Chapter 246: Battle! Tang San Must Die!
"Beast?"
These two words, like two daggers quenched in ten-thousand-year-old ice, pierced with incomparable precision through Tang San's final, fragile outer shell known as "God King's Dignity" and "Vengeful Justice," reaching the darkest, most wretched, and most untouchable corners of his Soul.
The Void Realm outside the boundary wall seemed to drop in temperature abruptly because of these two words; even the light cast by distant stars felt bone-chillingly cold.
Tang San's body began to tremble violently.
It wasn't fear, but a physiological shudder triggered by a mixture of extreme humiliation, rage, and a kind of panic from having his disguise completely torn away.
His face, which had mostly recovered under the Goddess of Life's treatment yet still bore charred traces, instantly flushed red as blood, then turned a dark iron-blue from extreme anger, before finally fading into a deathly ashen pallor.
"You... you... how dare you...!" Tang San's lips quivered. In his blood-red eyes, the originally blazing flames of revenge seemed to have oil poured on them, suddenly exploding into a chaotic, frenzied, and almost irrational crimson storm!
He glared deathly at Lei Chen. The Asura God divine force that had just stabilized went out of control again. Fragments of the broken asura god armor clattered, and the Asura God Sword in his hand let out a sharp wail, as if it would pounce forward recklessly in the next moment to tear the existence who dared to humiliate him so into ten thousand pieces, his divine soul forever suppressed in a sea of blood!
"How dare I?" The cold sneer on Lei Chen's face did not fade but grew even more intense. He tilted his head slightly, as if looking at a clown, his voice frighteningly calm. "What, is it only allowed for you, Tang San, to disregard the rules for your own selfish interests, wreak havoc in the Lower Realm, and involve the innocent, but not allowed for others to call you a 'beast'? Does your dignity as an Enforcer only allow the officials to set fires while forbidding the commoners from lighting lamps?"
He paused, his gaze sweeping over the four God Kings of the Old God Realm behind Tang San who had complicated expressions and looked like they wanted to speak but hesitated. Finally, his gaze fell back on Tang San, the contempt and pity in his eyes almost turning into physical blades.
"Speaking of which, I almost forgot to ask you," Lei Chen's voice suddenly took on a strange tone of realization, as if he had just remembered something, but anyone could hear the calculation and coldness within it. "Your two deeply affectionate 'Soul Beast brothers' who stayed behind in the Lower Realm with your parents... Da Ming and Er Ming, what happened to them? As their elder brother, have you ever cared about their whereabouts?"
As soon as these words were spoken, Tang San's furious and frenzied expression suddenly froze!
It was as if a bucket of ice water, mixed with the chill from the depths of the Nine Netherworlds, had been poured over his head, instantly extinguishing most of his reason-burning rage, leaving only a bone-chilling... stiffness.
He opened his mouth, his throat making a "he-he" sound as if something were choking him. In his blood-red eyes, the frantic flames quickly receded, replaced by a flash of panic, guilt, and... an indescribable terror.
"It seems God King Tang is a busy man with a short memory?" Lei Chen's voice suddenly turned sharp, like a thunderclap, each word striking clearly in the hearts of every God King present. "That's right, you should 'know' their final end very clearly! After all—"
Lei Chen took a half-step forward. His aura, deep as the sea, seemed to resonate with the entire Douluo Plane. An invisible, vast pressure spread out. He stared into Tang San's dodging eyes, word by word, like a sentence:
"They were under the control of a strand of your Divine Sense, and in order to cover the retreat for your foolish parents, to obliterate any possible traces left behind, and to prevent me from investigating more evidence of your God Realm's illegal stay—they were personally detonated by you, their divine soul obliterated, leaving not even a bone!"
"Boom!"
Like a silent thunderbolt, it exploded in the minds of the God Kings of the Old God Realm!
The God of Destruction turned his head sharply, his deep purple eyes staring deathly at Tang San, his face filled with unbelievable rage and questioning! The God of Goodness and the God of Evil changed expressions simultaneously, looking at Tang San with complicated eyes, then at Lei Chen, as if judging the truth of these words.
Even the Goddess of Life, who had been fully treating Tang San and was of the gentlest temperament, had the emerald divine light in her hands stall. A clear look of shock and... heartache appeared on her beautiful face.
Controlling his own "brothers" to self-detonate? Just to obliterate evidence and cover a retreat?
This... how could this be the behavior of an "Enforcer" or a "God King"? This was a hundred times worse than simply staying in the Lower Realm illegally! This was a complete betrayal of trust, an extreme disregard for life, and the ultimate coldness and selfishness of sacrificing those "close" to him just to cover up his own mistakes!
If this were true... then Tang San's indignant accusations of "avenging his parents" and "repaying a blood debt" just now sounded so ironic and laughable. He himself was the most unscrupulous person without any bottom line!
Tang San's face completely lost all color, becoming as pale as paper. He subconsciously wanted to refute, to denounce Lei Chen's slander, but his lips trembled a few times, and he found he couldn't utter any forceful words of defense.
Because... what Lei Chen said was the truth.
Years ago, when he realized he might be exposed and couldn't easily escape, that strand of Divine Sense he left in the Lower Realm attached to the Soul Beast brothers had indeed, at the critical moment, forcibly detonated their Origin... This was a "decision" he had to make for the "greater good," to avoid involving the God Realm, and to "cut off the clues."
In his heart, those two Soul Beasts were just brothers in name—they were "beasts," "subordinates," and "pawns" that could be sacrificed when necessary.
He never felt there was anything wrong with this, even considering it a "wise" and "decisive" performance.
But now, with this matter being exposed by Lei Chen in front of the other four God Kings in such a cold, direct, and contemptuous manner... he suddenly realized how despicable, cold, and shameful this behavior was in the eyes of others, especially other God Kings who also held supreme power and had their own moral and conduct standards!
"I... I was..." Tang San spoke with difficulty, his voice dry and hoarse, trying to explain but unable to find any justifiable reason.
"Enough." Lei Chen had lost the patience to hear his excuses. He lightly flicked his sleeve as if brushing away some unclean dust. The sneer and contempt on his face vanished, replaced by the calm and majesty of one overlooking the entire situation and stabilizing the world. His gaze swept over the five God Kings of the Old God Realm, finally stopping on the ashen-faced God of Destruction and the complicated expressions of the Goddess of Goodness, God of Evil, and Goddess of Life.
"What's the point of telling you all this?" Lei Chen's voice returned to a flat tone, but it carried an unquestionable decisiveness, as if stating a long-predetermined outcome. "It's just a waste of breath and adds to the noise. Things have come to this; further talk is useless."
He paused slightly, and the Universe's Void Realm seemed to freeze because of his next words.
"Now, I give you only two choices."
Lei Chen held up one finger. His voice was calm but contained vast Divine Might, echoing clearly:
"First, we keep all five of you here and finish you off completely. The Old God Realm will henceforth become the dust of history."
He held up a second finger:
"Second, be sensible and voluntarily strip yourselves of your God Position and hand over the core authority of the God Realm. Considering your hard work in cultivation and that the mastermind of the events back then was Tang San, we may consider giving you a way out."
His gaze suddenly became sharp as a knife, like a physical cold gleam, instantly piercing the Void Realm and pinning itself onto Tang San, who had just lost his composure and turned pale due to the "brother's self-detonation" matter. He added, his voice firm and leaving no room for negotiation:
"By the way, Tang San has no right to choose."
"He must die."
"Boom—!!!"
The last four words, like four Nine Heavens Demon-Slaying Thunderclaps, slammed into the dead silence of the Void Realm and into the hearts of the God Kings of the Old God Realm!
Must die!
No room for maneuver, no possibility of negotiation. This new Douluo Plane Master's Killing Intent toward Asura God Tang San was already resolute, clear, and unmasked to the extreme! This was a sentence of death!
A brief, dead silence.
Then, an indescribable rage, like a volcano suppressed for billions of years, erupted from the God of Destruction!
"ARROGANCE—!!!"
The God of Destruction's roar was like billions of stars exploding simultaneously, filled with the towering rage of being completely looked down upon and humiliated. The pitch-black divine force of destruction around him was no longer held back, sweeping out like a raging sea, turning the surrounding thousands of miles of the Universe's Void Realm into an absolute dead zone filled with the aura of ruin and finality! Countless tiny spatial cracks spread and exploded around him, making a tooth-aching cracking sound!
His majestic face was distorted by rage, his deep purple eyes burning with flames that seemed to incinerate the heavens. He stared deathly at Lei Chen, his voice like scraping metal, carrying the violence of destroying everything:
"Just the two of you?! You want to keep all five of our God Realm's God Kings here?! You want to force us to strip our God Positions and drag out an ignoble existence?! You even want to execute Asura in front of us?!"
"Ignorant of the heights of heaven! Today, this seat will let you, this arrogant fool, know what it means to violate the dignity of the God Realm! What is—the true essence of destruction!"
Before the God of Destruction's voice had even faded, the God of Goodness and the God of Evil beside him also had icy faces. Their divine force surged, and two vast beams of divine light, one white and one black, soared into the sky, blending with each other to evolve the supreme Law meaning of encompassing good and evil and adjudicating life and death.
Although they felt some resentment toward Tang San's actions, Lei Chen's blatant threats and contempt had already touched the bottom line of the God Realm's survival and the dignity of the God Kings. They could not sit idly by!
The Goddess of Life sighed lightly, withdrawing her hand from Tang San's back. A flash of resolve passed through her emerald eyes. She knew that things had reached this point, and there was only battle. The vast divine force of life spread from her. Though not offensive, it carried a strange vibration of nourishing all things yet also being able to strip away life force, locking onto Lei Chen and Gu Yuena.
As for Tang San, who had just been stimulated by Lei Chen's words and lost his composure, he seemed to be jolted awake by the God of Destruction's roar of "Arrogance." Boundless humiliation, hatred, fear, and the madness of being pushed to a dead end burned in his chest like poisonous fire, instantly overpowering his previous shame and panic.
"Ah—!!!" Tang San let out a roar like a wounded beast. The blood light on his broken asura god armor surged again, and the Asura God Sword in his hand let out a shrill ring. He took a step forward, standing side-by-side with the God of Goodness and the God of Evil, his blood-red eyes locking onto Gu Yuena opposite him. He hissed: "Together! First kill this Silver Dragon King beast! Then execute that arrogant fool!"
Clearly, in Tang San's view, Gu Yuena, who had just ascended to Dragon God and possessed unfathomable strength, was a greater threat and had a grudge against him for the fall of the Golden Dragon King, making her the primary target. And with him joining forces with the God of Goodness and the God of Evil, they could precisely launch that... "Three Realms Judgment Sword" which deterred God Kings and required the strength of three people to perform! Even though he was currently injured and not yet recovered, the power of the three combined still could not be underestimated!
"Roar—!!!"
Responding to Tang San was Gu Yuena's clear and supremely majestic dragon roar! The Chaos-colored radiance around her suddenly intensified, and her silver-gold long hair danced wildly without wind. In those eyes reflecting the creation and destruction of the Universe, a sharp cold gleam surged. Facing the locking of the three God Kings of the Old God Realm, she not only showed no fear but instead took a step forward, heading alone toward Tang San, Goodness, and Evil!
"Your opponent is me." Gu Yuena's ethereal and majestic voice rang out, carrying an indifference as if looking down at ants. She slowly raised both hands; her left hand, the "Source of Creation," was silver-white and brilliant, evolving all things; her right hand, the "Destruction Finale," was deep dark-gold, radiating deathly silence. Two completely opposite supreme powers circulated in her palms, ready to be unleashed. The terrifying pressure made the three God Kings opposite her feel their breathing stall.
On the other side, Lei Chen's gaze had already calmly turned to the God of Destruction and the Goddess of Life standing in his way.
The God of Destruction was shrouded in a pitch-black destruction storm, his scepter of destruction pointing directly at Lei Chen, his violent Killing Intent almost solidifying. The Goddess of Life hovered behind him to the side, her emerald divine light like the toughest vines, faintly sealing off all of Lei Chen's possible evasion spaces. Her gentle divine force of life now also carried a sharp edge.
Two against one.
No, to be precise, Lei Chen was to face, with his own strength alone, two God Kings who wielded the two opposing yet complementary supreme Laws of "Destruction" and "Life"!
The Universe's Void Realm was as silent as a tomb.
Seven figures standing above the heavens were divided into two battlefields, confronting each other from a distance.
Invisible Killing Intent, vast Divine Might, and collapsing Law meanings clashed, squeezed, and annihilated each other frantically in this cold deep space, turning the area within tens of thousands of miles into a perilous zone where even light could not easily escape.
In the distance, the outline of the Old God Realm cast a huge, ominous shadow in the starry sky.
Nearby, the boundary wall of the Douluo Plane, flowing with seven-colored aurora, stood quietly, reflecting this God King battle that was about to determine the fate of two God Realms and even the broader Star Domain.
The atmosphere was as tense as a fully drawn bowstring.
The great battle was on the verge of breaking out.