we can go!"

Observing the surrounding space, Wang Yu confirmed that the three devils had been dealt with and there was no longer any power sealing the area. He could leave the void; it was not a place to linger, and heaven knows what might happen if he suddenly got lost in the void.

The two-way portal, displaced by the earlier spatial lockdown, now hovered at a distance from Wang Yu, suspended near the crown of the Night-Sky Tree. Summoning the power of his war-chariot, Wang Yu granted his form substance within the void, gripping the gnarled bark of the tree to haul himself upward toward the shimmering gateway.

He cast a fleeting wave down at the Lady of Night, who watched his ascent, before leaping toward the portal now within his reach; it dilated from a pinprick to a wide aperture, allowing him to pass through.

The sensation of displacement washed over him, accompanied by the sudden onset of gravity. Just as Wang Yu prepared to draw upon the meager reserves of blood in his pool to arrest his fall, a hand reached down. He grasped it without hesitation and was hoisted upward, returning to the material world.

Collapsing onto the ground, Wang Yu surveyed his surroundings. Avia held his hand, her smile soft and radiant, and the area was crowded with familiar faces.

Charles was steering Edward toward him by the shoulder, while Gilbert, the captain of the Night’s Edge, stood beside a red-haired girl leaning on a greatsword—it was Wendy, whom he had not seen in an age; both offered him a respectful salute upon his arrival.

Garcia and Zig were deep in conversation, but upon noticing Wang Yu’s return, they tucked away their notebooks. The members of the Hex-Bound Wizard Tower, save for Lilia who was absent, stared at him as if he were some exotic specimen, whispering and gesturing among themselves.

Faced with this intense scrutiny, Wang Yu found himself at a loss for words, so he simply gave them a thumbs-up.

"Done!"

[This chapter is a bit short, as it seems to cover just about everything for this segment; tomorrow should be a much longer chapter, haha.]