Chapter 138: Clash of the Twin Gods!
Although the two sides were still talking, a fight was imminent!
These were god-level beings. Just the aftershocks of their battle could easily kill them!!
"It\'s over..."
"We\'re doomed!"
...
Internally, the players were extremely fearful, but on the surface, they remained motionless, not even daring to breathe loudly.
They were afraid of attracting any divine attention and inviting disaster upon themselves.
However, to the players\' surprise, at this tense moment, Gloria glanced at the crowd of players and casually raised a lavender curtain, shielding them.
"What\'s going on?"
"Are we being protected by the goddess??"
"Thank you, Goddess! Thank you, Goddess!"
...
For a moment, the players were somewhat excited! Each one of them was almost ready to kneel down in worship!
There was a way out!
Gloria\'s shield had saved the players! Otherwise, they would have been obliterated by the aftershocks of the gods\' battle.
Meanwhile, in Faye\'s mind, Felicia exclaimed repeatedly: "Since when did Gloria become so kind-hearted?"
"As far as I know, she\'s an asshole who only cares about her own goals!"
Sterl was also puzzled.
If she really cared about these players, why did she cause so much trouble earlier? Why think of protecting them now, when there are only about 200 left? What was she doing before?
Despite the confusion, Sterl was in a good mood because his main body, Constantine, was also within the protective shield, and his avatar, David, mixed in with the players, was similarly protected.
He was safe now! Otherwise, to avoid the aftershocks of the two gods\' battle, Sterl might have been forced to ascend to godhood.
At that point, while his life would be preserved, he wouldn\'t be able to use his newfound divine power to seize the Newborn Sprout of Creation.
The two gods would likely join forces to drive out and eliminate him, the weakest "new god."
...
Sterl pondered this, and then...
As everyone remained unaware, the battle suddenly erupted!
In an instant, the God of Heaven Water transformed into a thousand torrents.
Just like when he first appeared, there was no warning at all!
It was as if a film had been abruptly cut and inserted into the scene.
In a flash, Gloria\'s figure was engulfed by the vast ocean.
However...
In the very next second, like a celestial body\'s natural transformation, a dark purple full moon rose over the sea, emitting a strange rhythm.
Then, the water currents surged upward, striving to reach the sky and engulf the moon.
The moon in the sky emitted a bright light, evaporating the ocean below.
For a while, there was no visible battle scene—just two natural phenomena seemingly interacting, though with hidden lethality.
Under the protection of the Dark Moon Goddess\'s shield, the players were stunned, including Sterl, who was bewildered.
This god-level battle was beyond comprehension!
Sterl could only sense that it seemed like two principles embodying the ultimate truths of heaven and earth were clashing.
The small instance was utterly unqualified to serve as a battleground for the two gods, causing constant spatial cracks and instability! It seemed as though the instance might completely collapse any second.
The clash between the ocean and the moon did not last long.
Despite the ocean currents desperately converging upward, they ultimately failed to diminish the dark purple moonlight. Instead, the currents themselves suffered significant losses as they ascended.
The reason lay in the fact that the moon, in addition to its own power, continuously created chains of purple-black locks that hindered the ocean\'s impact!
Two against one, that ocean current, without an absolute advantage, could only retreat step by step.
By this point, it was evident that the God of Heaven Water, an ancient relic, had fallen into a disadvantageous position.
The thousands of tides he transformed into were controlled bit by bit by the light emitted from the full moon in the sky!
The moon, inherently capable of manipulating the tides and ocean currents, naturally countered the God of Heaven Water. Moreover, in terms of Divine Power, although both were referred to as "weak Divine Power" by Gloria, the Dark Moon Goddess seemed to wield the powers of both the moon and shadows, whereas the God of Heaven Water only controlled the tides.
Thus, the God of Heaven Water had to contend not only with Gloria\'s moon directly but also with the shadow chains that continuously ambushed him, placing him at an increasing disadvantage!
Soon, the ocean created by Osmond began to evaporate and shrink. Even the green light of the Newborn Sprout of Creation, which had been enveloped by countless water currents, began to seep through!
It seemed that the divine battle was about to conclude.
However...
The initially diminishing water currents suddenly accelerated their "weakening" by tens of times, actually rapidly converging—
The God of Heaven Water transformed into a giant composed of water currents, roaring furiously as he charged toward the moon in the sky!
Clearly, he intended to make a desperate final attempt!
Meanwhile, the Dark Moon Goddess floated serenely beneath the giant moon, a tranquil smile gracing her face.
Most of the players present dared not gaze directly at the divine battle, but the braver ones kept their eyes on the battlefield. What they saw left them utterly entranced, as if the goddess had stolen their very minds.
Then, the forces of the moon and shadows converged, forming a massive crystalline barrier that swiftly descended, pressing down on the giant formed of water currents.
As the two forces clashed, the Newborn Sprout of Creation, situated at the core of the God of Heaven Water\'s avatar, was simultaneously affected by the powers of both deities. It manifested a white shield, which began to waver under the dual impact, on the verge of shattering!
The confrontation had evidently reached a fever pitch!
The giant formed by the God of Heaven Water\'s avatar gradually shifted from an upright stance to a kneeling one, being forcibly suppressed!
As the battle neared its climax, with victory and defeat imminent, Constantine had discreetly vanished from an unnoticed corner.
Sterl\'s main body used the remaining balance in the Blood Diamond to exchange for a shield from the Archduke of Blood.
This shield was useless in the face of a god-level battle, but it carried the aura of a god-level demon!
It could cloak Sterl with a layer of the Archduke of Blood\'s essence!
To the two gods, this disguise might be meaningless.
But Sterl believed he had to give it his all to feel secure...
With his final preparations complete, Sterl looked up at the sky, where the white shield of the Newborn Sprout of Creation was down to its last fragment.
The divine artifact was about to lose its protection!
Based on the earlier conversation between Gloria and Osmond, Sterl boldly speculated that the white shield was actually a protection from the [Transcendence] system. Once it shattered, there would be no more restrictions preventing the Newborn Sprout of Creation from recognizing an owner once the countdown ended.
Whoever claimed it would own it!
Sterl first activated Shadow Stealth to traverse into the shadow realm.
In this alternate world, ensuring no one could observe him, he unleashed the Divine Power hidden within him!
In an instant, Sterl was overwhelmed by a flood of information.
In that brief moment, he comprehended everything—the so-called gods were entities formed by the combination of Divine Power, Law Power, and divine consciousness that controlled these forces.
Different divine offices could accommodate different types of laws. The more types of laws a divine office could contain, the more Divine Power it could accumulate.
And when a god had accumulated enough Divine Power, it could cause a qualitative change.
Starting with weak Divine Power, it would progress to strong Divine Power, then to great Divine Power, and finally to vast Divine Power.
Clearly, having multiple divine offices would allow one to accumulate Divine Power more efficiently from the start, making it easier to break through to new realms.
Information about gods was extremely precious. Normally, even demigods under various deities couldn\'t access it.
But Sterl, leveraging his brief ascension to godhood, understood everything!
He no longer had an information gap. As long as he prepared methodically, he was destined to become a god in the future!
Sterl also understood why he could temporarily ascend: the two biggest hurdles for a demigod to advance to godhood were obtaining a divine office and Divine Power. Divine consciousness, which meant a highly refined amount of Divine Power, could be slowly honed by both players and NPCs as long as they lived long enough.
Essentially, divine consciousness was just a tool to drive the divine office and Divine Power.
Although Sterl\'s refined Divine Power was far from reaching the level of "divine consciousness," it was barely enough to crudely wield the power for a few seconds of "godhood."
...
Meanwhile, in the outside world—
Crack!
Accompanied by a crisp burst, the shield encasing the Newborn Sprout of Creation finally shattered.
"Osmond, you\'ve lost after all."
"The power of creation is too important to me. My apologies." Gloria\'s figure flickered within the high-hanging moon, then gathered an extremely terrifying torrent of power!
Below, the giant formed by the God of Heaven Water\'s avatar still hadn\'t given up, but he was powerless to directly confront Gloria. He could only shield the Newborn Sprout of Creation held at his chest with one hand while the other hand desperately swung a giant sword formed from water towards the sky!
For a moment, the heavens and earth were filled with the clash of dark purple light and water-blue blades, meeting and colliding from sky and earth!
The players, guarded by the shields Gloria had created, huddled together for warmth, fearing that the aftershocks might shatter the goddess\'s shields. Better to face the Divine Power\'s edge in a group than alone!
Despite the tension, the players were in surprisingly good spirits: "It\'s finally ending!"
They weren\'t blind. They could see the situation.
The Dark Moon Goddess was about to achieve victory, which was the best possible outcome!
The Newborn Sprout of Creation was never something the players dared to covet. They simply believed that once the goddess finished her battle, she would send them back to the main world!