Another one.

In just a few short minutes, Zhou Huai had lost a second SS-Level Expert Avatar.

And not even his corpse was left intact.

However...

...there was not a single trace of sorrow on Zhou Huai's face.

Instead, he smiled.

"I gambled right."

Right where Xiang Yu had dissipated,

it was not empty; a massive stone stele had appeared out of thin air.

The stele was an ancient, weathered blue-grey, completely devoid of text, exuding only a solemn and majestic aura.

It stood like a monument on a battlefield, commemorating unknown heroes.

【Immortal Monument】!

This was the powerful passive skill Xiang Yu had gained after his second advancement—【Divine Soul Rebirth】!

Upon taking lethal damage, he would not die.

Instead, he would turn into a 【Immortal Monument】 on the spot for 5 seconds.

While in monument form, he was invincible and unable to act.

However, it continuously taunted all enemies within a 50-meter radius, forcibly drawing aggro.

After 5 seconds, the monument exploded!

Dealing massive damage and a long-duration stun to surrounding enemies.

And he would undergo Rebirth with 100% health!

Cooldown duration: 30 days.

This was why Zhou Huai had chosen to let Xiang Yu unleash the Heaven-Suppressing Seal, even sacrificing his life force to clash directly with Kujo Naruya.

Because Xiang Yu had two lives!

Even if he died from the backlash of the Heaven-Suppressing Seal's power, he could resurrect!

It was a perfect closed loop.

Trading his first life for a full-power strike from the Divine Artifact,

and then facing the upcoming battle in Peak condition after resurrection.

"5... 4... 3..."

Zhou Huai silently counted down in his heart.

Dead silence hung over the ruins.

Only the blue monument stood there quietly.

"2... 1!"

"Detonate!"

As the countdown reached zero,

that blue Immortal Monument suddenly burst open!

A powerful shockwave swept through the surroundings, pulverizing all the rubble into powder.

Immediately after,

a stalwart figure crawled out from the dirt beneath the monument.

He patted off the dust on his body, crackling his neck with crisp pops as he stretched.

The armor on his body was brand new, and the massive shield in his hand gleamed coldly.

His double pupils shone brightly; where was there any trace of his near-death state from earlier?

Full HP!

Full Mana!

State at its Peak!

Immortal Bulwark Xiang Yu was resurrected at full health!

"Phew..."

Zhou Huai let out a long breath of relief.

"This skill is utterly insane. It's a pity the cooldown is so long—it can only be used once a month."

"If it had no cooldown, Xiang Yu would truly be an immortal god of war."

However, now was not the time for sentimental reflection.

Zhou Huai's gaze immediately shifted to the giant crater,

which was where the Heaven-Suppressing Seal had slammed down.

There, the dust slowly dispersed.

The massive ancient black seal had shrunk back to the size of a palm, lying quietly in the rubble with its luster dimmed.

That attack just now had completely drained its stored energy.

And amid the dense smoke,

"Cough, cough... cough, cough, cough..."

a fit of violent coughing echoed out.

A moment later, Kujo Naruya floated up from the bottomless crater.

He was still spotless and untouched by dust,

as if he hadn't suffered a single scratch.

But Zhou Huai could feel that the aura he radiated now was nowhere near as powerful as before.

He was no longer composed; for the first time, anger blazed in his pale golden eyes.

"Very good."

"This is truly... beyond my expectations."

Ignoring the damage inflicted by the Divine Artifact, he closed his eyes and carefully felt the changes in his body.

"Interesting. This Divine Artifact... can actually suppress my Level?"

"I see!"

Kujo Naruya stared at Caesar in the distance, intent to kill blazing in his eyes.

"So this Divine Artifact was your true trump card all along!"

Then, a cold sneer curled his lips.

"However, so what?"

Spreading his arms, the halo of the sun wheel behind him burst into brilliant light once more, healing his injuries.

"Even if I'm suppressed by twenty Levels, what of it?"

"Killing you is still as easy as turning my palm!"

Kujo Naruya moved, wasting no time on idle chatter.

Even with his Level suppressed, he was still the lofty Amaterasu.

He made a grasping motion with his right hand as the the void trembled.

Countless light particles converged madly, instantly solidifying into a longsword flowing with golden flames.

That was no mortal steel,

but an energy body formed from True Solar Fire compressed to the absolute extreme.

"Die!"

Kujo Naruya let out a soft cry.

Just as he was about to unleash this golden longsword,

"Roar—!!!"

A deafening roar exploded without warning in the center of the battlefield.

Sound waves rolled out.

Kujo Naruya's thoughts ground to a sudden halt.

An indescribable feeling of irritation and rage rose inexplicably from deep within his heart.

His gaze drifted uncontrollably,

forcibly shifting onto the stalwart man who had just resurrected and was holding a massive shield.

【Enemy of the World】!

Forced taunt!

If it had been Kujo Naruya in his Peak condition,

this kind of mental control skill would have been nothing more than a gentle breeze to him.

An SSS-Level mental resistance was enough to grant immunity to 99% of negative status effects in the world.

But now was different.

Having just been suppressed by the Heaven-Suppressing Seal,

his power was severely weakened.

He had been weakened to the point where he could be affected by Xiang Yu's skill.

"Get lost!"

Kujo Naruya was furious.

His reason told him he should kill Caesar first,

but under the pull of that bizarre rule, his body and instinct forcibly altered his attack trajectory.

The sword of light in his hand, carrying the terrifying power originally meant for Caesar, slashed fiercely toward Xiang Yu.

Although he wasn't hard-controlled for several seconds like other Classer,

this momentary pause and redirection

was, in a high-level clash between top powerhouses,

more than enough.

A fatal disruption in tempo!

At the exact moment Kujo Naruya turned to swing his sword,

a cold flash of lightning silently lit up behind him.

There was no warning whatsoever.

【Seal of the Thunder God】!

Yasuo's figure appeared like a ghost in Kujo Naruya's blind spot behind his back.

The longsword in his hand was already sheathed.

Crouched low, he resembled a fully drawn bow.

In this moment,

it felt as though only that impending flash of cold steel remained in the entire world.

Ruthlessness flashed in Zhou Huai's eyes.

Now!

"Yasuo!"

Connected in thought,

lightning churned within Yasuo's deep eyes.

His long-accumulated mana was drained in an instant.

Ultimate Technique—

【Divine Lightning Retribution: Ten Thousand Swords Returning to the Origin】!

Clang—!

The longsword unsheathed.

It was not a single line of Sword Qi,

but tens of thousands!

In an instant,

the clear sky changed color once again.

Countless bolts of wild purple thunder manifested from the the void, each transforming into a lightning sword of unmatched sharpness.

Dense and endless,

they blot out the sun and sky.

It was as though an entire pool of lightning had overturned, turning into a sea of swords.

"Slash!"

Yasuo uttered a low shout.

Ten thousand swords shot forth in unison!

Carrying the will to destroy all, the sky-covering rain of lightning swords condensed into a roaring thunder Dragon, slamming fiercely onto Kujo Naruya's back.

Rumble—!!!

A terrifying explosion echoed through the heavens.

Dazzling lightning completely engulfed Kujo Naruya's figure.

"Insignificant trick!"

From the center of the lightning came Kujo Naruya's enraged roar.

Buzz!

A thick golden shield surfaced on his body.

That was his protective divine light.

However,

in the next second,

Kujo Naruya's expression changed.

Under the barrage of infinite lightning swords, that seemingly indestructible golden barrier actually began to tremble violently.

The suppression effect of the Heaven-Suppressing Seal was far more terrifying than he had imagined!

A crisp shattering sound sounded exceptionally harsh amidst the thunder.

That layer of golden barrier broke!

Pfft!

Pfft!

The sounds of sharp blades slicing into flesh rang out repeatedly.

Though he tanked most of the lightning swords with his body,

several of the sharpest Sword Qi tore through his luxurious white hunting robes and cut into his golden-glowing skin.

A strand of golden blood

slowly trickled down his back.

Drip.

It dropped onto the scorched earth, scalding small pits into the ground.

As the lightning faded,

Yasuo had already used the recoil to retreat a hundred meters away, gasping heavily for breath.

Meanwhile, in the center of the battlefield,

Kujo Naruya was still hovering in midair.

Except now, he lacked every bit of his former composure and elegance.

On the back of his previously spotless white robes, a shallow tear had appeared.

Though that minor injury was merely a scratch given the immense vitality of an SSS-Rank Expert,

its significance weighed a thousand tons!

He had actually been injured by a mere few SS-Levels?

"Phew..."

Controlling Caesar, Zhou Huai slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air.

Looking at the glaring golden bloodstain on Kujo Naruya's back, the corners of his mouth curled upward bit by bit,

finally opening into

a wild and arrogant smile.

"Do you see it now?"

"So what if you are Amaterasu?"

He raised his hand, pointing straight at Kujo Naruya, his eyes sharp as knives.

"As long as you are not a true god,"

"as long as you still have a health bar,"

"then you can still be killed!"

"Today..."

"...we shall slay a god!"