Furthermore, as these severed parts fell into the twilight glow outside, they rapidly dissolved into streaks of light, as if they were Far Travelers making a hasty retreat.

"Lord Ossirion, this one!"

Zorn immediately relayed the locked target to Ossirion.

Ossirion’s Perception flickered, and he instantly locked onto the target.

"Hahaha... Don’t even bother running, Ferdinand."

Laughing boisterously, Ossirion gave chase to kill.

At this moment, the aura Ossirion displayed was no longer that of the Legendary stage.

Instead, it was the profound aura of Level 26, having surpassed the limits of a Level 25 Legendary.

After more than a decade of cultivation here,

Ossirion had already reached the level of an Upper Rank God.

Although he had not yet undergone Divinity Ascension, he already possessed the foundation of an Upper Rank God.

Seeing this, the other two Middle Rank Gods, along with numerous powerful Lower Rank Gods, immediately began to hunt down some of the other Middle Rank Gods who were fleeing in all directions.

Amid the curtain of twilight,

the final battle royale of the war between gods came to a close.

Zorn, Abigail, and Sigmund did not join the pursuit.

Their target was the Middle Rank Evil God’s World.

Whether it was Abigail entering it to fight,

Zorn using his [Evil God Calamity] to destroy this World,

or Sigmund absorbing this World’s foundation,

these were the most beneficial methods for their growth.

After all!

This was the Divine Kingdom of a Middle Rank God.

The spoils would be far greater than those from the previous Divine Kingdoms of Lower Rank Gods.

As the three of them worked together to orchestrate the destruction of the Middle Rank Evil God Ferdinand’s Evil God Divine Kingdom,

Sigmund spoke up.

"You two are about to advance to Middle Rank God, aren’t you?"

"I still lack a bit of foundation. I estimate I’ll need some more time in secluded cultivation."

It was Abigail who spoke.

"However, I should be able to become a Middle Rank God within thirty years at the latest."

"Mm,"

Sigmund nodded.

For a Divine Spirit, thirty years was a very short time.

"Zorn, what about you?"

"Still not going directly for Divinity Ascension?"

Zorn just smiled.

"After Divinity Ascension, the amount of Faith required is staggering."

"I’m not like you two. One of you has the Faith from a Little Cosmic, and the other has an ancient Divine Spirit Divine Kingdom."

"My foundation is shallow. I don’t have enough Faith to support Divinity Ascension at this stage."

Sigmund’s eyes narrowed for a moment, then he laughed teasingly.

"You rascal, secretly using your methods to observe us. You really live up to the name of a damned Evil God!"

After more than ten years of cooperation, the three had come to know each other deeply. Having fought side-by-side on many occasions, their bond had grown ever stronger.

They were even aware of some of each other’s trump cards.

"And you’re no different, always using the methods of your Little Cosmic to probe my Divine Kingdom,"

Zorn retorted good-naturedly.

"I’m just curious what that Divine Kingdom of yours is really like. You keep it under such tight wraps,"

Sigmund said, squinting at Zorn.

"It’s a Divine Kingdom full of Death and ruin. I’m afraid if your Perception were to enter it, your Sequence would be corrupted,"

Zorn replied nonchalantly.

"Do you really plan on reaching the Upper Rank God level before undergoing Divinity Ascension, just like Lord Ossirion?"

Sigmund asked seriously.

"Yes."

"In that case, I estimate you’ll reach Level 21 even before I do."

"Hmm?"

Zorn raised an eyebrow.

"You shouldn’t have any problem advancing to Middle Rank God, right?"

"There isn’t, but my teacher won’t allow me to advance to Middle Rank God so easily. I’m required to develop my Rune Magic Ring to 500 rings or more before I’m allowed to break through."

"My Rune Magic Ring has just surpassed 400 rings. It will take at least another twenty or thirty years before I have any hope of reaching 500."

"I’m afraid even Abigail will become a Middle Rank God before I do."

At this, Sigmund looked at Zorn and said,

"Among the three of us, your progress with the Rune Magic Ring is the most absurdly astonishing. In fact... it won’t be long before you catch up to Lord Ossirion."

"You’re a Demigod to begin with. Once your level reaches Legendary Demigod Peak, coupled with that astounding Rune Magic Ring of yours..."

"At that point, you’ll be powerful enough to rival even Upper Rank Gods."

"I really don’t know how a monster like you makes such fast progress on your Rune Magic Ring."

As he spoke, Sigmund couldn’t help but shake his head.

"What an enviable guy you are!"

A faint smile stirred in the depths of Zorn’s eyes.

Whether it was absorbing a massive amount of the Cosmic Demon Pool’s foundation to transform himself,

or the deep compatibility between his Divine Kingdom and his Cosmos,

both factors allowed Zorn’s comprehension of his Rune Magic Ring to accelerate continuously.

"After this battle, we’ll be entering a construction period for the Divine Kingdom Fortress,"

"This will be a good time for cultivation, and also a perfect opportunity for us to forge our Divine Artifacts."

"Do you two have a good Divine Forger to help you forge your Divine Artifacts?"

Abigail looked at the two men.

In the subsequent battles to annihilate the Evil God Worlds and Evil God Divine Kingdoms,

once the Evil Gods were eliminated, their Divine Artifacts naturally fell into the victors’ hands.

Zorn had obtained a Lower Rank Divine Artifact that was quite suitable for him.

However, no matter how suitable it was, it still needed to be reforged.

Although Zorn knew of the few Divine Forgers in the Calamity Court Divine Kingdom, he didn’t know them personally. It would be better to get a referral.

"My teacher has dedicated Divine Forgers in his Divine Kingdom Furnace, so I won’t need to trouble you,"

Sigmund said with a smile and a shrug.

"I don’t have anyone, though. If you could provide a referral, I would be extremely grateful,"

Zorn said after a moment of thought.

The Female Sword God, Abigail, said decisively,

"Your reputation as ’Zorn Corick, the Demigod’ is quite significant within the Divine Kingdom."

"Prepare the materials and ten to twenty million Star Trace Coins, and that Divine Forger can help you forge a Divine Artifact suited to you."

"Mm,"

Zorn nodded.

A forging fee of ten to twenty million Star Trace Coins wasn’t considered high for a veteran Divine Spirit.

But for a Demigod like Zorn, whose wealth was not so profound, it was a considerable sum.

However, Zorn had annihilated many Evil God Believer Worlds and Evil God Worlds this time, so his spoils were considerable.

Liquidating the resources from those conquests would still net him a handsome sum of Star Trace Coins.

’Forge the Divine Artifact, learn an Apex-level Ancient God Curse... after those two things are done, I can probably start preparing to advance to Legendary Demigod.’

Zorn thought to himself.

「Approximately two days later.」

Just as Zorn and the others finished the initial stabilization of the Middle Rank Evil God’s Divine Kingdom,

Ossirion returned from the distance, his aura boiling like a blazing fire.

Before Ossirion returned,

the other Divine Spirits had already come back.

Seeing Ossirion’s wildly soaring, fervent aura, Zorn guessed the outcome.

As for the Middle Rank Evil God, Ferdinand, a portion of his fragmented self had escaped.

But Ossirion had seized his Middle Rank Peak Divine Artifact.

Having suffered such a devastating loss, the Middle Rank Evil God Ferdinand was no longer a threat.

With Lord Ossirion’s triumphant return,

a wave of jubilation surged throughout the entire Black Star Divine Kingdom.

After more than a decade of effort,

this cluster of over a hundred worlds—home to one Middle Rank Evil God and more than a dozen Lower Rank Evil Gods—had finally been conquered.

...

「Several days later.」

Within the Black Star Divine Kingdom, a grand victory banquet unfolded in the majestic Stone Hall.

The massive celebration lasted for several days before it finally drew to a close.

As the victory banquet concluded, within a secret hall of Crystal Walls beneath the Jade Magic Ring Tree,

Ossirion summoned Zorn, Abigail, and Sigmund.

Inside the private hall, Ossirion put on none of the airs one might expect from a Divine Spirit on the verge of becoming an Upper Rank God.

Instead, he sat on the floor with them in the spacious hall, ready for an earnest discussion.

This informal gesture only made Zorn feel the gravity of their discussion more keenly.

Zorn had heard recently that the Calamity Court Divine Kingdom seemed to be suffering severe losses on the front lines.

After all, the Jade Realm was the most powerful kingdom in the vast Star Realm.

Zorn’s military achievements here were illustrious, but the overall battlefield situation for the Calamity Court Divine Kingdom was likely under increasing pressure.