Chapter 17: Reinforcements
"We've met already?"
The Eternal God King heard the words, and the galaxy on his body swirled even faster, the stars almost turning into lines.
A terrifying and chilling pressure permeated the Pantheon.
Richard's expression did not change, his eyes fixed on the Eternal God King, and he said very seriously: "If I'm not mistaken, on one side of the galaxy near you, a group of formidable foes similar to a previous civilization has appeared."
The Eternal God King was silent for a moment and replied: "That's right, are they the Civilization Devourers you mentioned?"
"Yes." Richard nodded.
"So, that means the main force of these monsters should be on your side."
The Eternal God King's spiritual message carried a hint of heaviness and shock.
What exactly is this Civilization Devourer that can simultaneously wage war with the Wizards and with them, and conduct the war so smoothly that even Dominator-level combat power is readily available?
Richard nodded and then turned his gaze toward the Divine Statue of the Sun God King.
"Let's sign the contract as soon as possible; we must stabilize the front line quickly. Without the help of Wizards, you probably can't withstand the onslaught of the Civilization Devourers."
The armies of the Predecessor Civilization Alliance have soldiers with Level 3 Creature strength as their foundation. Coupled with elite equipment on them, even Wizards need to rely on an offensive to hold them off.
The attack is entirely driven by the Dominators.
Currently, the Gods Civilization cannot exert pressure with top-level combat power, and its lower-tier combat power cannot be compared with the Wizards' army.
The only way to endure the attack of the Civilization Devourers is to rely on sheer numbers.
However, for the Civilization Devourers, piling up numbers only makes it stronger, essentially drinking poison to quench thirst.
The Eternal God King transmitted a message to the Divine Statue of the Sun God King.
The next moment, an avatar also emerged from the Divine Statue of the Sun God King.
The Sun God King, just as his name suggests, appeared like a sun, with dazzling light making it almost impossible to open one's eyes.
However, all the beings present were at least Fifth Level World Masters, so the light wasn't much of an issue.
"Are you Richard?"
"It's me."
"... The spoils of you Wizards are truly abundant."
Upon hearing this, a trace of helplessness flashed across Richard's face.
The Sun God King's words are a high EQ way of saying, in low EQ terms, that you have so many resources that you can pile up a physique to the extreme of a Dominator.
However, Richard did not explain anything.
Strength is not something that's proven through words; it must be demonstrated with concrete achievements.
The Sun God King also left his mark on the contract, leaving only the God King of Ten Thousand Changes as the last God King in the Gods Civilization who hadn't signed the contract.
Richard stored the contract away, smiling, and said: "It seems the God King of Ten Thousand Changes is deeply engaged in battle. Even his avatar can't spare a moment."
A spiritual message came from within the Eternal God King.
"His condition hasn't been very good recently; Samuel inflicted quite a significant injury on him before leaving. After Samuel left, he directly went to the front lines to combat those you call the Civilization Devourers' race.
Those guys aren't weak, and caught off-guard, Wan Bian suffered considerable injuries.
Combined, the originally balanced battle has become a stalemate."
Richard raised an eyebrow: "Aren't you two going to help him?"
"Do you think we don't have our own enemies?"
Richard slapped his forehead and laughed: "Indeed, since neither of you have time, it's up to me to go."
As he spoke, Richard used the connection between the Civilization Dimension and the Branch Dimension to quickly locate the approximate position of the God King of Ten Thousand Changes.
Although Richard hadn't used dimensions often in battles against the Civilization Devourers,
that was based on the Civilization Devourers knowing Richard possessed the Miracle Furnace, making a direct dimensional power contest not worth it. Richard also dreaded the Civilization Devourer's parasitic abilities, reluctant to recklessly throw a Dominator-level minion into the dimension under such a premise.
But apparently, the God King of Ten Thousand Changes doesn't possess a Miracle Furnace.
So a dimensional conflict is bound to happen.
This dimensional conflict would create significant dimensional tremors. By sensing these tremors, Richard could pinpoint the approximate position of the God King of Ten Thousand Changes.
After locating the general area, Richard didn't hurry to leave but instead smiled at the Eternal God King, saying: "Almost forgot, there's another thing I need to deal with this trip."
The "gaze" of the Eternal God King swept over Richard's shoulder, saying calmly: "If he wishes, he can leave the gods anytime and join other civilizations.
Of course, the premise is not to disclose any information or secrets about the Gods Civilization."
The "he" mentioned by the Eternal God King naturally referred to Ulysses on Richard's shoulder.
As a high-level God of the Fifth Level, he had no place to interrupt the conversation between Richard and the Eternal God King or the Sun God King, nor did he have the courage to do so.
"That's good then."
Richard smiled, and suddenly a divine ascending staircase appeared before him.
He turned his head to the Black Crow on his shoulder and said: "Ulysses, you should head back now; the forthcoming battles will be beyond your assistance."
"Caw, no problem." Ulysses replied straightforwardly, "Fight well; I'll keep an eye on the School, and no major issues will arise."
Being an older Level 5 Creature, Ulysses was very clear about his capabilities.
He had no desire to touch even the edges of Richard's Dominator-level battles.
It was fine to be in the rear as support; warfare isn't only about the front lines, and supporting the rear also contributes to the war.
Richard nodded and then stepped onto the divine ascending staircase.
In the next moment, he reached the Endless Dimension.
In the void, faint waves of energy reached Richard's senses—these were the fallout from the battle between the God King of Ten Thousand Changes and the minions of the Civilization Devourers.
"Weakened so severely? Seems like there's quite a deviation."
Richard scratched his head, barely noticing the aftermath he sensed. If it weren't for his extremely sensitive perception as the Abyss Titan, this aftermath might have been overlooked.
But, being a bit off doesn't matter.
Normally, battles between Dominators wouldn't conclude in just a few years, or even decades.
Yet, Richard was able to swiftly slay the Dominator level Civilization Devourer's minions within months, mainly due to the Miracle Furnace.
Without the weakening of the Miracle Fire, these minions of the Civilization Devourers would have been exceedingly hard to deal with.
After determining the direction, Richard flew toward the battlefield.
…
Thousands of luminescent moments later.
In the Void, two colossal entities were colliding.
More accurately, two Great Worlds were colliding.
The God King of Ten Thousand Changes unfolded a dimension, countless Lun Runes swirling around him. Each of these rules contained a complete rule, often weaving a dazzling rainbow with just a few runes.
Opposite him, the black Furnace Man wielded a Melter resembling a meteor hammer.
In the Melter, the filthy flames were like pus from the wounds of the old gods, each capable of transforming a Level 6 Creature into an undistinguishable monster.
Beside him, viscous black slime spread like a vast ocean.
In this ocean, countless unspeakable beings intertwined, and merely a glance could cause a mental breakdown.
Although the dimension of the God King of Ten Thousand Changes was resisting, his heroic spirit army continued to steadily retreat under the corrosion of the black ocean.
Some had even been corrupted, joining the black ocean.
Boom!
The long spear of the God King of Ten Thousand Changes clashed with the Melter of the black Furnace Man.
Even the smallest fragments of these weapons could be treated as supreme treasures by a native world master, bursting forth with brilliance akin to the dawn of time.
They weren't just two weapons, but two worlds colliding.
No one knows the end of the path of Physique Evolution.
But in Spiritual Evolution, all civilized creatures know their end — it's to evolve into a world.
The essence of Spiritual Evolution is leverage, where creatures use rules to convert a bit of their strength into a stronger, or more needed power.
However, this is ultimately dancing with shackles.
Because creatures cannot surpass rules, once the rules change, the creatures will immediately revert to their original form.
In the Star Realm, only worlds are not bound by rules.
A world is a transcendent entity, inherently a collection of rules, yet rules are not its essence.
Rules are more like the world's attire, though it can be without them, in the Star Realm, a world without clothes is somewhat unsafe.
The Power of World Origin is not constrained by rules, even illusion rules cannot distort the Power of World Origin.
And this is precisely what Spiritual Evolution seeks.
After the collision, the two colossal entities temporarily separated.
The aura of the God King of Ten Thousand Changes appeared somewhat downcast, a terrible crack nearly tearing through his abdomen was burning with ominous black flames.
"This is not good,"
murmured the God King of Ten Thousand Changes inwardly.
This crack initially resulted from a battle wound with Samuel, which would heal with a bit of rest.
But precisely for this reason, the crack was underestimated, giving way to the filthy black flames.
Under the tarnish of black flames, the God King of Ten Thousand Changes felt his soul becoming clouded.
His spiritual power limit was slowly decreasing, and memories were gradually fading away. Continuing like this, he might forget the very reason he was fighting.
However, not good as it was, he had to endure.
No one could aid him now, and behind him lay the Gods Civilization.
Though not entirely selfless, he knew if the Gods Civilization perished, he'd go down too.
The entity before him wasn't one for negotiation.
On such a being, the God King of Ten Thousand Changes felt a terrifying will, intent on devouring him, the world behind him, even the entire World Community, and the Star Realm.
Rallying his strength, the God King of Ten Thousand Changes raised his long spear.
Countless Lun Runes spun around the spear, forming nine Rune Base Plates. Within the nine Rune Base Plates, nine worlds were born, where countless Divine beings sat upon divine thrones, commanding billions of creatures.
This was his strongest move, named Dusk. Though other Divine beings liked to add a prefix — such as Twilight of the Gods.
The black Furnace Man sensed the terror of the strike, immediately pulling the Melter in front of him.
An ancient chant seemed to echo across the battlefield through the ages, suddenly igniting flames on the black Furnace Man. This flame attracted endless black flames from the Melter, seemingly intent on devouring the entire Void.
This is one of the ultimate means of Furnace Man sacrifice, known as the Fire Sacrifice Furnace.
The momentum on both sides grew ever stronger, undoubtedly, the coming battle would be earth-shattering.
But just as tensions peaked, a discordant voice unexpectedly shattered the battlefield's solemnity.
"Oh, you can still use the Fire Sacrifice Furnace? With the Supreme Furnace around, you dare use the Fire Sacrifice Furnace!?"
The black Furnace Man and the God King of Ten Thousand Changes simultaneously looked toward the source of the voice.
They saw a figure enveloped in chains had somehow come close, within thirty luminescent seconds of them.