"Who are you?" I stared at the dark figure in front of me. Her face was blurry, but I could vaguely make out that she was a woman from her figure.

"Shadow" did not respond to my question. Instead, she forcefully pressed down on the strange weapon in her hand, a weapon I had never seen before. It looked like a piece cut off from the top of a pine tree.

"Take this!" I exerted all my strength to push Shadow away using my divine power, causing the black aura surrounding her to violently tremble. She didn't seem to be my match. Seizing the opportunity, I swung the blade in my hand diagonally towards her body.

"Splat!"

To my surprise, my blade cut through her body without any resistance! However...

There was no blood, no screams of pain. It was as if a shattered container had burst open, and black liquid suddenly splattered everywhere. I wasn't sure what the substance was, but I knew I had successfully blocked it.

Hiss!

A corrosive sound emanated from my divine power shield. I was startled because if even divine power could be corroded, there would definitely be problems if it touched my body.

"Watch out!"

The voice of Sister Four Season rang out in the sky. I turned my head abruptly and saw the shadow-like "Sister Four Season" rushing towards me. Her crimson eyes reminded me of the eyes I had seen in the rift of the dream world.

These were two of the same species!

"Dragon's Demise Strike!"

I was about to unleash my divine battle skills to counter the sudden attack. Although I might not be a match for the shadow creature, I believed I could at least resist for a while, allowing Sister Four Season to come to my aid.

The black dragon shadow roared on my blade, but what surprised me was that the shadow did not resist at all. It let my blade attack her without any resistance. Just like the previous shadow, it burst open right in front of me, and a large amount of mud-like substance poured towards me.

The Divinity Laurel above my head automatically emanated power to resist the force of the black mud. I felt like I was being pressed under a rushing waterfall, where the immense force gradually crushed my flesh, my bones, and even my soul.

"Snap!"

I suddenly heard a cracking sound. I lifted my head slightly and saw the Divinity Laurel falling from above, fragmented. Each piece sparkled in the black mud, representing the "wisdom and battle" divine authority. However, my world plunged into darkness.

"Betty!" Amidst the faint whispers, I finally heard Sister Four Season's cry...

Dome Temple

As the residence of the Creator God, only the main gods who were children of the Creator God could reach here. However, after they left, the twelve main gods never gathered here again. There might have been discord or the busy duties of being gods. The last time the twelve main gods gathered here was six years ago when the creator's divine spirit returned.

But this time, the reason for their gathering was the same as before – for their younger brother, Bexia, the god of wisdom and battle. However, while their previous visit was accompanied by joy, the atmosphere was now grave.

Bexia's body was suspended in mid-air by divine power. Twelve different divine powers intertwined on his body. His body was covered in black lines, and his eyebrows were furrowed. His face twitched from time to time, even in his unconscious state, indicating that he was experiencing immense pain.

The "Divinity Laurel," which symbolized the divine authority of the main gods, had separated from his forehead and was placed in front of the twelve main gods. The golden divine emblem was now shattered into numerous black fragments. The surface of the fragments constantly churned with a thick black liquid, resembling wriggling black maggots.

"Don't you know how to protect Betty? Can the Dark God be dealt with by him?" The first to break the silence was Yulina, the Dragon God and the God of Judgment. She had entered a state of partial dragon transformation, and the "Judgment Dragon Spear," representing her authority, floated behind her. Sensing the anger of its master, the Judgment Dragon Spear emitted a formidable aura."Do you want to fight? I'm not afraid of you," Four Season's eyes emitted a bloody glow.

"Can you two stop arguing? The most important thing now is to save Betty!" Carlos looked at the two sisters who had been at odds with each other. It wasn't Four Season's fault for this situation. Other main gods were also being attacked by the dark gods at the same time, and they were all overwhelmed.

"I will save Betty, you don't need to worry!" Four Season calmly closed her eyes and said.

"Four Season, don't act impulsively. That method is not to be used now. With the reappearance of the dark gods, if one of us twelve is missing, the consequences would be unimaginable!" Death god Omen furrowed her brows and spoke up. They all knew the method to save Bexia individually - sacrificing themselves to give him new divine power. However, all twelve of them had the ability to resist the power of the dark gods.

Though Bexia was also a main god, his divine power was not one of the Creation Fourteen Powers, so he had no resistance against the power of the dark gods. Otherwise, they wouldn't need to worry about these dark forces at all.

The dark gods were a special existence, originating from the disease of the World Tree. It could be said that if the World Tree was compared to a human, the dark gods were the virus. The main gods were the healthy cells responsible for maintaining the normal functioning of the World Tree, but they also had to face external destruction. Therefore, the dark gods were natural enemies for the main gods.

The power of the dark gods was the opposite of their own divine power and had strong erosion capabilities. It could turn any target into a new dark god. This was why they were currently in a headache.

However, it was fortunate that Bexia's divine power was not one of the Creation Fourteen Powers. Otherwise, with the collision of opposing forces and Bexia's current control over his divine power, the outcome would definitely be worse than it is now. Whether he could even survive would be uncertain.

"So do you have any other way to save Betty?" Four Season's words were sharp, but they also reflected the thoughts of everyone present. They simply didn't have a suitable solution to the current situation.

If they were themselves being corrupted by the power of the dark gods, the most they would face is falling into a dormant state for a period of time and relying on their own power to fight against it. However, Bexia's power couldn't resist the power of the dark gods at all. It was the kind of situation where he was more likely to be assimilated by the dark gods!

Currently, they had managed to stabilize the dark power on Bexia, but the Divinity Laurel that was connected to his life had already been completely polluted by the power of the dark gods. Now, they had to either extract the dark power from Divinity Laurel or sever the connection between Divinity Laurel and Bexia.

They simply couldn't achieve the former because they lacked the ability. As for the latter, the price would be enormous. It would permanently harm Bexia. Once the connection with Divinity Laurel was severed, he would become a mortal and would not be able to become a deity. For eternal main gods like them, it was equivalent to killing him. How could they possibly do it?

They had eternal lives, but how long could Bexia survive without Divinity Laurel?

One hundred years... or one thousand years?

Ten thousand years?

These durations were just a blink of an eye for the main gods. Losing the eternal Bexia meant that the twelve sisters would lose their only brother. How could they accept that?

Boom, boom, boom...

The Dome Temple suddenly shook violently. The twelve main gods instantly appeared outside the Dome Temple, summoning their divine armaments and weapons. With serious expressions, they looked up at the sky:

The golden eternal dome was being corroded by the black power of the dark gods. The holy day that should have been shining with golden glory was now showered with black ashes. Any object that came into contact with the black ashes would instantly disappear...