Chapter 947: That Human Must Die

The Sky Battlefield trembled as a mighty force swept across heaven and earth. Two demon gods, their true forms already half-destroyed, were hurled through the air along with a continental mass over ten thousand kilometers wide. Among the surging shockwaves and earth-shaking explosions, they slammed into the ground with a thunderous crash.

"Brace for impact!"

"Hold the line!"

Nine great demon kings, over forty demon kings, and nearly ten million purgatory troops erupted with power. It transformed into towering black demon god pillars that shot up into the sky and pierced the heavens.

The legions were spread out in all directions, but under the command of the great demon kings, their combined power poured into the principle anchors scattered across the demonic region, embedded in the land, mountains, and sky. In that instant, the two demon gods’ qi erupted.

Whether it was the human frontline base or this section of battlefield controlled by the Purgatory Empire, both had already been heavily corroded by supreme-level principles. Powerful demonic arrays and rune formations had been laid down across the area. In fact, the territory each side controlled in the rear lines had already been refined into their own world domains.

This was also the reason why the two demon gods were able to withstand the continuous attacks of the seven supreme powerhouses working together. Even Qian Tian and the others couldn't seriously injure the two demon gods or annihilate the entire Purgatory army in the first strike.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The massive continental chunk that had been hurled across the battlefield slammed into the ground with tremendous force, and the land over tens of thousands of kilometers shattered. Heaven and earth trembled as waves of demonic qi and blinding flashes of nuclear-like shockwaves erupted.

On the surface of the shattered landmass, mountains quaked and the earth cracked open. Yet, thanks to the towering black demon god pillars and principle sequence chains in the area, the landmass barely managed to hold together without collapsing.

On the trembling ground, the two weakened demon gods stood firm. Their faces darkened as they stared at the entrance to the forbidden zone that stretched over twenty thousand kilometers into the distance.

At the same time, blood-colored light spread behind them as six more demon gods appeared. With the principles and qi of all eight demon gods converging, the already trembling ground suddenly sank.

At the same time, at the entrance of the forbidden zone tens of thousands of kilometers away, seven figures radiating supreme-level aura stood tall, their cold gazes fixed in the direction of the demon gods.

Deorus said in a low voice, "I didn’t expect the Alliance of Gods to appear after all this time hiding in the shadows... or the Heavenly Feathered Race, who were supposed to have been wiped out by Tyretis. But very well. Since you’ve all chosen to appear today, then you can be buried here along with the human race."

Standing with one foot in Yin and the other in Yang, surrounded by swirling black-and-white principle light, Qian Tian calmly responded, "Deorus, I don't think you have a chance of winning today."

Deorus glared at Qian Tian. "Don’t be so sure."

At that moment, in terms of demon-god-level power, the Purgatory Empire seemed to hold the advantage. They had one more warrior on their side, and one of their demon gods stood above the rest in strength. As a result, even with the arrival of the peak divine king from the Alliance of Gods, Deorus wasn’t overly concerned.

Boom!

Just then, an aura comparable to that of a demon god erupted into the sky. Heavenly King Zhenwu, holding a black stele in one hand, descended by shattering the void. In that moment, both sides stood eight against eight, facing off in the skies ten thousand meters above.

Unlike before, neither side rushed to attack. As sixteen powerful principles spread through the heavens and earth, waves of immense pressure collided, causing the entire world to tremble. Heaven and earth were split in two.

On one side, dark demonic qi surged, forming dense black clouds that covered tens of thousands of kilometers. Among the eight demon gods standing within, two came from the Dark Demonic Morkaya Empire. One was Deorus, the ruler of the empire, and the other was Kaodes. Both possessed middle-stage ancient-level cultivation.

Two others were Belitir, ruler of the Greeta Battle Demon Empire, and the demon god Ludius. These two demon gods had been seriously injured earlier in the battle. Another was Livedes from the Ancestral Purgatory Court. It had once used the power of four Primordial Ancestor Decrees to seal Chen Chu and sever his connection to the fate of the human race.

Two more demon gods came from the Arikasa Empire. One of them, named Stephenel, was also at the middle stage of the ancient level, but there was a faint and astonishing fluctuation of hidden energy within its body. The other, Aidibaden, was at the beginning stage of the ancient level. However, because it wielded a pseudo-world-level weapon, its combat strength was comparable to that of a middle-stage demon god.

The final demon god was Sigitiko of the Ankor Sacred Demon Empire. Its aura was the most powerful of them all, and its strength ranked just below that of the great demon god.

On the human side, the sky shimmered with radiant colors and divine presence. Among them stood three supreme powerhouses. The Celestial King, divine in appearance, stood tall with twelve pairs of metallic wings unfurled behind him, radiating a sacred aura. The Primordial King resembled an Eight-Armed Rampage Ape, exuding terrifying power as he wielded an ancient divine weapon.

Then there was Heavenly King Zhenwu, who held the True Martial Stele in his hand. His presence was even more imposing than that of an ordinary demon god. These three human warriors, as well as Qian Tian, were joined by the three divine kings of the Heavenly Feathered Race, as well as Divine King Tarodell, who was seated high upon a golden throne.

Boom!

Suddenly, the void trembled violently. With the collision and intertwining of the sixteen principle auras, space collapsed. Then, a powerful force descended from the sky.

𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

From a shattered spatial passage that resembled a black hole, Chen Chu slowly stepped out, his black hair falling over his shoulders. In that moment, a heavy and domineering aura filled the heavens and the earth. Though his aura clearly marked him as merely a middle-stage heavenly king, the pressure he exuded was no weaker than that of an average demon god.

Seeing Chen Chu appear, smiles appeared on the faces of Zhenwu, the Primordial King, and the others, including the three divine kings of the Heavenly Feathered Race. After all, Chen Chu was the one who had single handedly slain a demon god in a short amount of time.

Chen Chu glanced at the powerful figures who had already revealed their true forms, then smiled and said, "I’m not too late, am I?"

Qian Tian smiled slightly. "You arrived at just the right moment."

"Chu Batian of the human race!" As they looked at the aura surrounding Chen Chu, Deorus, Kaodes, and the demon god from the Ancestral Court all showed grave expressions.

Previously, Chen Chu had managed to escape their pursuit and even somehow removed the Primordial Ancestor's seals, which was already shocking enough. Now, however, the pressure he was releasing was comparable to that of a demon god. How was that possible? Despite only being a middle-stage heavenly king, he made the demon gods feel slightly threatened.

Within the swirling black clouds of demonic qi, Deorus turned to the towering figure shrouded in blood-colored light, Sigitiko, and said with a heavy tone, "This human must not be allowed to live. His talent is too dangerous. We must find a way to kill him today, even if we fail to deal a heavy blow to the human race, even if it means getting seriously injured ourselves."

Sigitiko frowned. "This human does look powerful. He’s only at the middle stage of the great demon king level, but exudes pressure comparable to a beginning stage demon god. Still, Deorus, aren't you being a little dramatic? Is he really that important?"

The other two demon gods from the Airkasa Empire also looked surprised. Noticing the confusion on the faces of the three demon gods, Kaodes bitterly smiled. "Do not underestimate this human. His talent is truly astonishing, even by demon standards. Just a little over a day-cycle ago, his cultivation was only at the late stage of the mythical level. He infiltrated our empire alone and killed seven demon kings and one great demon king within a single star-hour. Later, even when Deorus and I joined forces, he summoned a colossal beast with immense strength that left me seriously injured.

"Even after Livedes used the Primordial Ancestor’s decrees to seal three of his known powerful abilities and sever his racial fate, he still managed to escape. Now, in just over one day-cycle, he’s not only broken through the seal formed by the decrees, but his cultivation has also reached the middle stage of the great demon king level. As for his strength..."

Kaodes paused. All three demon gods, including Sigitiko, turned solemn. When they looked again at the black-haired human youth standing across from them, their eyes brimmed with intense killing intent.

This human’s talent was indeed horrifying. Whether it was his absurd combat power or his rapid cultivation speed, both had completely shattered their understanding. A genius from an alien race and civilization like his had to die.

As a race with vast experience in wiping out alien civilizations, the demon gods were all too familiar with this pattern. At the brink of destruction, an immensely gifted freak would often appear to turn the tide.

However, those so-called freaks were always discovered early by the Purgatory Empire and crushed immediately, because once a genius who carried the fate of an entire civilization matured, even the Purgatory Clan would have trouble dealing with them.

Such individuals were extremely difficult to kill. They were the kind who could turn misfortune into fortune, survive disasters, and rise stronger after each defeat. Of course, difficult to kill didn’t mean impossible to kill. It only meant the price would be immense, possibly even costing the lives of one or two demon gods.

At that thought, Sigitiko's expression turned grim, its tone as cold as ice. "Deorus, if you knew this human had such monstrous talent, how could you have allowed him to grow to this extent? Or are you just that incompetent? After battling for hundreds of day-cycles, not only have you failed to destroy this mediocre civilization, you’ve let them grow stronger and stronger."

The strength the human race had shown today was enough to make even a demon god from the strongest empire like Sigitiko feel threatened. The demon gods were now facing the equivalent of nine demon-god-level warriors. Such overwhelming power exceeded what its own empire possessed. Divine King Tarodell stood out in particular. If he was within his divine region, even the ruler of the Ankor Empire would have difficulty defeating him.

This alliance possessed power comparable to the peak strength of three Purgatory Empires, and it had reached that level in just over two hundred day-cycles, no more than a few short years. Furthermore, they managed to continue growing even under siege from two Purgatory Empires. That was why Sigitiko's expression was so grim.

The performance of all these demon gods is nothing short of disgraceful. They’re all complete failures,

Sigitiko thought to itself.

Faced with Sigitiko’s questioning tone, Deorus's eyes turned cold. After all, it was still the ruler of one of the Purgatory Empires and wasn't used to being spoken to this way. Despite its anger, however, it stayed silent. Sigitiko was far stronger and had been specially invited to reinforce this battlefield.

As Deorus stewed in its anger, Kaodes bitterly responded, "Sigitiko, you can’t blame us for this. You have to understand, this human’s talent really is too exceptional. It’s beyond anything we've ever seen. These past years, we’ve been using standard civilization battlefield strategies to suppress their growth. We've assassinated geniuses, targeted their rising stars, and more, but this human is different and grew too quickly. By the time we took notice of him, he had already entered the frontlines at the Ninth Demonic Mark, and in that very battle, he slew multiple demon kings. At that point, we disregarded injury and tried to personally suppress and kill him, but were blocked by the human supreme powerhouses and a refined forbidden weapon.

"After that battle, Deorus immediately asked Belitir, who was stationed on this battlefield, to refine a cursed demonic weapon, and trace the causality of their prior encounter to launch a curse. But even this curse, which should have struck him through their previous clash, was blocked by some unknown power on the human's side. Then, when this human reappeared, less than two day-cycles later, he dared to charge deep into the heart of my empire..."

Kaodes trailed off. The three demon gods, including Sigitiko, were already well aware of what happened after that. This human was indeed hard to kill, and his growth rate was terrifying beyond reason, to have reached this level in just a few day-cycles.

"...This human must die. The problem is, he’s already grown too powerful. Killing him now won’t be easy, especially with so many human powerhouses protecting him. So let's prepare for a long battle. Wait for the right opportunity... and when it comes, I’ll handle it personally." As Sigitiko sternly spoke, the power of principles surged around the eight demon gods.

Meanwhile, on the other side, as the demon gods were quietly discussing their plans, Chen Chu instinctively sensed a surge of intense malice. A pair of cold, sinister eyes locked onto him.

"So, you want to kill me?" Chen Chu narrowed his eyes, staring back at the sinister gaze.

The demon gods across from them hadn’t moved yet, but Qian Tian and the others also looked grim. The number of Purgatory demon gods was two more than they had anticipated.

The original plan was for the human race and Divine King Tarodell to hold off five demon gods, while the three Heavenly Feathered divine kings would combine their strength to kill one. However, with eight demon gods, this plan could no longer be carried out.

Fortunately, they had gathered their strength at the very start and caught the enemy off guard, destroying the Purgatory fortress at the entrance to the forbidden zone. They had even managed to blast two demon gods, along with the principle-refined region they occupied, completely off the battlefield.

At that moment, the Celestial King said in a low voice, "Chen Chu, since they haven’t made a move yet, let’s not act rashly either. We wait until our main forces are ready."

"I understand." Chen Chu nodded slowly.

In a war between two races, the outcome could depend on the strength of the supreme-level powerhouses, but the power of the heavenly kings, kings, and transcendent legions beneath them was equally important and couldn’t be ignored. These warriors, sharing the same race and power system, could enhance the principle power of Qian Tian and the others. They served as an extension of their strength.

Thus, what followed was a strange and tense calm. While the demon-god-level powerhouses on both sides remained locked in a standoff across ten thousand kilometers, the entrance to the forbidden zone saw wave after wave of human fleets, energy bombers, and drones appear.

In addition to the main battle legions on the frontlines, long-range firepower corps were stationed at key positions in the rear. These included orbital battleships launched from aerial carriers.

Alongside them, legions of alien races from the Alliance of Gods, and golden airships from the Heavenly Feathered Race, also formed formations in the sky under the leadership of their mythical kings and chief gods.

At the same time, in outer space beyond the Blue Planet, massive Celestial Annihilation Satellites began to tremble as they unfolded solar light wings stretching hundreds of kilometers. Their enormous cannons gathered energy and locked onto the third world passage of the North Lin Empire.

While the humans and their allies set up their formation at the entrance of the forbidden zone, the Purgatory Empire's rear lines also moved forward, reinforced by hundreds of millions of Purgatory legions and their vassal troops.

Countless demonized colossal beasts roared, stirring up overwhelming waves of dark demonic qi that blotted out the sky. They merged with the Purgatory legions that had been flung out along with the shattered landmass.

A brutal, full-scale civilization war was on the verge of erupting.