High in the sky, that once matchless artificial sun shattered.

Golden flecks of light rained down across the sky.

An extremely cold storm reclaimed control over this snowy Realm, causing the temperature to plunge.

Kujo Naruya floated in midair.

Deprived of the artificial sun's blessing, his once godlike, full body was now shriveling at a speed visible to the naked eye.

His skin became loose, and age spots appeared.

His dazzling silver hair turned withered, yellow, and sparse.

His aura plummeted off a cliff from the Peak of SSS-Rank.

But the murderous intent in his eyes was more intense than ever before.

It was the ultimate fury of a god provoked by ants.

"Shooting the sun..."

"Good... very good..."

Kujo Naruya's voice was raspy and grating, like two rusty pieces of iron rubbing together.

Although Da Yi had already been slain by his sword,

this could not quell his rage.

A group of SS-Rank ants, who were like dust in his eyes, had actually managed to accomplish this.

Not only did they force out his true body and shatter his avatar, but they even shot down and exploded the sun that served as his power source.

This was a humiliating disgrace.

If word spread, how could he, Kujo Naruya, still have the face to call himself the God of Sakura Country?

"All of you must die."

He slowly turned his head. His murky eyes, still exuding terrifying pressure, skipped past Xiang Yu and Caesar in the front line,

and locked firmly onto the rear.

There, the Six-Winged Angel Gabriel was flapping his tattered wings, desperately casting Holy Light techniques in an attempt to heal the heavily injured Yasuo on the ground.

The healer.

In any battle, kill the healer first.

This was a truth that even a three-year-old child understood,

let alone an old monster who had lived for hundreds of years.

"I'll start with you."

Before his voice faded,

Kujo Naruya's figure vanished into thin air.

There were no spatial fluctuations.

It was purely because his speed was so extreme that it surpassed the limit of what the retina could capture.

"Not good!"

Zhou Huai's heart pounded wildly.

Even if weakened, an SSS-Rank was still an SSS-Rank.

This terrifying mobility was simply not something his Avatars could match at this stage.

Gabriel cannot die!

He was the team's only source of sustain; once he fell, there would be no chance of winning the remaining battle.

"Yasuo!"

Zhou Huai's consciousness switched in an instant.

Although Yasuo was heavily injured and blood was still dripping from the piercing wound on his chest,

under Zhou Huai's forced control, this Thunder Sword Hero abruptly opened his eyes.

Thunderous light burst in his eyes.

【Seal of the Thunder God】!

Zzzzt—!

A golden arc of electricity flashed past.

Right at the instant Kujo Naruya's gaunt, ghost-claw-like palm was about to crush Gabriel's throat,

Yasuo's figure appeared out of nowhere between the two.

How familiar this scene was.

Just like when Da Yi was shooting his arrow earlier.

However,

using the same trick twice against an SSS-Rank Expert was fatal.

"Fool."

A cruel smirk tugged at the corner of Kujo Naruya's mouth.

He had prepared for this long ago.

One could even say he was waiting for Yasuo to come to his death.

The instant Yasuo appeared,

the kusanagi-no-tsurugi in Kujo Naruya's hand shifted direction without warning.

It was neither a thrust nor a slash,

but an extremely tricky upward slash from below!

This strike predicted Yasuo's landing position,

predicted the spatial fluctuations,

and even predicted Zhou Huai's reflexes.

"Pfft!"

Blood burst forth.

Before he could even scream,

Yasuo's legs, which had barely touched the ground, were severed clean from below the knees!

The cut was as smooth as a mirror.

Only after the severed legs flew several meters away did gushing blood stain the ground red.

"This is the price."

Kujo Naruya's eyes were icy.

Without the slightest pause,

he flipped his wrist and drove the kusanagi-no-tsurugi downward with golden residual glow!

Target—Yasuo's heart!

A finishing blow!

If this strike connected, Yasuo would surely die.

Zhou Huai's pupils shrank tightly.

Despair.

A true desperate situation.

Unable to keep up with speed, crushed in power, even his proud techniques appeared so pale in the face of an absolute gap in Realm.

But he did not give up.

Even if there was only a one in ten thousand chance!

"Xiang Yu!"

Zhou Huai roared in his mind.

In the distance,

Xiang Yu, who was sprinting over, abruptly stopped.

He slammed the heavy shield in his hands onto the ground.

And roared towards the sky.

【Enemy of the World】!

Wuuung—!

An invisible power of rules descended in an instant.

This was a mandatory Karma skill.

Even gods had to bow down before rules.

Kujo Naruya, who was about to pierce Yasuo's heart with his sword, froze violently.

His brain was still issuing the command to kill,

but his body, his muscles, and even the sword in his hand defied his will at this moment,

forcibly twisting away!

His head turned uncontrollably toward Xiang Yu's direction.

The sword in his hand also veered off its original trajectory, stabbing fiercely into the nearby frozen soil.

"You bastard!!!"

Kujo Naruya let out a furious roar.

This move again!

This damned shield warrior again!

Interrupting his rhythm time and again like a fly!

Disgusting!

Utterly disgusting!

"Since you want to die first, I'll fulfill your wish!"

The murderous intent in Kujo Naruya's eyes instantly shifted onto Xiang Yu.

He wanted to mince this reckless big guy into paste!

However,

right as he was about to draw his sword and rush toward Xiang Yu,

under his feet,

the man who had lost his legs and lay in a pool of blood moved.

Yasuo did not scream.

His face was as pale as paper, but those eyes of his were terrifyingly bright.

Exhausting the last bit of mana in his entire body,

he drove the longsword in his hand fiercely into the ground beneath him.

Level 4 Skill—

【Thunder Prison Annihilation Sword Array】!

Rumble—!

Centered on Kujo Naruya, the ground within a ten-meter radius instantly shattered.

Countless streams of golden thunder Sword Qi erupted from the ground, turning into a lightning cage that imprisoned gods, trapping Kujo Naruya firmly inside.

Every bolt of lightning contained earth-shattering Sword Intent, frantically slicing at Kujo Naruya's protective divine light.

"Dammit! What is this thing again?!"

Kujo Naruya's expression changed.

He tried to ram through, but found this thunder prison unexpectedly firm.

Against an ordinary target, the crowd-control effect of the thunder prison lasted up to six seconds,

enough to decide the outcome of a battle.

But Kujo Naruya was an SSS-Rank after all.

The Divine Power inside his body erupted, golden light wildly slamming against the golden lightning pillars.

Crack!

Cracks instantly covered the thunder prison.

"Two seconds!"

Zhou Huai's voice exploded in the minds of all the Avatars.

"This thunder prison can trap him for two seconds at most!"

"Retreat! Retreat fast!"

"Except for Xiang Yu, everyone retreat!"

The moment the command was issued,

Yasuo on the ground did not hesitate for a second.

Ignoring the excruciating pain from his severed legs, he grabbed Gabriel behind him.

Lightning surged around his body.

Although he could not run without his legs, he could still use the recoil force of the lightning to displace himself.

Zzzzt!

The two turned into an afterimage, retreating backward at full speed.

Meanwhile,

Gandalf and Caesar in the distance were also sprinting toward the edge of the ruins at the first moment.

At the center of the battlefield,

only one person charged against the tide.

Xiang Yu took heavy strides, charging toward Kujo Naruya trapped in the thunder prison.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

With every step, the ground trembled along with it.

And in the process of running,

Xiang Yu's body underwent a eerie change.

Dark red lines traveled and spread beneath his skin like magma.

His body temperature surged rapidly.

The surrounding air ignited instantly, twisting and deforming.

His whole body looked like an active volcano about to erupt.

Inside the thunder prison,

Kujo Naruya's eyes narrowed slightly.

Looking at that big guy charging over like a mad dog, he let out a cold snort.

"Do you want to self-detonate?"

"Foolish."