Chapter 640: Stalemate

"Here, the only one you can kill is me!"

Li Mochen's 'Fate Sword' floated beside him, his gaze filled with provocation and mockery as he looked at the three divine kings present.

"Beyond that, all your methods are useless, Your Majesties!"

At that moment, countless beams of light pierced through his body.

According to the physics of this world, when a person reaches light speed, everything around them appears to be stationary.

This is slightly different from true 'space freezing,' which genuinely freezes the surrounding space with force; 'light-speed movement' allows one's own speed to be so fast that everything around enters a state of relative stillness.

Li Mochen's talent spell 'Light-Speed Movement' was such an ability, but even at full effort, he could only achieve sub-light speed.

Ahura, who had mastered the 'Truth of Light' and could slightly alter reality, could not only stop time. His light could also trace back to the past and penetrate the future.

Yet this still could not harm Li Mochen; his body seemed illusory and nonexistent, letting the beams pass through him.

Li Mochen knew that light is both particle and wave. The world seen by the naked eye is not entirely continuous and linear, but refreshes frame by frame like a display screen.

His method was to use the Kunlun Mirror to interfere with space and time, hiding himself in the gaps between frames, while using the power of fate to guide himself away from harm.

This made it impossible for beings as powerful as Ahura and Odin to truly harm him.

As a god of light and war with divine rank 20, Ahura and Odin were undoubtedly extremely powerful in combat! But at this moment, the threat they posed to him was less than that of the Night Goddess Nyx, who was using shadow and dark energy to fully invade his body and devour his divine power.

Their approaches were completely different: Ahura influenced the past and future through light; Li Mochen's power acted directly on time itself.

While resisting the two divine kings in this way, Li Mochen also drew two pistols and fired continuously.

These were two mythical weapons crafted by Anthony Braden after his apotheosis. Their quality was mediocre, even inferior to 'Dragon's Might.'

Yet under the guidance of fate, amplified by the divine authority and forbidden curse named 'Annihilation,' any firearm in his hands had astonishing power. The antimatter condensed at the bullet tips, when colliding and merging, could trigger a terrifying divine might equivalent to a 1-megaton TNT nuclear explosion, and Li Mochen's numerous divine authorities could amplify this lethality to the extreme.

Li Mochen's targets were not any of the three divine kings present. The bullets he fired were all aimed at Odin's two wolves—Geri, representing 'Greed,' and Freki, representing 'Hunger'—and Nyx's pet ravens.

Each time he fired, he could kill these pets of the divine kings, forcing Nyx and Odin to occasionally divert power to rescue their animal companions.

At this moment, Nyx's gaze was obscure.

Even if Li Mochen possessed pseudo-truth-level time, ultimate space, and a powerful divine artifact like the Kunlun Mirror, it was impossible for him to remain unscathed under their combined attack.

In terms of mastery over time and space, neither Odin, Ahura, nor herself was far inferior to Li Mochen.

But he was the 'Lord of Fate,' also wielding the power of fate.

With part of the authority of the World Core and pseudo-truth-level fate combined with pseudo-truth-level time, Li Mochen's power was almost enough to determine the future!

He could not yet decide the fate of the three divine kings here, but this Lord of Fate could ensure his own future remained invincible!

Fate and time—truly the highest-level laws and divine authorities, even at the pseudo-truth level, they could contend with the truths they held.

At least within this Divine Kingdom of Fate, even the three of them would find it difficult to extinguish Li Mochen's fate!

Moreover, Nyx felt her own power being weakened.

It was the divine authority of equality and fairness; her enemy was using these two forces to try to drag them down from behind the door of truth and suppress their rank to divine rank 17.

"Boom!"

Odin's divine power erupted, with unparalleled might, vast thunder,磅礴 storms, and towering flames, instantly covering seven thousand miles around, nearly spreading to every corner of this divine kingdom.

As the Norse god of war and magic, founder of the runes, his control over these natural forces was almost no less than his eldest son Thor's command of thunder and storm, and even not inferior to Ahura's light and flame.

Then the former Lord of Light, Ahura, raised a momentum no less than Odin's, completely transforming into a great blazing sun, rising into the sky of this divine kingdom, casting his radiance in all directions, burning and piercing every inch of land in this Divine Kingdom of Fate with light and flame.

Nyx was not to be outdone; her power seemed unremarkable, but the damage to this divine land was no less than that of Odin and Ahura.

Wherever light could not cover, land and space fell within her domain. They disintegrated inch by inch, churned into dust and sand by the power of shadow and darkness.

Nyx understood the intention of her two temporary comrades: since they could not harm Li Mochen, they would begin to consume, attack his divine kingdom, and drain his divine power.

Until Li Mochen's power could no longer restore everything in this divine kingdom.

"I told you, this is useless!"

Li Mochen's reaction was calm: "You didn't think I wouldn't anticipate this, did you?"

The effect was indeed minimal; the vast Divine Kingdom of Fate recovered instantly. Li Mochen's divine power was hardly depleted.

This was because the powerful major gods under Li Mochen, such as 'Sea Goddess Thetis,' 'Earth Angel Christine,' 'Storm and Flood God Twyck Wood,' 'Firearms, Shooting, and Rapid Fire God Anson Wood,' and 'Travel, Adventure, Exploration, and Mercenary Protector God Field,' were helping him stabilize various parts of the divine kingdom.

Their power was far inferior to that of the three divine kings, but merely calming the area around them was within their ability.

This reduced Li Mochen's consumption and pressure, but the most crucial factor was the magic tower array.

This vast array was neither used for defense nor attack by Li Mochen. It merely maximized the two forbidden curses 'Life Constancy' and 'Death Prohibition,' and then produced 'magic power' and 'magic energy.'

It did not obtain magic energy from within the Bright World but drew power from the World Core, which was purer, more reliable, and harder to intercept.

And Gaia, she was continuously providing power to Li Mochen.

After Odin and the others withdrew, her share in the World Core nearly returned to its former state. Even the Lord of Light, who continued to contend and fight with her at the root, was being suppressed by Gaia.

If Zeus had not held back, this root conflict could have already ended.

This former Earth Mother was mobilizing the earth power of the entire Bright World to protect the enemy before them.

Moreover, this Lord of Fate was not merely evading and defending against their attacks.

The sharp, domineering, even fated aura emanating from behind Li Mochen made Nyx inwardly alarmed.

"Is this all you've got? So how long will it take you to consume my divine power, three? Thirty days, sixty days, or a hundred days? But if this is the extent, I feel I could hold out for three hundred days, three years."

Li Mochen continued to provoke, looking at the three with a half-smile.

"Or can you not yet grant me death?"

Odin's gaze also darkened. He remained silent, staring at Li Mochen with icy frost. That gaze, full of cold and killing intent, could freeze Li Mochen a hundred times or dismember him a hundred times.

Odin was not easily stirred by Li Mochen's words; he had faced countless provocations in his life. And most of those who insulted him had already perished, their bones gone.

The problem was that the situation had indeed formed a stalemate, one for which he could find no solution in the short term.

Odin's power still surged within this divine kingdom, at least three times stronger than at the start! This was nearly seventy percent of his strength.

The situation for Nyx and Ahura beside him was similar.

But as Li Mochen said, this level of destruction could not pressure his enemy. Even though Odin, using his knowledge of magic arrays, had analyzed the structure of the magic tower array and began attempting to destroy, cut off, or halt it.

It was all futile; he could see that the core structure of these magic towers was constant, eternal, and unchangeable until Li Mochen actively deactivated it.

So even if he increased his power output, even if he unleashed all twelve-tenths of his divine power without reservation, it would only shorten the time to destroy this divine kingdom to within a hundred days.

But even a three-day battle would be disadvantageous and unacceptable for them.

※※※※

"This is... one against three? A draw?"

Within the same divine kingdom, the gathered gods erupted in a clamor. Everyone's face showed an expression of disbelief.

"By the Lord of Fate! That's Odin and Ahura, the combined force of three truth divine kings!"

"Yet His Majesty remains unscathed so far!"

"Does this count as a stalemate? Even such a lineup cannot overcome our lord?"

"We need to wait and see! But if His Majesty can truly force these three to retreat, the situation in the entire Bright World will change."

"This is truly incredible! I originally thought this would be very difficult, that we might have to abandon this divine kingdom and return to the main material plane. Or that Mother Gaia would have to intervene personally—"

Bismarck was equally surprised, looking with great astonishment at the top of the Fate Tower.

Due to the war of the four above, the top floor of the magic tower had never closed since Odin shattered it.

"Are you surprised, Prime Minister?"

Beside Bismarck stood the newly joined 'God of Language, Fairy Tales, and Legends' Grimm, who asked Bismarck in confusion: "You assured me that the Fate Pantheon has a great future, and His Majesty can ensure my safety—"

He had joined the Fate Pantheon due to Li Mochen's recent feat of personally killing 'Little Peter' in Avalon, along with Bismarck's invitation.

On the fourth day after joining, Grimm regretted it; he did not know that the one he served would later intervene in the root conflict. But trusting Bismarck's character, and both being from the Teutonic pantheon and the same nation, he chose to believe Bismarck's guarantee, hoping that the Lord of Fate would win what many saw as a 'suicidal battle.'

Things were developing as he hoped, yet he saw shock on Bismarck's face.

"Indeed, I am very surprised—"

Bismarck said with a strange expression: "Our lord certainly has the ability to protect us. As you see, he already has a place in the World Core, and beings as powerful as Fenrir and Atlas have become his archangels. Our lord has a boundless future; he can stay in the main material plane for nine more years, and with Gaia and that treaty's protection, he is nearly invincible there. But I never expected that even in an outer divine kingdom, he could fight Odin and the others head-on."

"So your original plan was to abandon the divine kingdom and enter the main material plane?"

Grimm understood that Bismarck and the others were not so much optimistic about this Lord of Fate as they placed their hopes on 'Gaia.'

This was indeed a path of hope; if 'Gaia' could win the competition for 'God Above Gods,' it would be good news for most gods in this world.

That Mother of Roots was not like the Lord of Light, who could not tolerate others sharing the light.

The exclusivity of the Lord of Light was determined by the nature of his divine office. All 'Sun Gods' were like this; when they dominated the sky, they could not tolerate other stars shining.

Gaia was rooted in the earth, which embraced all things.

Thus, if the Fate Pantheon and Gaia could form a relationship similar to that between Olympus and Gaia thousands of years ago, it would be welcomed by all current gods.

"But wouldn't many die here?"

Grimm thought that at least a third of the gods present today would die.

"Some will die, but not many. Don't forget, our Queen of Gods also rules the American Underworld. Gaia has also reached an agreement with our lord; the earth she governs will protect our lord and all subordinate gods of the Fate Pantheon."

Bismarck's expression was calm: "Some weak gods indeed cannot survive; that is a necessary sacrifice. But as you see, our lord is a benevolent one; he ultimately did not abandon them."

He actually did not think Li Mochen needed to recruit those weak gods; they could only offer negligible divine power but might become a burden to the entire pantheon.

Meanwhile, 'Guardian Angel' Achilles spread his divine authorities of defense, protection, solidity, and indestructibility over this divine land.

Though he had only gained a physical body less than five days ago and could not fully control his divine office and power, Achilles still did his part for this battle concerning the future of the Fate Pantheon.

Standing beside Achilles was the Sea Goddess Thetis, who, while fully calming the ubiquitous flames in the divine kingdom, also watched the battle intently.

A strange light flickered in her eyes: "This is truly surprising! Our lord, he actually possesses such power?"

Saying this, Thetis couldn't help but sneer: "Interesting. I guess the three of them must be in a terrible mood right now. It can't feel much different from sitting on a fierce tiger's back. His Majesty's strength far exceeds their expectations. I must say, he is truly a child of fate!"

"Fate?"

Achilles murmured with a complex expression: "Mother, you seem too optimistic. I can be sure that none of the three have gone all out. Any one of them still has the ability to kill His Majesty."

Thetis looked at her beloved son with some satisfaction: "Of course! This is at most seventy percent of their power, and they haven't used their strongest means. That Lady Nyx was once the ruler of the underworld, holding the authority of death; Odin is also a death god; and Ahura also needs to guide his followers into his heaven."

"But even so, this is worthy of our surprise, Achilles! Besides, our lord also holds back; his 'Longinus Holy Spear' has never appeared, hasn't it? In places you can't see, it is ready to strike. So—"

"You mean they dare not fight His Majesty without holding back?"

"It has always been so."

Thetis nodded solemnly: "I don't know the specifics, but our lord has always maintained the ability to kill them. And now, this killing power is surely even more terrifying, still effective even in the outer domain against the true bodies of divine kings. This is the foundation of his and his pantheon's rise. Do you think it's just luck?"

Achilles couldn't help but muse: "If that's the case, I can probably understand why they've reached such a stalemate. They all have the ability to end the 'Life Constant' forbidden spell, yet they all fear the piercing of the 'Longinus Holy Spear.' How the situation develops from here depends on the degree of mutual trust those three can achieve, doesn't it?"

Upon hearing this, Thetis let out a sarcastic laugh.

Achilles didn't wait for his mother to speak; a cold sneer curled at the corner of his lips: "But unless it's absolutely necessary, who would be willing to be completely eliminated from the competition among gods above gods prematurely?"

※※※※

However, the battle among the four god-kings did not unfold as Achilles and his mother had inferred.

At the top of the Destiny Village magic tower, Odin, after locking eyes with Li Mochen for only about three seconds, burst into flames of reddish-gold fire. The fire spread to his divine spear 'Gungnir,' causing the silver-white shaft to coil with divine flames, its aura becoming more sacred and even more dangerous.

"I wish that this spear will surely strike my enemy!"

As Odin made the wish, the spear pierced right before Li Mochen's eyes.

The dual truths of 'sure hit' from both man and weapon, along with the dual ultimate 'wish,' made the spear ignore time, space, and all related laws.

And for the first time, a solemn look appeared in Li Mochen's eyes.

Before him, the 'Six Yao Immortal Sword,' containing supreme imperial might, instantly generated a massive sword formation. Then, with a clang loud enough to shatter any demigod's soul, the weapons of the two deities clashed for the first time.

Most of the sword qi surrounding Li Mochen disintegrated in an instant.

The 'Gungnir Divine Spear' shattered the 'Six Harmonies Imperial Immortal Formation' with a single strike, then was blocked by Li Mochen's Destiny Sword.

Though his body disintegrated inch by inch under Odin's irresistible force, the Destiny Sword he wielded was not flung away by Odin's blow.

The injuries Li Mochen sustained healed within a thousandth of a second. He pressed on, engaging Odin head-on.

His 'Six Harmonies Imperial Immortal Formation' was no match for Odin in a single encounter, but its recovery speed was astonishing. Using the power of the sword formation, he wore down and buffered Odin's strength, while the Destiny Sword served as the final line of defense, blocking Odin's thrusts with supremely高超 technique.

In terms of technique alone, Li Mochen was undoubtedly far inferior to the War God opposite him, but it was enough to ensure he withstood most of the fatal thrusts of the divine spear 'Gungnir' and endured Odin's spear storm and relentless hammering.

The key was that even when the 'Gungnir' divine spear broke through Li Mochen's defense, it could not truly inflict severe damage. The spear tip burning with divine fire missed most of the time.

Odin's truth-level 'sure hit' could not guarantee a 100% 'hit' for the spear while contending with Li Mochen's pseudo-truth-level 'destiny.'

Thus, within a single breath, Li Mochen was hit only twice by Odin, and those were negligible injuries.

Then these wounds quickly healed under the divine authority of 'vitality' and 'life.'

Although Odin also wielded death, and Nyx and Ahura very tacitly infused their power into the divine spear, without truly harming Li Mochen's soul, they could not prevent his recovery.

"Fifty days!"

Li Mochen fought with all his might against Odin's storm-like assault, his twin guns firing continuously, a凝然 smile on his face: "I underestimated you all a bit! But I feel I can still hold out for at least fifty days."

However, Odin and the other two did not retort; they had no desire to respond to Li Mochen.

Because after the substantive contact and direct engagement, the situation made them even more alarmed.

At least within this divine kingdom called 'Destiny,' Li Mochen displayed the ability to contend with any god-king in terms of both 'power' and 'divine authority.'

This was due to the effects of 'equality' and 'fairness'; the three of them had their divine ranks forcibly pulled down to eighteen by Li Mochen. The various truth-level divine authorities they wielded increasingly struggled to receive feedback from the source.

Yet 'equality' itself was one of the powers Li Mochen possessed.

This scene also shocked everyone within the Destiny Divine Kingdom.

The sea goddess Thetis murmured to herself: "It seems the gap between them is not as large as we imagined."

She thought that even if the battlefield were outside the Destiny Lord's divine kingdom, placed in the outer realms, Li Mochen would still be able to put up a fight against any one of these three god-kings.

"So this is what they call equality?"

Achilles also raised his eyebrows in surprise: "This is the conceptual divine authority of the new era? It is indeed very strong, and very terrifying!"

He realized that the Olympian gods' greed and covetousness for the various divine authorities of the new era indeed had their reasons.

The many mages within the magic towers, who were helping Li Mochen operate the formations and observing this 'truth-level' battle up close, were equally astonished.

"Jennifer, I admit, this completely exceeds my expectations!"

From the 'Scepter of Destruction' magic tower, 'World Destroyer' Lafayette de Robespierre communicated with his wife via magical projection.

"I thought I would eventually be dragged into a pit by him, but now I no longer think that way."

Robespierre actually harbored no small resentment toward Li Mochen, his brother-in-law.

Since they met, he had been actively or passively dragged by Li Mochen into all kinds of troubles, and the scale of the troubles kept growing, to the point of being terrifying.

This sentiment also existed among the many mages and magi who had been taken under Li Mochen's command.

Whenever they thought he would calm down for a while and they could relax a bit, an even more perilous situation would erupt. But they were already on board and couldn't extricate themselves.

Yet at this moment, the power Li Mochen displayed while resisting Odin completely steadied Robespierre's heart.

Because he knew that his brother-in-law now had the qualifications to be undying, indestructible, and eternal.

Even if this one failed in the Bright World, he could succeed in other worlds, like Odin and Zeus.

"As my clansmen say, my brother is the Lord of Destiny!"

Jennifer had previously scoffed at this notion circulating among the Wodenstahl clan, but now she firmly believed it.

"He is capable of confronting them; he is now one of the most powerful gods in this world."

At this moment, Bismarck and the gods near him were also in a state of stunned silence.

"Even in direct combat, he can hold his ground?"

"Lord of Destiny above! I don't know if I should feel fortunate now."

"I want to say, this is worthy of the master of a pantheon. He is qualified to be our sovereign, capable of protecting us, and will earn our allegiance. I may sound arrogant saying this, but that's how I feel now."

"Prime Minister, it seems you still underestimated our sovereign!"

Green couldn't help but exclaim: "Without a doubt, he is a benevolent lord, and also a powerful, wise monarch!"

At that moment, behind Green materialized a massive dragon, a giant over twelve hundred meters tall, and a genie of equally imposing stature.

Bismarck's eyes narrowed slightly, then he smiled as expected: "It seems you had many reserves before, Lord Green!"

He knew that Green, as the 'God of Language, Fairy Tales, and Legends,' was a major god with divine rank eighteen and widespread faith, but he was not as weak in combat as other gods of literature or art.

This one could use his divine power to manifest all the creatures from the fairy tales, myths, and legends he had published in his mortal days, possessing formidable combat strength.

Yet that Green could be this powerful still shocked Bismarck a bit.

At this moment, the three creatures Green manifested each possessed combat power at the major god level. Their appearance suppressed the nearby flames and calmed the thunderous explosions in the sky.

Of course, the shock Bismarck felt from this was far less than what Li Mochen had given him.

"Of course I had to hold back; after all, this world is dangerous, isn't it? As a qualified deity, one always needs something for self-defense."

Green's gaze fixed on the figures fighting at the center of the divine kingdom: "But I no longer think that way. I believe I am very safe now."

And just as Odin's spear became even fiercer, and Ahura set the past, present, and future of this divine land ablaze with a sea of fire at millions of degrees.

Eris's voice sounded in Nyx's ear.

"Does it feel like raising a tiger to invite disaster? Mother?"

Nyx was not surprised by Eris's divine thought descending; the Supreme Dragon God Io had no strong desire to fight.

As long as this Goddess of Freedom could keep most of her power outside the battlefield, Io would not forcibly intercept Eris's divine thought to observe the battle.

"It seems you really can't kill him, or even give him a profound lesson. You will leave here in defeat, losing the face of god-kings."

"Stop with the sarcasm, Eris. Even if it is raising a tiger to invite disaster, you have a share in it."

Nyx's face was cold; she intensified her extraction of Li Mochen's divine power and magic power.

This indeed had an effect; Li Mochen could now obtain less than half of his peak divine power from world source power and faith. Even the magic tower array focused on energy gathering was greatly weakened by her power.

Yet for some reason, Nyx felt Li Mochen was even more unfathomable. His magic power was vigorously growing and recovering, with no signs or momentum of decline.

She vaguely discerned that miniature 'annihilation' was occurring inside Li Mochen, and this Lord of Destiny was drawing inexhaustible power from it.

The well-traveled Nyx knew this was a brand-new power, a 'divine authority' that had never existed before.

"Can you shake off that nine-headed dragon? Eris?"

The Night Goddess narrowed her eyes: "War and Harmony, you should be able to counter him."

She saw that Li Mochen's power was actually quite chaotic, with a considerable portion coming from external sources. But the near-pseudo-truth-level 'War' and ultimate 'Harmony' unified and coordinated his various powers, making them cohesive.

Even in the battle with Odin, these powers formed an organic whole.

"Unfortunately, I can't come over for now!"

Eris shook her head: "Io has nine powers, including all elements including time and space. His nine heads ensure unity of consciousness; I can do nothing against him. Mother, instead of relying on me, you'd better reach an understanding with your two comrades as soon as possible, or sign an agreement. You still have the ability to kill him, don't you?"

But upon hearing this, Nyx frowned deeply. She had actually tried this before, but for some reason, Odin not only rejected her proposal, his reaction also struck her as very strange.