CHAPTER 1487: CHAPTER 1487: GOD IS WATCHING YOU

Inverted City

"Do you know how long I’ve been preparing for this day?" Di Man lowered his head, gazing at He Ao, and said hoarsely, "The curse carried by the seven-colored flower has always flowed in the family’s lineage, eternally tormenting us, tempting us to fall."

A few strands of invisible forces gathered in his palm, "According to our ancestor’s instructions, we shouldn’t have used the seven-colored flower to make wishes anymore, but I am unwilling, I am unwilling to succumb to the erosion of these curses."

He Ao listened to his words without speaking, merely gripping the crystal sword tighter in his hand.

"So, I plucked that petal and made a wish to become an angel," Di Man chuckled lightly, looking at He Ao, "I successfully became an angel, but the curse accompanied me, growing stronger. I know it wants to control me, erode me, turn me into its puppet."

His figure suddenly transformed into a stream of light, crashing towards He Ao below.

He Ao lifted the crystal sword, leaping up to meet him head-on.

Boom—

Ripples folded in the void, twisted space vibrating with shattered ruins and earth, splattering.

Boom—

He Ao’s figure was thrown backward, crashing onto the ground.

Before him, Di Man slowly descended from the firmament, step by step walking towards him.

"If it were you, would you be willing?" He gazed at He Ao, his voice cold yet carrying a distant memory, "I visited everyone I could, from the angels of the Federation to priests of the Evil God, found all the ancient texts I could find, and even delved into history to explore past secrets."

His steps were light, but each was like a heavy hammer, striking the ground, striking He Ao’s heart.

He Ao lowered his head, glancing at the crystal sword in his hand, invisible forces wrapped around it, leaving one ’gap’ and crack after another along the blade.

Di Man hadn’t completely lost control over those invisible forces; he could still mobilize some residual, subtle powers that adhered to his body, enhancing it.

He Ao withdrew his gaze, no longer focusing on those gaps.

"Finally, I found a way, found a method to completely break free from the curse, to completely attain freedom," Di Man stood atop a mound of stacked building ruins before He Ao, gazing down at him, "Now, I’m just one step away from success. Why are you here? Why are you stopping me?"

Hearing his words, He Ao responded for the first time, chuckling lightly, "Seems like you’re in pain?"

This light chuckle was like a piercing needle, stabbing into Di Man’s heart.

Yet he wasn’t angry; instead, he looked down at He Ao, raising his hand to reveal an olive-shaped, seed-like yellow glowing sphere between his forefinger and thumb.

"Recognize it?" He gazed at He Ao, chuckling softly, "Do you guess why, despite being eroded by your poison, I still possess such strong power?"

The glowing sphere seemed to merge with his body, a silent howl emanated from it.

Streams of light constantly overflowed from the sphere, merging into his body.

Hearing those howls, He Ao’s complexion darkened.

"This thing is called the Seed of Peeping, I planted it on the dark lizard; it’s the medium through which I control the dark lizard," Di Man continued, "The lives slaughtered by the dark lizard are all sacrifices absorbed by this Seed of Peeping."

He looked at He Ao, scoffing, "That means your family, friends, are all inside this seed."

In the moment he’s speaking, He Ao had already leapt up, raising the crystal sword, and slashing towards his hand.

Yet, Di Man seemed to have predicted He Ao’s move, crushing the sphere forcefully, alongside dissipating light, a surge of power instantly flooded his body.

Violent howls and wails echoed throughout the vast city, illusory flowing blood and scattered bones covered the ruin-laden land.

Floating in mid-air, He Ao’s expression was cold, seemingly devoid of emotion, immediately swinging his sword, slashing towards Di Man’s neck.

Di Man also charged forward towards He Ao, invisible forces twining around his fingertips, "You think you can change my plan, you can’t change it, even without the support of that power, I can easily kill you."

Screech—

The crimson crystal sword collided with Di Man’s swinging hand, scattering countless shimmering fragments.

Yellow glow encircled Di Man, invaded his body, continuing to erode his stature.

Yet even under these circumstances, after absorbing the Seed of Peeping, a suffocating oppressive presence still emanated from him.

Quickly, He Ao found himself suppressed in return.

With each clash, the areas erased on the crystal sword increased, and gradually, these eroded regions began encroaching upon He Ao’s body.

Some invisible wounds too accompanied fighting’s strains, covered over He Ao’s body.

Although Di Man verbally claimed he could defeat He Ao without relying on invisible forces, with every attack, he tried to mobilize as much of those invisible powers as possible to enhance himself, disrupt He Ao.

Those forces would occasionally obscure He Ao’s thoughts, preventing him from making correct judgments, leaving him reliant solely on instinct to battle.

Crack—

With an abrupt crisp sound, the crystal sword in He Ao’s hand finally shattered under the corrosion of invisible forces.

He Ao’s body retreated, stepping onto a swathe of ruins.

He looked up at the inverted buildings towering in the sky.

This position was exactly where they initially stood, the city’s center, where the Stars Pharma Building was located.

"Once I kill you," Di Man walked towards He Ao, yellow glow encircling him, gazing calmly at He Ao, "The city will naturally collapse, and the array will naturally lose its support."

"Indeed," He Ao glanced at the remaining sword hilt and a small piece of blade, slowly stood up, supporting his body riddled with wounds, and coldly looked at Di Man, "You may try."

Di Man’s face turned cold, "All you have is a stubborn mouth."

He raised his hand, transforming palm into blade, directly slashing at He Ao’s neck.

Accompanied by the erosion of the Embrace of the Beauty Goddess, the invisible forces he could mobilize were now very little, only able to cover the edge of the palm.

At that moment, his expression slightly changed, looking at He Ao, "You left a clone outside?"

And in that instant, He Ao suddenly lunged forward, grasping the broken sword in his hand, stabbing out in one movement.

"Overreaching," Di Man raised his hand, once again chopping down, "A guy who had his sword destroyed by me, hoping to stir up any wind and waves."

This time, He Ao’s speed was faster than at any time during the battle before.

Bam—

The palm unhesitatingly chopped into He Ao’s body, tearing apart his chest.

But that crimson broken sword also pierced into Di Man’s body.

Di Man was just about to speak when a tremendous force suddenly exploded again, driving the broken sword, along with the hilt, piercing into Di Man’s heart.

The power from Divine Grace of the War God, and his strength, indeed had been exhausted in the previous fierce attacks.

But this didn’t mean he didn’t have any counterattack power.

But using those counterattack forces earlier in the confrontation with Di Man would definitely be guarded against by him.

Thus, he could only continually pretend to be weak, creating an opportunity, maximizing the effects of the power he could unleash.

Battle is not a points-based game; it won’t determine victory or defeat based on accumulated damage.

The only element that decides victory or defeat is life and death.

"You madman!"

Di Man tried to pull his hand away, to break free from He Ao.

He originally thought He Ao was only this crazy when he lost his reason, but even after regaining it, he was just as mad.

But in the face of his fierce struggle, He Ao instead held him even tighter.

The hilt of the sword buried in Di Man’s chest suddenly shattered in that instant, transforming into countless scattered red lights that flowed into Di Man’s body like blades, tearing at his form.

"What is this power?" Di Man manipulated the last of his unseen forces, trying to dispel the red lights.

Yet he found these red lights even harder to shake than the yellow glowing lines that stripped him of his rank, "Is this the power your god granted you?"

This time, He Ao didn’t answer Di Man, only holding him tighter, driving the red radiance to rampage through his body.

The most lethal part of this radiance came from the rank of the Usurper God; the closer He Ao got, the more he could amplify it.

"No, I can’t die!" Di Man tore fiercely at He Ao, his raging force nearly ripping He Ao’s body apart, "My curse hasn’t been lifted! I’ve worked so hard for this! I can’t die here!"

But He Ao just held Di Man tightly, motionless.

His gaze lifted slightly, looking at the imagined blood that spread throughout the city as Di Man crushed the Seed of Peeping.

That blood mixed with bones, even He Ao couldn’t distinguish between them at this moment.

An ancient lament seemed to echo in this illusion, resonating between heaven and earth.

And above their heads, the unseen forces that once hovered over Di Man were now slowly gathering, pouring into his body from above.

"No!!!!"

A severe roar accompanied the sudden eruption of tremendous power, hurling He Ao’s body flying away completely.

Boom—

The bloodstained body shattered the mountain of rubble not far away.

He Ao lifted his head, looking at the figure standing in the city’s center.

"No! No!"

Di Man raised his hand, tearing at his body, ripping apart the unseen forces covering him.

These forces, which had supported him, now clung to his body like invisible skins, covering his face.

No matter how hard he pulled, he couldn’t tear these forces away, only watching as they continuously invaded his body.

Eventually, his form gradually dimmed, like a reshaped clay figure, redrawing its shape.

This body twisted between horrific and graceful, as if it hadn’t yet settled on a form.

The twisted, terrifying pressure emanated from this ever-changing body, almost flattening the trembling earth beneath it.

As this pressure spread, in the inverted reflection of the bustling city above, lights lit up in various places around the city.

However, He Ao’s gaze didn’t fall upon the bustling city, nor on the shifting figure ahead, but in the corner of the sky.

There, without knowing when, a simple-line-drawn eye had opened, suspended in the sky, quietly observing everything in the city.

No, it wasn’t an eye that had suddenly appeared; it had always been there.

At the instant of seeing that eye, a sharp, tearing pain arose in He Ao’s mind.

Memories that were once hidden seemed to be stripped of their coverings, appearing in his brain.

Since when?

Since the Dark Lizard attacked the city.

No, since the assassination attempt on the President.

This eye had been hanging in the air, watching him all along.

Like a bystander, it had been suspended in the sky, quietly watching all his deeds.

Watching him survive, watching him fight against the Dark Lizard, watching him traverse the wilderness, reach Ains, start investigating in Ains, contact Selena, contact the old chief, watching him kill the Dark Lizard thoroughly.

Watching him lure Di Man into the Fantasy City, watching him severely injure Di Man.

This eye had always been high up in the sky, quietly observing everything occurring under the sky.

Watching everything He Ao did.

It had always been there, always by He Ao’s side.

Cold sweat seeped from He Ao’s bloodstained body.

He had seen the eye, but he had never ’remembered’ seeing it.

Until this moment, these concealed memories surged forth like waves.

The Angel who manipulated memories, unaware of his own memories.

And with his gaze, the simple-line-drawn eye in the sky finally ’moved.’

It slowly appeared above the constantly morphing figure and then slowly descended, merging into that body.

Finally, after a simple twist, the form transformed into a slender and graceful, genderless vague humanoid.

It slowly opened its eyes.

It turned its head, looking at He Ao.

——

Ains

"What on earth is happening above?" the Elderly stared at the man before him, suddenly pausing his words.

In his field of view, the man’s body began to become ethereal at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"What is this?" he asked somewhat confused.

"A method of Sacrifice, to return the core items that form the progeny back to the main body," He Ao withdrew his gaze from the sky, let out a long sigh, and continued softly as he looked at the Elderly in front of him,

"In principle, after the Sacrifice, this body of mine would disappear immediately, but with some boost in my current power, I’ve made slight adjustments to the progeny method, so for now, this body can remain for a while."

He continued in a low voice, "During this time, let’s talk about other things,"

He looked at the Elderly, and before the Elderly could express further confusion, he huskily and softly asked, "When did he pass away?"