That was a skill Gabriel comprehended at level 50, and its effect was quite heaven-defying.

Hum—!

A grey ripple, invisible to the naked eye, centered on Gabriel, instantly spread out like waves.

There was no sound, no light effect.

At this moment, the skills of all Classer would briefly fall into a disabled state!

This Silence effect acting on Kujo Naruya might last less than a tenth of a second.

But it was enough!

After all, yata no kagami was not a true physical Divine Artifact, but the materialized form of Amaterasu's professional skill.

It also belonged to a skill!

Just at the moment when that grey halo brushed past Kujo Naruya's body,

the indestructible yata no kagami in front of him, the brilliance on its mirror surface suddenly stalled, then flickered twice like a phantom and completely disappeared!

Kujo Naruya's pupils suddenly contracted!

The composure and calmness on his face vanished completely at this moment, replaced by unprecedented horror!

However, before he could make any reaction,

the terrifying torrent of energy generated by the self-detonation of the two Hell-Grade Armored Beetles, which was enough to destroy everything, had lost the absorption and transfer of yata no kagami.

Solidly and entirely blasted onto his huge amaterasu dharma idol!

"Ah—!!!"

A shrill scream erupted from Kujo Naruya's mouth for the first time!

That voice was filled with pain, anger, and disbelief!

The moment the Silence halo took effect, it was not just yata no kagami;

even his proud amaterasu dharma idol, as well as his protective golden body claimed to be immune to all magic, experienced a brief stagnation!

Rumble—!!!

The purple destructive energy, like a breached flood, instantly completely swallowed that ten-meter-high sacred dharma idol!

The golden armor on the surface of the dharma idol shattered inch by inch, and the huge body rapidly dissolved under the scouring of energy.

Persisting for less than two seconds,

that majestic and solemn amaterasu dharma idol violently shattered amidst a fierce distortion!

Transforming into golden specks of light all over the sky.

The backlash of the shattered dharma idol made Kujo Naruya, who was at the core, feel like he was struck by lightning, abruptly spitting out a large mouthful of golden blood.

His flawless white hunting robes turned to ashes in the aftermath of the explosion.

His skin, flowing with golden luster, was blasted into a bloody and devastated mess.

Wounds deep enough to see bone covered his whole body, with charred flesh turned outward, looking extremely miserable.

Like a plucked Phoenix, he fell embarrassingly from mid-air, heavily slamming onto the ground and stirring up a cloud of dust and smoke.

In the distance,

Kujo Koji sat paralyzed behind the ruins, his eyes staring at that battlefield.

His pupils trembled.

"How is this possible?"

"That is Amaterasu!"

"She is the deity worshipped by the Kujo Family for a thousand years, the pillar of faith for the entire Sakura Country!"

After the flames of the two giant beetles' self-detonation dissipated, he clearly saw the shocking wounds on his ancestor's body.

Golden blood dripped down, staining the charred frozen earth red.

The god had bled.

This scene completely shattered Kujo Koji's worldview.

The facts were right before his eyes.

Even an SSS-grade, famed for being close to gods, was ultimately still a mortal flesh and blood body.

As long as one was a person, they would get injured.

As long as they could get injured, they could be defeated!

"No... This is impossible..."

Kujo Koji's lips trembled, wanting to deny the reality before him.

At the center of the battlefield,

Kujo Naruya staggeringly stood up from the ground.

His expression was gloomy.

Pain.

Piercing pain.

That was the pain of flesh being torn apart and bones being shattered.

Ever since his Awakening of the SSS-grade profession, apart from the final battle a hundred years ago that led to his fall, he had never suffered such severe injuries.

Furthermore, it was inflicted by a group of juniors regarded as ants.

This was a humiliation.

An unquenchable, utmost humiliation!

"You... all must die!"

Kujo Naruya let out a low roar.

He raised his head, looking at the artificial sun above the firmament that was still emitting terrifying high temperatures.

Hum—!

The sun moved in response, and its light surged drastically.

A thick golden beam of light descended from the sky, enveloping Kujo Naruya within it.

【Indestructible Sun Body】 was activated again.

Nourished by the dense true fire of the sun, his wounds deep enough to see bone rapidly squirmed and healed.

The originally withered aura was also rapidly climbing.

This was the terror of the SSS-grade Amaterasu.

As long as the sun is not extinguished, he has a true immortal body!

"Want to restore health? In your dreams!"

Caesar's compound eyes turned cold.

Zhou Huai knew very well that they must never give this old monster a chance to catch his breath.

Take advantage of his sickness to kill him!

"Kill!"

The space behind Caesar distorted, and the entrance of the already shattered Hive Space was forcibly pried open.

This time, it was no longer a few or dozens.

But coming out in full force!

Buzz buzz buzz—!

The sound of flapping wings resounded through the clouds.

Countless black Soldier Beetles turned into a breached black torrent, swarming out from the Hive Space.

The number was as high as a million!

They had no fear whatsoever, even facing a god, even if the front was a high temperature capable of melting steel.

Under the will of the Insect Sovereign, they had only one mission—

Suicidal attack!

"Explode! Explode! Explode!"

Zhou Huai gave frantic orders in his mind.

The million-strong insect swarm turned into a black tornado, submerging Kujo Naruya who had just stabilized his footing.

The sounds of explosions connected into one—!!!

Dense explosions echoed continuously, ringing as one piece.

The power of each Soldier Beetle's self-detonation was far inferior to the Hell-grade ones, but its advantage lay in its terrifying quantity.

Quantitative change leads to qualitative change.

That golden beam of light was blasted into flickering dimness, tottering on the verge of collapse.

Kujo Naruya's newly healed wounds ruptured again, and his entire body was blasted crookedly, completely unable to concentrate on guiding treatment.

"Bastards! A bunch of filthy bugs!"

Kujo Naruya roared repeatedly, his kusanagi-no-tsurugi dancing wildly in his hands, each swing taking the lives of tens of thousands of Soldier Beetles.

But the insect swarm was endless; killing one batch brought up another batch.

"Xiang Yu! Hold the line!"

Zhou Huai ordered again.

Xiang Yu, who had just been resurrected not long ago, once again transformed into the ten-meter-tall 【Undying Demon God】.

Ignoring the dense explosions around him, he raised his huge shield and barbarically rushed into the center of the explosion.

【Enemy of the World】!

Taunt skill activated.

Kujo Naruya's sword that was originally intended to slash at the insect swarm was forced to violently turn, fiercely hacking onto Xiang Yu's huge shield.

Clang—!

Sparks flew in all directions.

Xiang Yu was shaken until his arms went numb, his feet ploughing two deep trenches in the ground, but he fought to the death without retreating, dragging down Kujo Naruya's pace.

Taking advantage of this gap,

Gabriel in the rear was not idle either.

He raised his holy sword high, and Holy Light fell like raindrops, casting healing spells on Xiang Yu and Caesar at the front lines, maintaining this precarious battle line.

And the real fatal blow was at the very rear.

Da Yi.

This master archer, who had always roamed the edge of the battlefield, finally bared his fangs.

Standing on a protruding rock, his gaze did not look at Kujo Naruya, but instead locked onto the artificial sun above the firmament.

This sun was the source of Kujo Naruya's power and the foundation of his immortal body.

As long as the sun was still there, Kujo Naruya was invincible.

It must be destroyed!

"Da Yi!"

"Present!"

Da Yi replied in a deep voice.

He drew a special black arrow from his back and nocked it on the bowstring.

The bow was drawn to a full moon.

The muscle lines over his whole body bulged, gathering strength at a single point.

【Variable Arrow Rain】!

Twang!

A crisp sound of bowstring vibration rang out.

The arrow left the string.

The moment it flew out, that single arrow split, turning into a rain of arrows all over the sky, turning into a black storm that flowed upstream and shot straight into the firmament!

Puff puff puff—!

Countless arrows sank into that sphere of light.

However,

the next second,

as soon as those arrows touched the sphere of light, they were burned to ashes.

They merely stirred up a ripple of waves on the surface of the sun, and were subsequently vaporized by that terrifying high temperature, leaving not even a residue.

It caused no substantive damage whatsoever.

"Hehehe..."

Kujo Naruya, who was entangled in combat with Xiang Yu, noticed this scene.

He let out a sneering chuckle.

"Foolish."

"With your paltry little tricks, you also want to shoot out my sun?"

"Who do you think you are? The legendary Da Yi?"

"It is simply daydreaming!"

This artificial sun was condensed by him by gathering the SSS-grade 【Sun】 talent and compressing a massive amount of true fire of the sun.

Its energy density was so high that it was comparable to the core of a real star.

Let alone a mere few arrows, even if it exploded inside, it wouldn't be able to shake it in the slightest.

Da Yi was expressionless, not getting angry because of the mockery.

Conventional attacks were ineffective.

The energy levels differed too much, making it impossible to break through the defense.

Zhou Huai's expression sank.

SSS-grade skill products were not so easily destroyed.

Since one person's strength was not enough,

then borrow it!

Borrow the power of heaven and earth!

Borrow the spirit of all things!

"Da Yi!"

Zhou Huai's voice sounded in Da Yi's mind, his tone resolute.

"Use the level 50 skill!"

"Since he also relies on absorbing energy to maintain it, let's see who absorbs more ruthlessly!"