Chapter 668: Forcing a Retreat

"Princess Diana, you seem to know them? Would you mind telling me? Where do these divine kings come from? And what is this Chaos corruption they mentioned?"

At the edge of the battlefield, the Moon Rabbit clenched her fists, her expression a mix of incredulity and trepidation as she watched the scene before her.

Her master's current opponent might well be stronger than Zeus and Odin combined.

"Those are Rogal Dorn, the 'Imperial Fist,' and Sanguinius, the 'Blood Angel.' They come from the Imperium of Man, also known as Terra Imperium. They are the sons and gene-sons of that vast empire."

"Gene-sons?"

"I don't know the details. I've only heard that the Emperor of Terra Imperium created twenty powerful divine kings using his own genes as a foundation, combined with the genes of mythical beings. Using these divine kings as templates, he forged countless Astartes, also called the Adeptus Astartes, meaning 'origin.' These Astartes formed twenty legions and countless chapters."

Diana also frowned deeply. As a goddess of magic, her knowledge surpassed that of nearly all deities in the Bright World.

"Their territory is vast, perhaps equivalent to eight hundred Bright Worlds. Their armies are countless; the number of Astartes alone could overwhelm a hundred Lords of Radiance. And their Emperor, not only a god above gods with a divine rank of twenty-four, is said to wield 'Creation-level' authority over laws. But until now, I thought it was just legend."

"Creation-level?"

The Moon Rabbit quickly understood: "Is this a realm above Truth-level?"

"It should be. Truth-level only comprehends the truths of the present, while Creation-level can create one's own laws."

Diana continued: "As for the Chaos corruption you asked about, it comes from the Warp. It is said that this starfield is not infinite; its edges are surrounded by the Warp. Within the Warp exist five Chaos Gods: Khorne, born of violence, hatred, and war; Tzeentch, born of hope, deceit, fantasy, and desire; Nurgle, born of despair, plague, and destruction; Slaanesh, born of pleasure, indulgence, and ecstasy; and Malal, born of contradiction and strife."

The Moon Rabbit was puzzled: "Isn't that similar to the deities of the Bright World? This Chaos sounds a lot like the Sea of Calamity."

"There is a difference. Chaos does not represent good or evil; it only represents annihilation. As for the five Chaos Gods, I've heard they will stop at nothing to corrupt the minds of intelligent beings, returning everything to Chaos. Their sole purpose is to destroy all civilizations, all life, and all nature."

Diana shook her head: "Their power is immense, beyond your imagination. Take Slaanesh—the divine authority of pleasure, indulgence, and ecstasy is at the Creation-level. Compared to Venus, it's like the difference between magic and a parlor trick. All who come into contact with Slaanesh's divine power become lost in pleasure, unable to extricate themselves, and driven by joy to serve him. I've never seen it, but I imagine it's like an addictive drug, thousands of times more intense, with a strong addictive quality. So in this universe, aside from the Emperor and a few gods above gods, and the 'Hunyuan Wuji Taishang Daluo Golden Immortal' of Eastern civilization, no one can oppose them. Under their banner are countless Chaos gods—"

At that moment, the 'Blood Angel' Sanguinius, who had been watching the battle, suddenly glanced over.

"Please cease your little tricks, beautiful lady. I hope this is a fair fight; please don't be presumptuous."

Diana's breath caught, and she promptly withdrew her divine power. She had been extending the magic net of the Bright World to support Li Mochen, a rather covert method, but it had been detected by the opponent.

By then, the battle between Li Mochen and the Imperial Fist had become clear.

The latter had exhausted nearly all his means, unable to lock onto Li Mochen's figure or even catch a corner of his robe. The phantom anchor twisted and coiled in the starfield like a giant serpent, but its tip remained at a loss, constantly shifting direction with Li Mochen's jumps.

Rogal Dorn's fists were overwhelming, shaking the stars and threatening to destroy the world, but if he could never land a blow on Li Mochen, it was no different from punching air.

Yet the Lord of Fate was equally helpless against the Imperial Fist.

In just three minutes of combat, Li Mochen had sent thousands of sword qi, large and small, at Rogal Dorn, but none could breach his defenses.

They couldn't even penetrate the 'Source Armor' outside Rogal Dorn's body. The surface of the power armor was always wrapped in a thin film of golden-red divine power, causing all the 'Dutian Thunder Fire Star Core Sword Qi' to fail.

But in terms of attrition, Li Mochen had the advantage. His Stellar Jump consumed almost no divine power, and the 'Dutian Thunder Fire Star Core Sword Array' was nearly self-sustaining, drawing on the power of the stars to operate.

This calmed Diana's nerves. She noticed that Li Mochen had been holding back; he had never shown his Truth-level 'Time Sequence' or used the Crimson Dragon Armor.

So she had a good idea of the battle's outcome. Unless the 'Blood Angel' intervened, the two would likely end in a draw.

A change occurred after four minutes of combat. After tens of thousands of pursuits, Rogal Dorn abandoned Li Mochen's main body and targeted the swords of the 'Dutian Thunder Fire Star Core Sword Array.'

Their jumps were equally swift, even surpassing Li Mochen's main body. But Rogal Dorn didn't capture the swords one by one; instead, he released endless shockwaves and tremors from his surroundings, covering every corner of the starfield.

This large-scale, area-wide attack was ineffective against Li Mochen's main body. However, not all swords in the array were as strong and resilient as the dozens of main swords.

Li Mochen's pupils contracted slightly, and he unhesitatingly directed his sword seal. Countless star forces gathered into a sword, forming a blade of light over two thousand meters long, crashing down on Rogal Dorn's head.

This was the Dual Element Forbidden Technique: Star!

Activated through the 'Dutian Thunder Fire Star Core Sword Array,' gathering the power of all stars, it was one of Li Mochen's strongest sword techniques.

Rogal Dorn's Source Armor shattered at the sound. The thick power armor emitted a harsh metallic screech.

The Imperial Fist had to retract his shockwaves and tremors, grabbing the massive sword aura and crushing it.

But immediately after, a black-and-white sword light slashed through—the Dual Element Forbidden Technique: Yin-Yang!

The sword light was not overwhelmingly powerful, but Rogal Dorn's subsequent punch couldn't shatter it. The yin-yang sword light split into thousands of strands, winding around Rogal Dorn's body. Yin and yang coexisted, indestructible, borrowing and transforming force, even growing and multiplying, cutting and striking Rogal Dorn's Source Armor relentlessly.

"Excellent sword!"

The 'Blood Angel' Sanguinius exclaimed in admiration, with a hint of surprise.

"Ladies, I understand your divine king is not yet thirty-seven years old? Is that intelligence accurate?"

"I must say your intelligence is very accurate. He became a god at twenty-four, and it's been less than twelve years."

Diana's lips curled slightly, and her eyes showed a hint of emotion.

She could understand his disbelief. Andrei Li Wieldstein had shown no weaknesses in this battle. His divine authorities were all at the Pseudo-Truth level, none reaching Truth-level, but their quality was high.

For instance, he displayed Pseudo-Truth-level 'Fate,' 'Time Sequence,' 'Yin and Yang of the World,' and possibly 'Causality' at high divine authority.

All of these were among the top-tier divine authorities.

So even Diana found it hard to believe.

The Moon Rabbit remained silent. She knew Li Mochen had experienced over a hundred and thirty years, but for a divine king, that made little difference.

But her main reason for silence was that the battle between her master and the Imperial Fist had changed again, capturing her attention.

As Sanguinius spoke, vast, heavy divine power surged from Rogal Dorn's body, gradually crushing the yin-yang sword qi around him.

But Li Mochen's third sword followed immediately.

Another Dual Element Forbidden Technique: Space-Time!

The sword qi, condensed from time and space, twisted part of Rogal Dorn's Source Armor, creating a temporal-spatial discrepancy. Seizing that instant of weakness, Li Mochen's sword nearly pierced the Imperial Fist's body.

A tiny but deep wound appeared on the chest of the heavy power armor, with a few sparks escaping.

The armor had strong self-repair capabilities, restoring itself in an instant. But its owner entered a rage. Rogal Dorn's divine power surged even more, burning like flames, nearly obliterating all the yin-yang sword qi around him. Only a few remnants remained, barely alive, still multiplying and cutting, but their threat to Rogal Dorn was minimal.

His divine power and will covered a void a million kilometers in diameter, and he let out a roar that could shatter the bodies of most gods, causing Diana and the Moon Rabbit's ears to bleed.

"Fix!"

Rogal Dorn didn't lock onto Li Mochen's figure, but he fixed a space of a hundred thousand cubic kilometers.

Then came Rogal Dorn's punch.

"Shatter Void!"

He still didn't lock onto a target, but narrowed the range. The punch targeted thirty thousand cubic kilometers around Li Mochen, crushing indiscriminately, leaving Li Mochen no escape.

But before that, Li Mochen's fourth sword had already struck—the Dual Element Forbidden Technique: Positive-Negative!

This was one of Li Mochen's most powerful sword techniques, carrying seven forbidden spells he mastered. The sword's intent might not be pure, but it maximized destructive and lethal power.

Two massive booms echoed through the void.

Every inch of Li Mochen's body was crushed by Rogal Dorn's punch. The force wasn't external but descended on his flesh, bones, cells, and even the particles within. Even the 'Thebes Sacred Shield' couldn't fully defend, causing blood to spray from every pore, turning him into a bloodied figure.

But Rogal Dorn's condition was equally dire. With most of his defenses down, Li Mochen's sword easily tore through his Source Armor, cutting a huge wound on his chest, destroying the front of the power armor and splitting his chest open, revealing the shattered organs within.

After that strike, neither attacked again. They stared at each other like wild beasts, each focusing on healing.

Their regenerative abilities were astonishing. Li Mochen's nearly shattered cells and bones reconstructed in less than a hundredth of a second. Rogal Dorn was not far behind; his shredded organs recovered nearly ninety percent in a single breath.

Li Mochen was slightly faster, but as he gathered divine power to strike again, a blood-red crystal light suddenly inserted between them.

"Stop!"

It was the 'Blood Angel' Sanguinius, who looked at them and spoke without emotion.

"He has proven himself, Dorn."

Rogal Dorn reluctantly withdrew his divine power and stepped back to Sanguinius's side.

Li Mochen had already dispersed his sword qi. He had no reason to continue. If Sanguinius joined, Li Mochen had no chance, even with Truth-level 'Time Sequence' and the Crimson Dragon Armor.

He had considered catching them off guard with these two trump cards to severely wound one, but it would cost the Crimson Dragon Armor's destruction. Li Mochen wasn't ready for that, so he welcomed a peaceful end.

Moreover, since they hadn't attacked Diana or the Moon Rabbit, there was still some leeway between them.

"I apologize, Your Majesty Wieldstein!"

Sanguinius's words held no hint of apology: "Chaos is expanding its territory across the multiverse, and its minions have encroached nearby. We follow the Emperor's decree to purge Chaos forces here."

"It doesn't matter."

Li Mochen replied calmly. He knew that 'Chaos' was merely an excuse for the two gene-sons to act.

But in this world, strength speaks. Since he couldn't make them pay, what was the point of dwelling on it?

"I've heard of the five Chaos Gods, but I haven't encountered them in recent years. If I do, I will never allow them to corrupt my world."

He paused, a strange glint in his eyes: "Is there anything else? If not, I'll take my leave."

Sanguinius and Rogal Dorn exchanged glances and remained silent.

Li Mochen wasn't surprised. He nodded coldly, then reached out, taking Diana and the Moon Rabbit as he continued toward the Bright World.

Both women were full of questions, but Li Mochen shook his head. Now was not the time to explain.

After they left, 'Imperial Fist' Rogal Dorn snorted in dissatisfaction: "You stopped too early. I had ways to make him suffer."

By the time they stopped, Rogal Dorn was slightly at a disadvantage, even suffering a minor loss, which bruised his pride.

"You couldn't. I know you weren't going all out, but neither was he. He was always holding back to guard against me."

The Blood Angel shook his head: "Trust me, he counters you well, and his strength is no less than yours or mine. Besides—"

He looked into the distant void: "If we continued, that one would not stand idly by. This is their hope for renewal, and they will spare no effort to prevent outside interference."

"No less than us? Is that guy that strong?"

Rogal Dorn was visibly shocked. He wasn't surprised by the one Sanguinius referred to at the end. What stunned him was Sanguinius's assessment of the Lord of Fate's strength.

But he trusted Sanguinius; his brother was known for his keen judgment.

"It seems our brother will have to put in some effort to get what he wants in this world."

"Every god above gods has clawed their way through blood and storms. There is no luck involved."

Sanguinius continued shaking his head: 'This man may not necessarily be a match for Horus. In the Bright World, he has become the target of all competitors. He grows too fast; no one can allow him to continue. The time is not far off. If he cannot survive it, he will be the second to be eliminated in this struggle.'

'Tsk, actually, I do hope he can stop Horus.'

Rogal Dorn muttered this sentence, then unsurprisingly met Sanguinius's warning gaze.

※※※※

'The Lord of Light, Horus, is the eldest son of the Emperor, ruler of that human empire, and one of the Primarchs?'

Diana was somewhat incredulous, after all, the eldest son of the Terran Empire, Horus, bore the title 'Luna Wolf,' wielding the power of shadows, the moon, and the dark side of the world.

Besides that, his other name, 'Lupercal,' was even more renowned.

At the founding of the empire, the Emperor of the Terran Empire created twenty Primarchs using his own genes. But due to his insufficient power in the early years, after some incident, these twenty Primarchs were scattered across various planets and outer realms.

And 'Lupercal' was the name Horus used while growing up on a certain planet. He ascended to godhood on his own and was then retrieved by the Emperor.

So the Emperor's eldest son preferred to use the name 'Lupercal.'

Who would have thought that this 'Luna Wolf' would become the Lord of Light in the Bright World? By harnessing power opposite to his original self, he walked the path of a god above gods.

'Then do Odin and the others know about this?'

Diana had never been to the outer realms; all her knowledge of the outer realms came from her followers, the mages who explored there, so she was not sensitive to Horus's identity.

She believed that Odin and Zeus could not be completely ignorant, but if they knew, it would be hard to explain the situation they currently faced.

Diana thought that if it were her, knowing Horus had such a background, she would either wisely withdraw from the competition or first eliminate him.

'I'm not sure, but some speculate it might be related to the conflict between his original body and his projection avatar, since their powers are diametrically opposed. If not handled well, any anomaly is possible. The Lord of Light's previous corruption might also be related to this.'

Li Mochen spoke in a speculative tone: 'A simple logic: if the Lord of Light were in harmony with his original body, why would he divert his attention to explore the outer realms?'

His expression turned serious: 'Don't worry too much about me, Princess Diana. Please trust me, I am fully prepared for what is to come.'

Diana raised an eyebrow, then nodded slightly: 'I understand, Your Majesty. Please also trust that from the past to the present to the future, I sincerely hope you will prevail in this struggle.'

Li Mochen couldn't help but smile; of course he believed that.

This was not due to their cooperative relationship, but because among the many god-kings, he and Gaia best aligned with Diana's interests. In this world, nothing is more reliable than shared interests.

However, after parting with Diana, Li Mochen's gaze gradually turned cold and grave.

The two Primarchs he had encountered in the outer realms today were each overwhelmingly powerful. And thinking that such beings numbered twenty in that human empire made his scalp tingle.

The only consolation was that this human empire also had many enemies, preventing them from committing all their forces to this world. Otherwise, the struggle for god above gods could end immediately, and he would now have to consider fleeing.

It wasn't until he returned to his divine kingdom and merged his consciousness with his secondary body that Li Mochen's mood began to improve.

The cabinet led by Bismarck had, during his absence, done everything possible to mobilize all the forces of the Fate Divine System, preparing for war in various ways.

Military expansion, training, production, procurement, construction—the divine kingdom, the church, and the Solar Light Demon Alliance operated like a well-tuned automated production line, efficient and orderly.

Although results were not yet visible, feedback from all sides indicated that everything was progressing smoothly.

Within at most half a year, they would be ready to withstand a large-scale joint attack from all enemies.

As Bismarck predicted, this might be a prolonged war lasting several years, but only if they could withstand the gods' first wave. Only after surviving that would a war of attrition and endurance occur.

They must do everything possible to further strengthen the Fate Divine System's 'Providence Legion' and their mortal forces. At the very least, these should not hinder high-level combat.

The best news came from the 'Nightlord' Delfinia. Two days ago, during the defense of the Magic City in the Dark World, she and Li Mochen's war angel Robertette joined forces to severely wound the 'Black Magic Empire's' vice emperor, 'Dragonblood King' Elaine, and annihilated forty-nine dark divisions of the Black Magic Empire, along with hundreds of demigods and gods.

Originally a test orchestrated by the Olympian Divine System against Li Mochen, it became a stage for Delfinia to shine. After severely wounding Elaine, she banished seven intermediate gods of the Black Magic Empire to the outer realms. She then helped Robertette resist the Olympian gods led by the 'Messenger' Hermes for a full seven hours, eventually forcing them to retreat.

This caused the recently somewhat quiet Nightlord to rise to fame once again, shaking the entire human world.

Li Mochen thought that the Heteromorphs indeed had some hidden depths, enabling Delfinia to temporarily exhibit the combat power of a powerful god.

The Wish Spell was indeed strong, and Delfinia indeed had a large amount of merit to use. But there was no way this could elevate her strength to such a level in just a few days.

This was a great achievement, meaning that in the next six months, Bismarck's expansion in the Dark World and the construction plans for those fortresses would face minimal resistance.

In the following months, Li Mochen stayed in his divine kingdom, fully digesting his recent gains.

He was fully enhancing his combat skills, doing everything possible to elevate his ancient godhood, and formally pushing the divine authority of 'Stars' to the level of Pseudo-Truth.

'Stars,' like 'Yin-Yang,' encompassed all things and covered a wide range of laws, but its complexity was even greater.

Li Mochen had already achieved Pseudo-Truth level 'Yin-Yang,' but was still a few steps away from elevating the 'Stars' divine authority. Now that he had elevated the star concept law of the 'Dutian Fire Thunder Star Core Sword Array' to Pseudo-Truth, with the support of his vast merit, could he not replicate it?

This made his spatial jumps faster and their range larger. If he were to fight Rogal Dorn now, the latter might not be able to fix him in place.

Moreover, this increase in divine authority would also greatly enhance the power of his 'Binary Forbidden Style: Stars' and the forbidden spell 'Star Annihilation.'

At the same time, the external environment of the Fate Divine System was rapidly deteriorating. The war in the Abyss continued; after several months of resistance, Satan voluntarily withdrew from the deepest layer of the Abyss. However, several devil lords in the Abyss, including Mephisto, erupted in fierce conflict over the kingship of that layer, giving Satan a chance to rest and recover.

Then, the siege of the Lord of Light by the gods entered its final phase. The Church of Light not only completely lost control of the three Nordic countries and Greece but also suffered heavy blows to its power on the Iberian and Apennine Peninsulas.

The losses of the Truth Church were equally severe; Ahura had largely replaced the faith of the Lord of Light in the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

This was related to the Truth Church's system; they lacked a tight organization, with believers gathered around various large and small imams. Theoretically, controlling these imams would control the many Truth believers under their management.

Now, almost all of Europe, all countries, had been forced into the strife of the gods. Apart from the Teutonic Republic, only the large country in the north, due to its proximity to the north and relatively strong military, remained a pure land.

But with the Aesir Divine System regaining control of the three Nordic countries, this country was now tense and fully preparing for war. The chaos in Europa also led to a surge in immigration to Australia and America, with millions applying for citizenship each month.

However, in March of the year 4002 of the Light Calendar, as the Church of Light gradually stabilized, the conflicts among the gods in various places gradually subsided, and the world fell into an eerie calm.

At this time, even using their heels, Li Mochen and others knew that the god-kings had reached a tacit understanding, or even an alliance. Everyone realized that an all-out war was inevitable.

Fortunately, their 'Umbrella Plan' was nearing completion, even exceeding expectations.

According to the latest information Li Mochen had received, his entire Fate system now had 1,450 full-strength divisions under the 'America 4002 Organization,' and the number of 'Sky Knight Order' branches had reached twelve—exceeding their original expansion plan by 20%.

The navy had not changed much; most of their planned ten large fleets, totaling fifty battleships and fifty aircraft carriers, were still on the slipways or not even laid down. So currently, less than half were available for combat.

Unfortunately, large warships like battleships and aircraft carriers had construction cycles of over two years each.

Although Anthony's Industrial Church had significantly improved processes and construction methods, they could only shorten the aircraft carrier construction cycle to one year and eight months, while battleships took even longer, at least twenty-six months.

Moreover, the number of dry docks capable of building such large ships was extremely limited. Not only were all large docks fully occupied, but their construction queues extended five years into the future.

However, they had increased their stock of cruisers, destroyers, and submarines. These smaller vessels were relatively easier to build, with lower process requirements and shorter construction times.

For example, the new Standard-2 destroyer model; the major groups of the Fate system had launched as many as 750 of these in recent years, with nearly 60% already operational.

This was their advantage! Due to the industrial transfer since World War II and fierce commercial competition, nearly 80% of the world's shipbuilding industry was concentrated in America, Japan, Korea, and that ancient Eastern country.

After the Old Continent fell into war, their advantage in shipbuilding further increased.

Additionally, military expansion in America, Australia, Japan, and Korea, among other allied nations, was proceeding smoothly.

For instance, the former now had a total of 1,700 fully equipped full-strength divisions and seven brigades of 'Balance Troops,' completed the formation of nine large fleets, and produced tens of thousands of various aircraft models.

This was all thanks to the fall of the Goddess of Liberty; the American government had inherited much of Eris's legacy, allowing more resources to be allocated to the military.

'Once war begins, we can deploy a total of 4,200 divisions and fifteen standard large fleets in all directions, with the vast majority already in position. Additionally, we have large weapon stockpiles to expand by 1,800 regular divisions and 4,000 civil defense divisions within three months of the outbreak.'

On the twenty-eighth floor of the Destiny Township Magic Tower, the 'God of Strategy,' Garcia Feren, spoke with pride: 'Furthermore, the magic tower defense arrays and defense systems in major cities have been completed one after another. Compared to before the year 4000 of the Light Calendar, their defensive capabilities have generally increased by nine to twelve times. Especially in large cities like Manhattan and Los Angeles, the minimum target is to resist a main god. They are sufficient to support our pantheon's gods in mortal combat.'

'In addition, we have built a total of seventeen large permanent fortresses and fifty-nine medium and large temporary fortresses at strategic points along various fronts. Progress in the Dark World has also been smooth, with a total of sixty-nine defensive fortresses of various types constructed, enough to ensure that our raw material bases in the Dark World are not violated.'

He was the main person in charge of the 'Umbrella Plan,' personally involved in most of the military expansion and fortress construction, so he was full of confidence.

'I am one hundred percent certain that even if we are at war with all pantheons simultaneously, we can hold a significant advantage on all mortal battlefields! They will never be able to break our defense system!'