She deliberately dragged out her words, her tone filled with playfulness.
“After all, if you wanted to leave, there is absolutely nothing I could do to stop you.”
Hogg did not respond, his expression terrifyingly grim.
In the brief moments since he had withdrawn a portion of his magic coverage, even more abyssal monsters had surged from the edges of the rift. The creatures roared as they plunged toward the royal capital like a sheet of black rain.
Hogg glanced down before looking back at Gorman.
In his grayish-blue eyes, his murderous intent was stronger than ever before.
He raised his staff toward her, but Gorman did not give him any opportunity for a direct confrontation.
She turned and flew toward the higher reaches of the Abyssal Rift at extreme speed. Without hesitation, Hogg transformed into a streak of light and followed close behind.
The two of them swept across the sky above the battlefield, one after the other. Flying near the rift, Gorman suddenly came to a halt.
Hogg also stopped, a trace of confusion flashing in his eyes.
In the next moment, Gorman raised her hand and pointed below them.
Hogg glanced in the direction she was pointing, and his expression instantly shifted.
The mages who had taken to the sky with him earlier had already been surrounded from all directions by the black-robed mages.
Without his mana suppressing and disrupting them, the black-robed mages completely unleashed their power. Dozens of spells rained down from different directions, forcing the remaining court mages and imperial mages to retreat repeatedly, their formation on the verge of total collapse.
Soon, they fell from the sky one after another, completely powerless to fight back.
Within just a few breaths, there was not a single figure left in the sky above the royal capital besides Gorman's people.
The silver-white knights had long since dispersed, and Venus had fallen to who knew where.
The corners of Hogg's eyes practically split with rage. He spun around abruptly, pointing his staff directly at Gorman.
“Do you really think I cannot kill you?!”
His voice was bone-chillingly cold, and the murderous intent behind it made even Gorman feel a trace of pressure.
Looking at the enraged Hogg, the smile on Gorman's face faded slightly, though she was by no means afraid.
She raised her right hand, shaping it like a gun, and aimed her fingertip at Hogg's chest.
“If you were the Royal Preceptor of before, I certainly wouldn't dare to face you head-on.”
She tilted her head slightly, her tone carrying a hint of nostalgia.
“After all, the wound you left on my chest still aches to this day.”
Changing her tone, the purple light in her eyes suddenly deepened.
“But now, how much of your strength can you actually exert?”
As she spoke, a blinding purple light lit up at her fingertip.
【Deprivation】
The purple beam of light shot out instantly, aiming straight for Hogg's chest.
Hogg instinctively wanted to defend himself, but after continuously sealing the rift, forcibly suppressing the abyssal monsters, and repeatedly dealing with both the black-robed mages and Gorman, the mana within his body had already been heavily depleted.
Because of this, his shield deployed a fraction of a second slower than usual.
And in a battle of this level, a fraction of a second was a fatal mistake.
Just as the purple beam reached him, Hogg's pupils dilated. In that split second before impact, as he prepared for the worst, a figure appeared before him without warning.
The figure stood there quietly, blocking the path between Hogg and Gorman.
The purple beam struck his body dead-on, and then... vanished into nothingness. It was like a drop of rain falling into the ocean, or a grain of sand returning to the desert...
In short, it did not cause even a single ripple. Everything happened naturally.
Staring at this cyan-robed figure, Hogg held his breath for a moment. The murderous intent in his heart gradually dissipated, replaced by an unprecedented sense of tranquility.
He let out a long breath, stepped closer to the figure, and bowed slightly at Li Yuan's side.
“Thank you for saving me, sir.”
As for why Li Yuan had appeared, or how he had appeared... Hogg felt no confusion whatsoever. In fact, he felt a strange sense of relief, as if everything was exactly as it should be.
But for Gorman, on the other side, it was a completely different story. The moment this figure appeared, every single cell in her body began to scream and shriek.
Her soul also began to tremble uncontrollably, and a primal, instinctive dread began to spread from the deepest depths of her heart throughout her entire body.
She felt as if she had plunged into an ice cave. Her expression contorted in agony, and she desperately wanted to flee—only to find that she had completely lost control of her body and could not move an inch.
Her teeth began to chatter, her limbs shook uncontrollably, and even breathing became extremely difficult.
Li Yuan looked at her expressionlessly, then raised his head to glance at the rift in the sky, speaking softly.
“Though karmic ties have been established between us, I have no need for this karma.”
While he could not easily reconnect karmic ties, severing them was a simple matter.
With those words, he gently raised his hand. Several golden characters hovered in the center of his palm before he lightly pushed them forward, sending them floating into the air to vanish one after another.
In the next instant, heaven and earth resonated as the sun and moon shone together.
The original night sky abruptly vanished, and the entire world was illuminated by gold and silver light at the same time. The two colors blended together yet remained distinct, as if celebrating, as if dancing.
The golden light washed over all creation, bringing warmth and rebirth, while the silver light swept past, leaving behind coldness and decay.
In this paradoxical alternation, golden characters surfaced once more, hanging high in the heavens.
In an instant, every living thing in the world—no matter where they were, which way they looked, or whether they possessed sight or intelligence—could clearly 'see' these characters.
Even more, they could 'understand' the meaning within them.
For they represented the will of this heaven and earth.
This was an absolute decree. It transcended species, race, and allegiance, serving as a direct transmission of 'intent' to every existence within this world.
And this intent originated from Li Yuan's will.
For these golden characters were a decree—one that read:
【In this world, all I negate shall die.】
【Negated—Abyssal Monsters】
As the source of this karma, these monsters had to be completely eliminated.
Negation—meaning the negation of the abyssal monsters' very existence, as well as the negation of the beginning of this karma.
The decree was established, and heaven and earth acted as its executors.
As the characters slowly faded, a power unique to heaven and earth manifested. Every single abyssal entity was locked onto and frozen by the power of laws at the exact same moment, turning into ashes in the blink of an eye.
Furthermore, this was not limited to the royal capital. Across the entire Ogu Continent, and even every celestial body and domain in this world, all abyssal monsters would be completely annihilated under this decree.
As for the monsters that had not yet rushed out of the rift, they were unaffected by the decree for now. However, the moment they crossed the rift—even if only a tiny part of their body touched this world—the decree would instantly erase them.
Then, everyone witnessed an incredibly wild scene—
First, the monsters within the royal capital suddenly froze in place before turning into piles of ash. The monsters rushing out of the Abyssal Rift also dissolved into ash in less than a second, drifting down like falling snowflakes.
As for those whose bodies had been possessed by the abyssal monsters, they also began to gradually regain consciousness once the monsters vanished.
Under the decree, humans lived and demons perished.
The chaos in the royal capital ended in an instant. People embraced and wept, offering their devout prayers and gratitude to the gods.
In their limited understanding, whether it was the giant golden characters from earlier, the suddenly vanishing monsters, or the possessed people returning to normal—all of these were signs that the gods had answered their prayers, performing a divine miracle to save everyone.
But Hogg was different. He had witnessed the entire process of how this so-called 'divine miracle' had come to be.
Because of this, his elemental faith was deeply shaken. Looking at Li Yuan's back, he felt a sudden, overwhelming urge to worship him.
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