Awakening：The Infinite Evolution of My Talent as a Low-Level Awakener - Chapter 524

Chapter 524: Chapter 524: Sterl’s Appearance—To Hell With That “Good News!”
“Hmm, it’s almost over. It’s my turn now.”

From his vantage point, seeing everything unfold from a god’s-eye view, Sterl had been monitoring the entire battlefield. Most of these gods were already in a weakened state, their strength worn down by the ongoing battle. Now, with lives hanging in the balance, their numbers were dwindling rapidly. There were moments when one would land a decisive blow on an enemy, only to be ambushed and killed by another.

It had barely been five minutes since Boris sent the “good news.” On Orichalcum’s side, including Eterna, only six gods remained, still fighting with all their might.

Meanwhile, the Ashen side had lost five or six gods in the chaotic mutual destruction of battle. The losses had reached a ratio of roughly 2:1. Despite their injuries, Ashen’s gods hadn’t been able to fully capitalize on their numerical advantage.

After regrouping, the remaining twenty Ashen gods started to play it safe, carefully defending against the last desperate attacks from the remaining Orichalcum gods. They had no intention of charging headlong into the fray.

Their goal was simple: to stall, and to stall until the very end.

Under this strategy, the relentless attacks from Orichalcum were easily deflected, and the combined might of the twenty Ashen gods could overwhelm their opponents with ease. Every attack sent Orichalcum’s remaining gods scrambling, forcing them to expend ever greater resources just to hold their ground.

There was nothing Orichalcum could do about it. They wanted to fight desperately, but their opponents had no intention of meeting them head-on. Every time they rushed in, they risked being caught off guard and wiped out in a single counterattack. The only option was to keep up the stalemate. If it continued like this, it wouldn’t be long before they were slowly worn down and extinguished.

On the other side, Eterna’s situation wasn’t any better. His body had already reached its limits. After minutes of pushing himself to the edge just to fight Terran, he was nearing collapse. His once formidable figure was now barely holding on.

Terran, facing him, wasn’t in much better shape himself, but overall, his condition was far better than Eterna’s. At the very least, he wasn’t as close to falling apart.

“Don’t worry,” Terran sneered, “You won’t die just yet. I’ll let you watch as we destroy your so-called ‘royal city,’ piece by piece.”

Terran let out a cold grunt, forcing his body to move forward slowly, closing in on the exhausted Eterna, while keeping a wary eye on any possible counterattack.

The battlefield was unpredictable, and he hadn’t expected Boris’s report of success to come through. What had seemed like a lost opportunity was now back in his hands. Despite some casualties, they were on the verge of wiping out Orichalcum’s remaining forces. With that, the situation was tilted in their favor, and it felt like a substantial win—far more than he had anticipated.

What’s more, as long as the base of operations wasn’t destroyed, and the place where they stored their souls remained intact, a little sacrifice in resources could bring them back to life. Although some gods vehemently opposed this idea, arguing that a resurrection meant they wouldn’t be the same as before, it still served to lessen their fear of death. After all, in a desperate situation, having even the slightest chance of survival was better than giving in to hopelessness.

“I never thought Boris would give me such a huge surprise,” Terran muttered to himself. “Otherwise, we’d have been at risk of losing everything—hell, you would have pulled a fast one on us.” He looked at Eterna, then pointed to the five gods who were still desperately trying to hold on, sneering as he spoke. “You see that? This is the price of going up against Ashen. In this world, we are… invincible.”

With that, he launched another attack on Eterna. The blow sent Eterna coughing up blood, and his aura weakened even further. His Divine Authority was barely holding together; it seemed that, any second now, he might fall from the heavens, his strength completely exhausted.

The other five gods weren’t faring much better. Surrounded by twenty gods of equal power, every second was a torment, every movement a struggle for survival. One wrong step, and they would be obliterated.

“Boris…” Eterna muttered weakly, his heart filled with hatred. He had never imagined that it would end like this. If it weren’t for Boris, this mission would have gone off without a hitch. But now, everything was over. This battle had been a crushing defeat for Orichalcum. They might be driven out of this world entirely, or worse, be completely wiped out in the aftermath.

Eterna refused to accept it. He had such tremendous potential, immense talents that set him apart. His Divine Power, though still weak, was not his limit—he was so close to reaching the higher tiers of Divine Authority. Only one step stood between him and the highest echelons of power!

But, as it stood, it seemed that this last step would forever remain out of reach.

As Terran closed in on him, Eterna’s heart burned with resentment and unwillingness. He let out a deep sigh, as if all the anger and despair had been siphoned away in that one breath. He slowly closed his eyes. Submit? Be captured and turned into a slave?

No. That was absolutely out of the question! He was the supreme ruler of Orichalcum, the master of the royal city. Even in death, he would not go down quietly. If he was going to die, it would be with his enemies, not as their prisoner or their plaything!

With a final surge of willpower, he summoned the last bit of his strength, preparing for a desperate, final struggle. He would try to take Terran down with him, at least make it an exchange—if he was going down, he wasn’t going to let his enemy leave unscathed.

But just as he was about to make his move, a large hand gently landed on his back. A sudden shock ran through his body. How could someone have approached him so quietly without detection?

Before Eterna could even turn around to see what was happening, a familiar voice slowly echoed, “Eterna, you’ve disappointed me.”

The voice carried a hint of reproach, but it made Eterna’s eyes go wide in shock. The speaker was none other than Hades, the very one he had thought was killed in the battle just moments ago!

In the next instant, a longsword materialized beside him. The sword radiated a fierce and terrifying aura, swirling around it like a storm. Sterl gently caressed the blade, his voice tinged with awe. “So, this is the power of higher Divine Authority, huh? Truly terrifying.”

He spoke with a note of admiration, and the sword he was holding was unmistakably the Sword of Doomsday Judgment, a powerful artifact created by the combined will of several gods—something he had received previously from the higher Divine Authorities.

“Too bad, Orichalcum is also my target. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have had to discard this identity. In that case, this sword could be used as a trump card.”

However, after a brief moment of contemplation, Sterl decided it was best to use it now. If he waited, and his faction’s changes were detected someday, the Sword of Doomsday Judgment might explode within him, wiping him out entirely. Better to use it while he still had control.

“Hades… It’s Hades!”

A wave of indescribable excitement surged through Eterna. The cloud of despair that had hung over him dissipated in an instant.

On the other side, Terran stared blankly at the terrifying figure beside Eterna, whose presence radiated an ominous aura. His eyes narrowed, and the Sword of Doomsday Judgment was gripped tightly in the stranger’s hand.

“What’s going on here?”

Countless questions flooded Terran’s mind. He scrambled to contact Boris through their faction system, his mind reeling. Didn’t Boris just send a report saying that the battlefield was over, that Hades had been slain in an instant? So then, who the hell was this figure in front of him, holding the Sword of Doomsday Judgment?

He was completely dumbfounded. They had just won, but now it seemed as though the heavens were playing a cruel joke on him. Another hidden boss had appeared. If he were at full strength, he wouldn’t have feared this at all. But now, after everything that had happened, he was barely in better shape than a half-destroyed wreck.

“I…”

Terran opened his mouth but could barely speak, his mind cursing Boris’s ancestors over and over. He quickly began calculating a plan, searching for any possible way out.

Meanwhile, the other Ashen gods, sensing the overwhelming aura emanating from the Sword of Doomsday Judgment, froze in their tracks, their expressions filled with awe and disbelief.

“Hah, Hades! It’s really Hades!”

“Finally, Hades has arrived! We’re saved!”

“Hahaha! You filthy, disgusting natives! Hades will wipe you all out! Every single one of you!!”

The five who had narrowly escaped death were ecstatic. Over twenty of their companions had perished, and they had barely escaped themselves, their lives hanging by a thread. But now, everything had changed. Everything was going to be alright.

“Run!”

Without any warning, Terran threw his head back and let out a furious roar. He immediately tried to activate the remaining power of the Space Law, attempting to teleport himself and his remaining forces to a distant location. However, the moment he did, something strange happened. The space that had been so easily manipulated just moments ago now lay completely still.

It turned out that Sterl had also activated his own Temporal-Spatial Law powers, freezing the surrounding space. Though both he and Terran were manipulating Space Law, the difference was that Terran relied on tools to control it for a brief time, while Sterl wielded this power directly as part of his own divine abilities. The difference in strength was clear—there was no comparison.

Unable to open the space for teleportation, Terran immediately turned and began to flee, as did the other twenty gods. But the five gods who had been beaten down and nearly killed were not about to let these enemies escape. Each one burned their divine soul to push forward, determined to stop them. Despite this, over ten gods still managed to break free, fleeing toward the distance.

At that very moment, nine more figures appeared from the shadows, surrounding the fleeing gods. It was Morette, Diana, and several other gods who had appeared out of nowhere. These newly arrived gods caught the Ashen forces off guard, and before they could react, at least three were struck down.

After all, the Ashen gods were heavily wounded, while Morette and her allies were nearly at full strength. The difference in power made the battle seem one-sided, like a father punishing his child—every blow landed true.

Amid the terrified gazes of over a dozen gods, Sterl slowly raised the Sword of Doomsday Judgment in his hand.

In an instant, a terrifying aura surged from the blade, as though the very heavens themselves were enraged and roaring!

The surrounding area, stretching for tens of thousands of miles, was cloaked in a thick, ominous cloud.

“No! This is impossible! How could you be completely unharmed?!”

Terran, feeling the overwhelming pressure of fear and power closing in on him, could not help but scream in panic. Boris had told him that Hades and his allies had been completely wiped out, but what was happening now?

Ten gods, not even a single hair out of place. This was supposed to be their total annihilation?!