Against the Gods (Web Novel)
chapter-1946-30041322

Chapter 1946 - Death and Life (2)

Partially Edited Chapter - Rubble

Chi Wuyao’s order for the three Yama Ancestors to commit suicide for Yun Che… was not met with resistance or fear, but mad excitement and fervor.

“Forget giving my life, I’ll scatter my own ashes if it can save my master!” Yan One roared.

Yan Two breathed heavily. “Our lives are meant to be used for our master’s sake, and there is no greater honor than to die for our master!”

Yan Three literally dropped to his knees before the Devil Queen. He was quaking violently not because he was afraid to die, but because his master was in grave danger. “Tell us already, Devil Queen! How exactly do we save the master? If we wait any longer, then master will—master will—”

Yan Wanchi, Yan Wanhun, and Yan Wangui.

They were the progenitors of the Yama Realm and the oldest beings to ever live in the God Realm.

They were some of the most exalted people in the universe even after they had been subverted with the slave imprint, and they were so used to being called Yan One, Yan Two, and Yan Three that even they had begun to forget their original names, much less everyone else.

And yet, they did not hesitate for even an instant when the Devil Queen had demanded they give up eight hundred thousand years of existence just like that.

Their loyalty was artificial. But Chi Wuyao still could not help but be moved by their devotion.

“Very good.” The Devil Queen nodded lightly. “This is the plan. Meiyin will use the World Piercer to teleport you right next to your master. What you need to do is to break your master away from that man before your bodies are torn apart, no matter the cost! Do you understand?”

As long they could break the Abyssal Knight’s hold on Yun Che, Shui Meiyin would be able to teleport him away to safety.

“Understood! We understand!!” All three Yama Ancestors nodded in unison. Their black auras surged restlessly as the savage, twisting image of a Yama Devil manifested behind their backs. Their eyes burned with impatience and frenzy.

“I’ll go too!” Qianye Ying’er declared in a cold and ruthless voice. “They might not be enough to finish the job!”

However, Qianye Wugu and Qianye Bingzhu’s voices rang behind her right after she said this. “No, we’ll go.”

“The Devil Queen must not risk herself for the future of Emperor Yun and the God Realm.” Qianye Bingzhu explained, “Just the same, you must preserve yourself for the future of the Qianyes, God Emperor.”

Qiayen Wugu added, “Remember how those two acted when we unleashed the golden light of Brahma? With luck, we may be able to catch him by surprise as well.”

The two Brahma Ancestors hadn’t forgotten how Nan Zhaoming and Nan Zhaoguang had behaved after they unleashed their Brahma Monarch divine power.

Chi Wuyao: “...!”

Assuming that their prediction was true, their chance of success just went up considerably.

“We beseech you to let us go in peace, God Emperor.”

Qianye Wugu and Qianye Bingzhu said at the same time, their voices as ancient as their gazes.

Although they knew full well that they would not survive this endeavor, they were as terrified of dying as the three Yama Ancestors were. There was only deep sincerity in their voices.

“...” Qianye Ying’er’s lips parted, but she was unable to find the words to speak.

Chi Wuyao grabbed Qianye Ying’er’s hand before nodding toward the two Brahma Ancestors. “Then we will count on you, seniors.”

Qianye Wugu and Qianye Bingzhu nodded at her before standing next to the three Yama Ancestors. They then placed their palms over their chest to muster every ounce of Brahma Monarch divine power in their bodies. A moment later, the deepest part of their profound veins lit up with the brightest Brahma Monarch light they had ever conjured in their lives.

“We are ready,” Qianye Wugu said indifferently after the preparations were complete.

“Meiyin…”

Chi Wuyao spoke as she cast her gaze across Yan One, Yan Two, Yan Three, Qianye Wugu and Qianye Bingzhu. She knew that this was the last time she would be seeing them. In the next moment, they would be delivered to the jaws of death by her own orders.

Losing the five ancestors was a huge loss not just to Yun Che, but also the entire God Realm.

There was no other choice though.

She would bury the God Realm itself if it would improve their chances of saving Yun Che.

“Wait!”

Chi Wuyao was about to give the order when Qianye Ying’er spoke up all of a sudden. Staring at Qianye Wugu and Qianye Bingzhu’s back, she said in a trembling voice, “Great grandfather, grandfather… if I am somehow alive by the end of this tribulation, in the name of Qianye Ying’er, I swear… that I will restore the Qianye dynasty to its former glory.”

For many years, she had been Yun Qianying and Yun Qianying only. No one expected her to bring up her old name of her own accord.

Previously, she had ruled the Brahma Monarch God Realm only because Yun Che needed her to. But today, she had finally accepted her original name and lineage once more.

Qianye Wugu and Qianye Bingzhu’s backs shivered a little as if they were touched by a chilly breeze.

They closed their eyes at the same time, but not fast enough to keep a tear from falling.

They had ruled for a time and spent the rest of their lifetimes pursuing immortality. They had experienced so much that even death held no sway over them anymore. And yet… the cry of a loved one had shot right through their indifference like it was nothing.

They smiled. They did not fear death to begin with, but now? They felt lighter than they had ever been in a lifetime.

Crack crack crack crack crack!

Meanwhile, the sound of shattering bones had finally come to a stop.

Every meridian in Yun Che’s body had been shattered. There wasn’t a single intact bone left in him either.

“The cultivation of a Divine Sovereign, but the power of Divine Extinction Realm,” Mo Beichen said slowly while stabbing Yun Che’s body in and out with his energy. He was hoping to discover the divine marks left behind by the Creation God and the Devil Emperor. “Show me, boy. Reveal the rest of pleasant surprises you have in store for me.”

“...” Yun Che’s pupils had stopped contracting at this point. Mo Beichen was nothing more but a blurry, grayish outline in his vision now.

“Teleport, Meiyin!”

Realizing that there was no time left, Chi Wuyao barked out the order while unleashing a stream of pitch black light from her eyes.

When the Nirvana Devil Emperor Soul had emerged in full force, it cut right through the Half-God’s forcefield and continued toward Mo Beichen at high speed.

The World Piercer’s spatial power was unleashed in that moment. The crimson divine light wrapped around the five ancestors and teleported them away in the blink of an eye.

Meanwhile, the unnatural soul fluctuation of the Nirvana Devil Emperor Soul alarmed Mo Beichen and caused him to spin toward Chi Wuyao immediately. He released his own soul energy in an attempt to respond to her attack, but doing so caused him to miss the crimson flash right above his head—not that he would’ve noticed it even if he wasn’t distracted.

The World Piercer affects nothing and leaves absolutely no trace behind when carrying out a teleportation. Not even Mo Beichen could detect or guard himself against it.

Five figures descended seemingly out of nowhere.

Mo Beichen hadn’t withdrawn his forcefield this whole time, so to say that the space around him was deadly even to a God Emperor would be an understatement.

The moment the three Yama Ancestors and the two Brahma Ancestors appeared above Mo Beichen, the Half-God’s power immediately stabbed into their bodies like a million blades. It felt as if their bodies and internal organs were being torn into a million pieces.

That was fine though, because surviving this wasn’t their objective. Everyone unleashed the power they had been gathering in that instant.

Qianye Wugu and Qianye Bingzhu transformed into a pair of golden suns as they fell toward Mo Beichen.

It was of course the Brahma Monarch’s unique skill, the Brahma Soul Ashes.

The two former Brahma Heaven God Emperors had injected their life, their Brahma soul and all of their divine power into this suicide attack. The Half-God’s forcefield was immensely powerful, but even that wasn’t enough to stop them detonating and leaving behind a pair of golden suns that illuminated everything within hundreds of thousands of kilometers of the star region.

They had used the suicide skill immediately after they appeared not because they were hoping to defeat Mo Beichen—they wouldn’t be in this situation if that was possible—but to increase their chances of rescuing Yun Che even if only a little.

The sudden attack and the Brahma Ancestors’ golden auras had caught Mo Beichen by surprise exactly as they had predicted. When the Brahma Soul Ashes descended toward his head, his pupils had contracted in shock, and the disdain and arrogance that seemed like a permanent fixture of his eyes had temporarily given way to utter shock and awe.

His body shivered violently, and even the forcefield that was more terrifying than ten thousand nightmares largely crumbled.

BOOM—

Stunned and confused, the two suns struck Mo Beichen squarely in the head before he could react. Qianye Wugu and Qianye Bingzhu possessed the greatest Brahma Monarch divine power in the Primal Chaos bar none, not to mention that they had injected absolutely everything they had into the attack. Naturally, it was a terrible blow even for a profound practitioner as powerful as Mo Beichen.

On a side note, Yun Che only took minimal damage because he wasn’t the focus of their attack.

The two explosions threw Mo Beichen’s head back so violently that his neck became heavily misaligned. Not only that, his balance was thrown completely off because he was falling rapidly with his upper body leaning back way more than he would’ve preferred.

“...” The golden suns dyed Qianye Ying’er’s eyes to the pure gold they were many years ago.

This was the end of the two former Brahma Heaven God Emperors, Qianye Wugu and Qianye Fantian. They were great men who had sacrificed life and power to leave behind two golden seeds of hope in their final moments.

“JIEHA!!”

The rescue effort was just beginning, however. Amidst a backdrop of golden light, Yan One, Yan Two, and Yan Three let out the most ear-piercing screech of their lives and pounced toward Mo Beichen like rabid dogs.

Their devilish eyes were overflowing with savagery, and the Yama Devil image behind their backs looked unstable enough to disintegrate on its own at any moment. At the same time, the rampaging energy around their hands took the form of the ugliest, scariest talons of hell.

Stunned in more ways than one, Mo Beichen simply couldn’t react in time to stop the Yama Ancestors from pouncing on him.

Yan One had wrapped himself around Mo Beichen’s right arm and bit down on his wrist with blackish, withered teeth. Yan Two had clung to Mo Beichen’s right shoulder, locked his arms around the arm bone in a death grip, and unleashed all of his power at once.

They did this because Mo Beichen was holding Yun Che with his right hand!

As for Yan Three, the Yama Ancestor had jumped on top of Mo Beichen’s face and wrapped his thin and frail-looking arms around his bent neck. He stretched his blackened, ghoulish mouth to a comically wide degree before biting down on the Half-God’s head. At the same time, he unleashed all of his Yama Devil powers in an attempt to pierce the man’s skull.

Mo Beichen was stunned, off balance, and not at full strength. Not only that, the three Yama Ancestors were able to unleash their full power at melee range. A hundred black explosions erupted around the Half God's right arm in an instant, twisting it unnaturally and weakening his grip on Yun Che’s throat a little.

Mo Beichen was an Abyssal Knight however, a Half-God, and a man of formidable character. His grip had retightened before anyone could take advantage of it, and although Mo Beichen still hadn’t turned his head around, a bit of brutality had returned to his trembling eyes. At the same time, his forcefield had ceased its crumbling and regained a bit of strength.

It must be said that Mo Beichen had been caught completely and utterly off guard, and his soul was still shaking after witnessing the golden light of Brahma Monarch. What this meant was that his reaction hadn’t been a conscious thing. It was his body instinctively trying to wrestle back some measure of control after being caught by surprise; the uncanny instinct of a Half-God.

This was bad news for the Yama Ancestors because less than ten percent of a Half-God’s power was still a lot of power, not to mention that they were clinging to his body.

“SHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

The three Yama Ancestors screamed on top of their lungs. Their bodies suddenly twisted like wrung cloths, scattering blood, bone and gore all over the place.

Yan One and Yan Two’s arms shattered into a million pieces in an instant, but they forcefully stitched the flesh and bone with their power and maintained their hold, not giving Mo Beichen even an inch of ground. Even their shattered teeth were still stuck in Mo Beichen’s flesh.

The first instinct of any living being when attacked was to protect their head.

A Half-God was no exception.

Since Yan Three had chosen to attack Mo Beichen’s head, it meant he was enduring twice as much energy as Yan One and Yan Two.

For a moment, his withered body warped and trembled like water ripples. Then, with a heart-wrenching howl, his body literally ripped in half as he was sent flying away from Mo Beichen’s head.

“OLD GHOST!!!”

Yan One and Yan Two wailed on top of their lungs. The three Yama Ancestors had lived together for eight hundred thousand years, and to watch Yan Three being torn in half was like being torn in half themselves.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAH… SAVE… MASTER!” Yan Three screamed on top of his lungs.

The ancestor’s Yama Devil powers should’ve faded the moment his body was ripped apart, and his death was all but certain. Perhaps it was because his resolve was too great, but not only did he manage to hold onto his power, it actually surpassed his greatest limits in an instant. It was a miracle.

Bringing his final strength to bear, Yan Three turned his upper torso around and threw himself at Mo Beichen’s head once more.

He summoned a Yama claw, screamed like a banshee, and stabbed it right through Mo Beichen’s eyes.

Some things did not change no matter what power level you were. Even for a Half-God, the eyes were still the most vulnerable part of their body.

The Yama claw was infused with the full power of Yan Three’s faith and despair. For the first time since Mo Beichen set foot in this world, he let out a bloodcurdling scream.

This was the moment Chi Wuyao had been waiting for. Her dark eyes flashed black in an instant.

The five ancestors were formidable, but quantity usually fell short of quality when it came to realm levels, even if they were aiming to bridge the chasm for only a moment. However, they had one trump card that was even higher than Mo Beichen’s power—her Nirvana Devil Emperor Soul!

There was no better timing than this.

The Nirvana Devil Emperor Soul stabbed into Mo Beichen’s soul sea with every ounce of power Chi Wuyao could muster.

At this stage, Mo Beichen had been discombobulated by the Brahma Ancestors’ final flash, struck in the head, weakened, put off balance, attacked by dark energy, stabbed in the eye…

And finally, invaded by the Devil Queen’s Nirvana Devil Emperor Soul!

There were few things in the Primal Chaos that could threaten a Half-God’s soul, and it so happened that an ancient Devil Emperor’s soul—even if it was barely a shade of its former self—was one of them. A devilish scream resounded in Mo Beichen’s soul sea, and—

“GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

The man’s soul sea crumbled instantly. It only lasted for a few moments, but his clarity of mind and sanity were utterly destroyed in that moment.

When the mind was taken out of the equation, and instinct was all the body had left to rely on, the first thing it would do after being stabbed in the eye and attacked inside the head, was to cover up these sensitive body parts with its hands.

Mo Beichen was not an exception.

Finally, after all the sacrifices they had made up until this point, he let go of Yun Che’s neck to protect his eyes in a panic.

Qianye Wugu and Qianye Bingzhu were already stardust at this point. Yan One and Yan Two’s internal organs were a pile of goo, and Yan Three was literally ripped in half. They were dead men walking, and the moment they completed their mission was most likely the moment they passed on to the other world.

The five ancestors had given their all for this very moment.

When Yan One saw through his blood-drenched eyes that Mo Beichen had let go of Yun Che, he immediately let out a ghastly screech, grabbed his master with his broken hand, and pushed him far, far away from the Half-God.

Shui Meiyin had never been so focused and clear-headed in her life. She hadn’t even made a sound since the rescue began.

This whole time, the World Piercer had been shining the purest crimson between her fingers.

The moment Yun Che escaped Mo Beichen’s grip, the crimson glow immediately surged toward his location before teleporting him away from the Half-God’s forcefield.

There was another crimson flash, and he reappeared right next to her.

Qianye Ying’er immediately threw her arms around Yun Che and hugged him with everything she got. She couldn’t stop trembling the entire time.

This time, she had been less than a hair away from losing him forever.

It was a kind of fear she never, ever, ever wished to relive again.

Yun Che wasn’t moving at all. His meridians and bones were completely broken, and his body was cracked all over the place. It seemed like he was conscious because his eyes were half-open, but in reality he had passed out a moment ago.

Any other Divine Sovereign would’ve died from this level of injuries already.

“Go!” Chi Wuyao withdrew her soul and uttered in a pained voice.

The crimson light reappeared and enveloped Shui Meiyin, Chi Wuyao, Qianye Ying’er, Mu Xuanyin, Caizhi and Yun Che.

Then they were gone, away from this space of nightmare and despair, away from the dying suns of the Brahma, and away from the howls that seemed to hail from purgatory itself.