Chapter 1991: The Final Battle

After the appearance of the twenty-four golden statues, it was clear the enigmatic chant came from these statues. Master felt extreme unease from these statues.

"Whatever you all are playing at, I will blow them apart!!" Master discharged a powerful shockwave. However, the shockwave stopped before hitting the statues. He couldn't believe the sight. How could these statues resist his divine power?

The twenty-four statues circling Master started to revolve. Slowly at first, but it soon picked up in speed. Their chants also became louder.

Master tried teleporting himself out of the circumference of these statues but found he was unable to do so. In his frustration, he unleashed several more divine blasts. All his energies seemed to fall into the ocean. None of them touched the statues.

Ever since he became a God, he never felt threatened, not even when he joined the brawl between Lucifer and the other Gods. These golden statues, however, gave him a feeling that they could end him. The feeling of fear and powerlessness, which he thought was behind him, came back into his heart again.

The fear drove him to unleash even greater power, but none of his power reached outside the circumference of the golden statues. It was as if an invisible sphere was locking him down. As he continued to discharge energies, he learned that this sphere was closing in.

"What is this...? What did you do...?!!" Master roared at Honuren down there.

Master tried sending another blast to destroy everyone down there. But again, his assault sunk into nothingness. Before he realized it, the twenty golden statues were right next to him. He tried to physically barge out but failed. The invisible sphere following the statues was like an impenetrable wall, even for a divine being like him.

While he was at a loss about what to do, the golden statues erupted with a bright glow. This glow engulfed him. He felt some sort of energy invaded him. He was unable to stop it. When the glow finally subsided, he knew what had happened.

He was no longer divine.

"Apollyon! Today will be your end...!!"

Master turned to the source of the voice. It was Wilted. With her was a group of players. They emerged from one of the buildings. Within this group was Jack. They were charging toward him.

Master had no time to process the incident. Everything had happened too fast. All he knew was he was in enemy territory. He was alone, surrounded by enemies, and he was without his divine power. Two magic staffs appeared in his hands. He started casting.

"Be careful! Those two magic staffs are also legendary grades," Peniel warned.

"He won't have the chance to use them!" Jack exclaimed. He cast Time Stop.

Everything stopped. Only Peniel, he, and his clones were on the move. He had cast Remote Magic Field and Double Clone earlier. After casting, he transformed into Unrivaled Arcaner before having one of his clones join hands with him and the twenty-two others to activate the Council of Twenty-four. He had now reverted to his real self. He and his four clones were now rushing to Master while everything was frozen in time.

"This is your end!" Jack exclaimed when he arrived, but then he realized something.

The spell formations on Master's two staffs were still moving.

His consternation was interrupted when a powerful shockwave erupted from one of Master's spells. This shockwave radiated with a strong knockback force, pushing him and his clones away from Master. Master's second spell, which consisted of eight runes, was completed.

A huge meteor fell from heaven. It went straight to the members of the Council of Elpo gathering below.

"How...? Why can he move during my Time Stop?" Jack asked.

Peniel was also confused but soon showed a face that realized something. "He must have gotten his hand on that artifact!"

"What artifact?" Jack asked.

"Chrono Guard. It stops its wielder from getting affected by any hostile skills or spells that affect time," Peniel answered.

Master indeed possessed this artifact. This was the thing he demanded from the Serpent God when he invaded the Naga's settlement. It was a time-countering legendary-grade artifact. During his time studying the Second World game, he never truly understood the significance of this artifact. Yes, some spells slowed others, but it was not noteworthy. He didn't understand why this artifact was so valuable that it was categorized as a legendary grade and placed under the possession of a deity.

After learning about Jack's unknown ability to manipulate time, he understood its significance.

Master had moved away after casting the Meteor Fall. He looked at the others who were frozen in time. His suspicion was correct. Jack could manipulate time the way even a God couldn't. He was very eager to ask Jack where he got such an ability, but now was not the time for questions. With his divine power gone, he was in a precarious situation. Fortunately, he had prepared for the worst situation. He took out a metallic plate just as the Time Stop ended, and the people below started moving again.

Honuren and the others immediately registered the menacing meteor coming toward them. Honuren cast Soul Beam. Everyone else sent their skills and spells at the meteor. The meteor exploded before reaching them.

"That is...," Peniel recognized the plate in Master's hand. "It's a Mass Recall Plate!"

Jack didn't know the item. But from its name, he could hazard a guess. Unfortunately, he was far from Master when Master activated the plate. A bright glow erupted. When the light subsided, a massive army had appeared around Master.

The Mass Recall Plate was something Master hunted for in the underworld aside from collecting legendary-grade equipment. This Mass Recall Plate was a legendary-grade consumable. It let him leave marks on multiple targets, which he could summon when needed. After returning from the underworld, Master didn't immediately go to the Council of Hybris. Instead, he went around leaving marks on his most powerful servants.

The Mass Recall Plate allowed him to mark a maximum of ten thousand targets. Most of the targets he chose were the demons who had pledged allegiance to him and his zombie army. He chose the strongest ones among them, with Xugguth and Dajja as the leaders. A small portion were players from the World Maker, World Ruler, and the State of Galhana. Mistress and Sizhad led these players.

Honuren and his faction members were surprised to find so many enemies appeared so suddenly. The plan was for them to use their number to gang up on Master, but now the tables had turned. Their enemy had more number now. Although this was their base, their faction had experienced a decline in number after the war with the underworld forces. They numbered less than two thousand. They were outnumbered five to one.

"Bloody hell. That a*shole is truly a cunning prick!" John cursed.

Jack, on the other hand, praised his enemy, "Amazing! Even after becoming a God, you still take precautions. Even so, you will not win...!"

Jack cast Superior Acceleration before using his companion token and king badge to summon Arlcard and his royal agents. He didn't summon Eoranth because the dragon hadn't recovered yet. He then had one of his clones use the Mind-annihilating Gaze on him. A multicolor aura burst out of his body. He turned into Supreme Dragon Form and shot forward. The mass of demons protecting Master came and blocked his path.

He used the Void Demon Sword as he advanced. The giant void sword charged ahead of him. The void sword was covered with a multicolor aura. The demons it cut through were sliced apart without exception. Nothing could stop the sword as it came close to Master.

A black hole suddenly appeared in the void sword's path. The speed of the void sword made it unable to avoid the black hole. It went straight in.

Another black hole appeared down there where the Council of Elpo's members were. The Void Demon Sword burst out of that black hole and cut down several faction members.

"Damn it!" Jack cursed. He forcefully controlled the Void Demon Sword to stop in its tracks to not harm more allies. He couldn't afford to use Time Reverse to save those killed by his void sword. He might need it later. Much was at stake in this battle.

The black hole just now came from the Void Displacement Eye. Jack's augmented sense identified the skill came from Dajja. He used Devil Eye Stare. The two fiery beams discharged from his eyes turned into massive fire pillars under the boost of mana awakening. The two beams weaved through the enemies and struck the zombie eyeball demon.

He then used Void Displacement Eye as well. The black hole he conjured under mana awakening was much larger than the one Dajja conjured. It sucked in all the demons in his path and sent them far away. The path to Master was cleared in an instant.

With Wind Jet, his body shot forward, leaving a multicolor trail. His claw slashed forward with Flame Strike. The flame burst following his claw was like a torrent of explosions. Master himself ignited with a different kind of explosion when Jack arrived. Four different elements assailed Jack when he collided. When the burst of energy subsided, Jack found himself before a being composed of four different elements: fire, wind, ice, and lightning.

Master had activated the Fire God Incarnation, Wind God Incarnation, Ice God Incarnation, and Lightning God Incarnation simultaneously.