Chapter 118: The Battle Draws to a Close (Part One)

Thanatos had no intention of interfering with the war in North America. However, the arrival of an evil deity from beyond the heavens into the Underworld changed everything. The Underworld was their domain, after all. Even the Olympian gods could not enter the Underworld at will, let alone a foreign deity. This was something he could not simply ignore.

Seeing the grim expression on the God of Death’s face, Tezcatlipoca realized there was no room for negotiation. She scratched her head and gave a dry laugh. "Heh, the weather is nice today! Let us meet again when fate allows!"

With that, she voluntarily dispersed the consciousness she had possessed within her devotee and departed from this world. Though it was humiliating to back down before Thanatos, she was currently inhabiting only an avatar, far weaker than her true form; even at the avatar's peak, she was barely a match for him. Having exhausted most of her power in the battle against the Gold Saints, fighting the God of Death in the Underworld would be an act of self-humiliation. Retreating voluntarily at least allowed her to save some face.

However, her departure spelled disaster for the priestess she had been possessing. Without the divine will to bolster her, the woman was merely a common warrior at the limit of the Sixth Sense.

"Please... Lord Thanatos... I... I am willing to become your believer... and offer you my soul..." the short-haired woman said cautiously, looking up at the cold, stern deity.

"You?"

The God of Death glanced at her with disdain and sneered, "In the Underworld, there are countless wretches like you. I could pick one at random who is far better than you!"

"Besides, I have no interest in your filthy soul, tainted by an evil deity from beyond. You had better vanish forever; do not defile Lord Hades' Underworld!"

As he spoke, Thanatos raised his right hand and pointed it toward the short-haired woman from afar.

*Whoosh!*

Seeing a beam of pitch-black light streak from the god's fingertip toward her, the woman immediately crossed her arms, imbuing them with her Cosmo to shield herself. Because the distance was too close, she had no time to dodge.

Alas, despite her desperate defense, she was no match for the attack of a god. The black beam instantly pierced through her crossed arms, penetrated her forehead, and exited through the back of her head, leaving a bottomless hole in the ground.

"How is this possible..."

She fell to the ground in frustration, her consciousness slowly fading away.

***

On the North American continent, the few remaining on the battlefield cheered wildly, overcome with excitement after successfully destroying the divine portal.

"We did it!"

"We succeeded!"

...

After a while, Camus remembered something and hurriedly searched the ground until he found Cancer Deathmask lying in a pool of blood.

"Hey, are you alright?" Camus asked anxiously, using his freezing air to seal Deathmask's wounds and stop the bleeding.

"I thought... you had... forgotten about me..." Deathmask replied weakly.

The Jaguar Goddess’s final strike had clearly been delivered in genuine rage, and he had been unable to withstand it. Coupled with the fact that his Gold Cloth had been melted by Xolotl’s black flames, its defensive capabilities were severely diminished. Had the enemy not diverted most of her power toward the other side to counter the attack of Camus and the others, he would likely have been torn to pieces by now.

"Stop talking for a moment. I will call the Crateris Saint back," Camus said to comfort him, then used telepathy to reach out to Yin Shili.

"Deathmask is in critical condition and needs your Lunar Dew! Please return immediately!"

"Understood, Lord Camus!"

Receiving the message, Yin Shili immediately bid farewell to Mayura and the others and turned back. Like Aldebaran, Camus and Deathmask had ordered the Bronze Saints to wait on the periphery once they entered the divine domain, realizing the younger fighters could no longer assist. After exiting the battlefield, Yin Shili and Mayura had encountered the three Bronze Saints originally belonging to Camus's team. Before long, Yin Shili returned to the center of the battlefield in the northeast.

Not far away, the pyramid that once stood tall had been reduced to a massive pile of rubble. For nearly a thousand meters around, the landscape was a ruin; not a single intact tree or patch of grass remained.

"Eh?"

Suddenly, Yin Shili noticed an extremely abnormal fluctuation emanating from the center of the ruins. With his Sixth Sense—the Alaya-vijnana—he could clearly "see" a bizarre space-time node at the heart of the anomaly, oscillating incessantly, completely unlike the stability of its surroundings. It gave off an intensely chaotic feeling.

Just as he prepared to investigate further, Camus called out to him from nearby.

"What are you standing there for? Come over and help!"

"Oh? Oh, coming!"

Yin Shili snapped out of his daze, gave a quick reply, and hurried over.

***

Looking at Deathmask’s deep, bone-exposed wound, he opened his palm and drew out the Lunar Dew again, using telepathy to restrain it into a water sphere in his hand.

"Lord Deathmask, please open your mouth!" he signaled to the Cancer Saint.

"Mm!"

Deathmask responded weakly, slowly opening his mouth just a sliver. Yin Shili immediately split the water sphere into two thin streams, pouring one into Deathmask’s mouth and spreading the other evenly over his wounds.

Soon, the bleeding from the raw, crimson flesh stopped, and the wounds began to heal at a visible rate. However, the wounds were only half-healed when the water sphere in Yin Shili’s hand was completely consumed.

Camus frowned at the sight. "Get more dew, Crateris!"

"I am sorry, Lord Camus, the dew is all gone!" Yin Shili shook his head helplessly.

The Crateris cup was only so large. After giving half to the Serpentarius Saint, he had only half a cup left. He had used a significant amount during this campaign, and after healing Camus and the others, he was now completely dry.

Hearing this, Deathmask struggled to sit up, but the movement tugged at his unhealed wounds, causing him to grimace in pain.

"It’s fine, it’s fine! My wounds are half-healed; I won’t die now!" he quickly told them.

Seeing this, Camus shook his head and instructed Yin Shili, "Take care of him here. I am going to the northwestern battlefield to retrieve the Taurus Cloth."

Aldebaran was gone, but he had to bring the Taurus Gold Cloth back.

Yin Shili asked with concern, "But there are still two evil deities over there..."

Knowing what he was about to say, Camus waved his hand dismissively.

"Don't worry about that; they have already left!"

Had he not sensed that the presence of the two evil deities had vanished, he would not have dared to rush into that battlefield so rashly. Hearing this, Yin Shili finally realized that the Cosmo of Quetzalcoatl and Xolotl had disappeared, and the divine barrier that had shrouded the three pyramid regions was gone as well.

"The two of you should also return, gather your respective subordinates, and prepare to head back to the Sanctuary!"

Camus gave instructions to the Orion and Cepheus Saints, then transformed into a streak of golden light and flew toward the northwest.