Chapter 1978: Hiding from the Divine

"All right," Linda said. Again, no hesitation.

She lifted her magic staff and aimed it at John's head. The staff started discharging standard ranged attacks. The attacks hit John's head. The guy just stood there and took them.

Considering John was level 99 and wore high-grade equipment, combined with the fact that Linda had a healer-type class, the process took quite some time. John's HP went down slowly while everyone watched.

Master finally lost patience. He grunted, and John vaporized on the spot. Not long after, John returned to life. John had told everyone who had the Amulet of Rebirth to wear it. He did so too. His level dropped to 98 from the death.

Master turned to Linda. "Are you two playing me?" He asked.

"What do you expect? You know I'm not a battle type," Linda returned.

"If I may say my piece," John uttered.

"You may not," Master replied. At the same time, John's body vaporized again. He didn't come back to life this time. He was in limbo like everyone else who died a wilderness death.

Jeanny and Paytowin gritted their teeth. 'It's over now...,' they thought. They had lost one person. They couldn't complete the Council of Twenty-four anymore.

"You two look like you have something to say?" Master asked Jeanny and Paytowin.

Before the two could answer, Master said, "I'm not interested to hear it, though."

The two vaporized as well. The same thing happened. Master dispatched them again the second they came back to life.

"Ugh...!" Jack wanted to strike Master so badly, but he knew it was pointless. He restrained himself.

Master could see that. He glanced at Jack. He purposefully let Jack live to toy with him. In the past, he would not do this. He had always avoided letting emotion govern his act, but he was a God now. He could do whatever the f*ck he wanted. Even if what he did was a petty act of revenge.

"Where is all your bravado?" Master taunted. "Where is that mouth of yours? I remember I can't shut you up when we were trapped inside the Council of Charites. Why didn't you say something this time?"

When Jack did not respond, Master turned to Grace.

"Or perhaps you need more encouragement?" His arm aimed at Grace.

"Aahhh...!!" Grace's body was abruptly heaved upward. Her scream and her face showed that she was in great pain.

"Bastard! Stop this!!" Jack exclaimed.

At that time, Jack heard Peniel's voice in his mind. Jack told Peniel to hide inside her hidden dimension before he approached Master earlier. 'Chris' disc! It gave a reaction!'

Jack sent his consciousness to the disc. He received Chris' message. 'What is it? I received a request from John to teleport you all, but I have lost the links with him. Do you still want me to teleport you all?'

Jack wanted to send a cursing message to Chris, but he didn't have the time for that. He started casting a spell.

Master saw Jack's action. He could stop Jack's Spellcasting at any moment, but he didn't. He knew whatever spell Jack used, it wouldn't harm him. He still held Grace in the air. He wanted to torture her slowly to hurt Jack. He wanted to see Jack's desperate face. He wanted Jack to attack him and learned how futile the act of opposing him was. He wanted to break Jack's spirit.

The spell formation formed rapidly. Master noticed that he didn't recognize the spell formation. It was an unknown spell. He frowned. There had been instances in the past where Jack cast spells foreign to him, especially the ones that seemed to affect time. He always considered those were non-standard spells that he somehow missed. Was this another of those spells?

Jack completed his spell when Master was still pondering. The time started rewinding. Jack used Time Reverse to turn back time a full minute. He was back at the time when he was conversing with Master.

"... I want to see how you try to stop me now that I'm a God," Master said and vanished.

Jack transformed into the supreme dragon form and rushed toward the mobile fortress while casting a spell.

Master, who reappeared beside the mobile fortress, turned back and looked at Jack. He was happy seeing Jack try to stop him. He didn't worry, though. Whatever spell Jack was casting wouldn't harm him. He stopped upon that thought. He felt a strange sense of déjà vu.

He dismissed the feeling and waved his hand. The mobile fortress was destroyed. This time, he didn't immediately advance. He stayed there and waited for Jack. He wanted to let Jack hit him, to let Jack know how futile the effort was.

Master noticed he was unfamiliar with the spell formation Jack was casting. Another sense of déjà vu hit him.

Jack completed the casting as he got nearby. The spell was Time Stop. The entire world stopped moving except for Jack. Even Master was not spared.

Jack didn't waste the time. Time Stop only lasted five seconds. He used Dragon Eye before casting Double Clone, Superior Acceleration, and Time Realm in a row. With the improved speed, he brought one clone and used Void Walk. They reappeared where John and the others

were.

He grabbed John, Jeanny, Grace, and Paytowin before using the remaining four teleports from the Void Walk. In an instant, he and the people he dragged were already far away.

He then had his clone use Mind Annihilating Gaze on him. Both his clone and he were under Superior Acceleration, so their actions were extremely fast. Multicolor aura burst almost as instantly as when the eye skill hit him.

With mana awakening, Jack shot away another distance, leaving his clone. Throughout all this, he was calculating the time distortion to know precisely when the Time Stop would end. When it almost ended, he landed on the ground, cast invisibility, and used Void Defense. Both spells under mana awakening were altered to have AOE effects. The spells covered all five

people.

One of Jack's clones remained next to Master. So, when the Time Stop ended, Master didn't immediately notice any abnormality. Master was still staring at Jack, waiting for the spell Jack had just cast to hit him.

His obliviousness didn't last long. He soon sensed something was wrong. As a divine, his sense was sharper and encompassed a larger area. After being affected by time spells two times, he started to notice that time had been tampered with. He didn't know how. Even as a God, he had no power over time.

He returned his attention to Jack in front of him. He could see now that this was a clone. His condescending face turned into a scowl.

He grunted in displeasure. Jack's clone broke into pieces. He looked back to where John and the others should be. They were no more. Only Linda and Tip were there. His divine eyes noticed another Jack a distance away. He warped over but learned that this Jack was also a

clone.

"F*ck you!"

Master was furious. He was a God now. No one may toy with him. Only he may toy with others. His hand aimed at the clone. The clone was pulled toward him without being able to resist.

"How dare you play me...," Master said through gritted teeth. The limbs of Jack's clone started bending at the wrong angles. The sounds of bone snapping were heard. A damage number came up with each snap.

The players who witnessed the scene were horrified. It turned out a gamer's body was not immune to wounds if it was the divine who caused it. Some started running away. They ran because they had tried using the Town Return Scroll, and it didn't work.

Multiple lightning suddenly struck those who had run the furthest, instantly killing those

players.

"Nobody leaves!!!" Master boomed. This caused everyone to remain in place.

The body of Jack's clone continued to deform. Jack shared his senses with his clone, so he felt the pain experienced by this clone. He used his willpower to endure the torture. He didn't let

out a yell. His clone stared at Master defiantly.

This pissed Master even more. He clenched his fist. The clone was crushed by a sudden pressure. It was compressed into a small ball of flesh. Its HP bar zeroed. The clone dissolved

into nothingness.

"You won't hide from me!!" Master turned a full circle. His divine sense swept the surroundings. He didn't believe Jack and his friends could have gotten far. Hiding among the soldiers on the ground was useless. His divine sense could swiftly differentiate one person from another. Even so, he couldn't find any trace of Jack.

Master failed to sense Jack and the others because void defense made it as if he was extremely

far away. Master's divine sense might cover a vast area, but it was still limited. He couldn't sense what was happening in another region, and the void defense made it as if Master was one country away from them.

"You don't want to come out? Then these people will pay for your sacrilege!" He stretched his hand to one side. A pillar of fire burst from the ground. This pillar was so huge it covered thousands of soldiers. These soldiers were burnt to death in a short time.