The disintegration of Cangnan City suddenly surged.
Lin Qiye's aunt sat on the sofa, her gentle, smiling face and the family photo clutched in her hand dissolving into a flurry of golden light particles that drifted through the air.
The particles grew more numerous, more dense.
The entire city—the streets, the skyscrapers, the parks—everything was returning to nothingness in this silent process.
The living "people," those running, screaming, and lost in panic, also vanished without a sound within that golden rain of light. There was no pain, no wailing—only the hollow silence that follows the shattering of a dream.
Loki hovered in mid-air, clutching Shiva's Grudge, which radiated an overwhelming aura of destruction. His face was twisted in the unrestrained laughter reserved only for victors. He spread his arms wide, as if embracing this magnificent annihilation.
His gaze pierced through the void, filled with endless mockery, as he looked directly at the defiant figure in the sky.
"Sun Wukong!"
His voice echoed across the empty expanse. "Do you see it? This is the 'miracle' you fought so hard to protect! It is nothing more than a fragile dream!"
Loki's laughter grew more manic, but just as it reached its peak, the entire world abruptly plunged into a state of absolute stillness.
Time stopped.
The thousands of lightning bolts hurled by Zeus froze in mid-air, turning into menacing sculptures of electricity. The Golden Staff, which Sun Wukong had swung with all his might, halted a fraction of an inch from its target, its peerless power forcibly suppressed. The billions of golden particles scattering across the sky and the collapsing city seemed sealed within transparent amber, unable to move.
Every god was frozen in this moment by a supreme law that was both irresistible and incomprehensible. Their expressions of shock, rage, or bewilderment were all locked in place.
Then, time began to reverse.
The golden particles frozen in the air began to fly backward, defying every law of physics. Collapsed skyscrapers rose from the ground; vanished streets reappeared. In the regression of time, the void city restored itself to its original form.
The vanished figures coalesced once more from the light, returning to where they had been. Lin Qiye's aunt appeared on the sofa again, the family photo in her hand intact, as if nothing had ever happened.
In just a few breaths, Cangnan City was restored. Yet, the world remained trapped in that absolute stillness.
Two figures materialized silently in the center of the battlefield.
One of them was the God-Emperor, Ian. He had cast aside his usual laziness, his expression more indifferent than ever, as if he were looking down upon a tedious farce.
The other wore a dazzling suit of golden power armor. The armor was as imposing as a mountain, engraved with ancient runes of human civilization. Simply by standing there, he radiated a terrifying majesty that would make the stars of the universe tremble.
He was the Emperor.
Ian looked around, his gaze sweeping over the frozen gods. He spoke calmly, but his voice did not travel through the air; instead, it resonated directly within the deepest depths of every soul present.
"Have you had your fun yet?"
With just one sentence, a wave of unprecedented terror surged from the very souls of Zeus, Odin, and the other god-king level beings at the peak of their respective pantheons—a fear so intense it nearly crushed their divine sparks.
Though their bodies were immobile and their divine senses suppressed, their powerful spirits could still perceive everything happening around them.
In the single eye of Odin, the All-Father of the Norse gods, the deep wisdom and cunning had been replaced by sheer horror. His will trembled frantically within the cage of time, attempting to communicate with these two incomprehensible and terrifying new arrivals.
'Great ones, I am Odin, Lord of Asgard.'
His mental projection was filled with reverence, carrying a hint of flattery. 'We have no wish to be your enemies; we sought only to purge the forbidden things of this world. If you are willing, we are prepared to share this world with you and ascend to the peak of the divine throne together.'
The Emperor slowly turned his head. Beneath the golden helmet, his eyes were like newborn stars, hot enough to incinerate all creation. He stared at Odin with a gaze that the God-King dared not meet.
"I am not a god."
"I am human."
The Emperor's gaze slowly swept across all the frozen foreign deities. His tone was laced with undisguised contempt and loathing.
"And you... you are not gods either."
"You are merely heretics."
"In this world, there are no gods!"
As the words fell, a grand epic of billions of humans seemed to manifest behind the Emperor. From the ignorance of primitive farming and fire to the bonfires that lit the night; from the miracle of the pyramids to the voyages across the stars.
With the absolute will of a species, he shouted the slogan that could overturn the very foundation of divine faith:
"Humanity Supreme!"
Those words transformed into a spiritual torrent, a storm of will. Every citizen of Great Xia watching the scene felt a searing fire ignite in their chests. The power deep within their blood roared, sending their passion boiling.
In the sky, Sun Wukong's Fiery Golden Eyes contracted sharply. Yang Jian's third eye, though closed, leaked a shimmering divine light of shock. As genuine gods of Huaxia, they too felt an unprecedented, complex resonance emanating from the depths of their souls upon hearing that slogan.
Struck directly by this terrifying storm of will, Loki's frozen body spiraled into madness. He couldn't accept this! He had to resist! He couldn't die here!
He attempted to detonate Shiva's Grudge in his hand, hoping to trade ultimate destruction for a slim chance of escape.
However, the moment the thought surfaced, a large hand crossed the distance of space and time, appearing silently before him.
Ian's hand grasped the mass of overwhelming destructive power—the treasure coveted by the gods—and closed firmly.
*Pop.*
With a soft sound, the forbidden object was completely erased within Ian's palm, dissolving into energy particles and vanishing into nothingness.
The Emperor's declaration of "Humanity Supreme" was like a storm on a different plane of existence. Zeus, Odin, and the other foreign god-kings felt an extreme terror as their divine sparks were shaken and the foundations of their faith were dismantled.
They tried to struggle, only to find that their divine power was like mere dust before the Emperor.
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