Chapter Twenty: Turbulent Currents of Time and Space

The setting sun bled across the horizon.

The entire expanse of wasteland had become their battlefield. Each collision of bodies, every clash of energy beams, resounded with a deafening roar.

Longze Yue staggered backward on unsteady feet. He had tried multiple times to take to the skies and shift the battlefield, but under the absolute dominance of the Third Generation Kiriarudo, whose power and speed far surpassed his, he found himself at a disadvantage both on the ground and in the air.

With a thunderous crash, Longze Yue finally succumbed to the Third Generation Kiriarudo’s onslaught and was hurled to the ground, the timer on his chest beginning to flash.

“Boy, how do you like the taste of the new power bestowed upon me by the great Kiriarudo God?” The Third Generation Kiriarudo laughed heartily at Longze Yue, who was struggling to prop himself up.

Longze Yue ignored his taunts.

“Kiriarudo God?” he muttered, clutching his abdomen as he forced himself upright.

“There truly exists a Kiriarudo God in this timeline!” Longze Yue was inwardly astonished.

He had originally thought the appearance of this Kiriarudo was just a random anomaly—like Golzan and Melba had once appeared on Planet D2.

Now, he suddenly understood: the advantage of knowing the plot no longer held true.

Monsters that appeared in other timelines could still emerge here. The plot had already gone awry in the world of Tiga. And now, in the realm of the Land of Light, there had appeared an impossible Kiriarudo, and behind him, an unknown Kiriarudo God.

Still, even if the advantage of the plot was lost, he remained familiar with the habits and characteristics of certain monsters. That could count as some edge, however slight.

His momentary distraction from pondering this gave the Third Generation Kiriarudo an opening—he was sent flying seven or eight meters by another heavy kick.

Longze Yue forced himself up once more, a bitter smile flickering across his face.

“Is this where my life ends…?”

He had already exhausted every skill he possessed. His ultimate Dark Zeperion Beam and the newly mastered Leo Flying Kick were both useless against the Third Generation Kiriarudo.

There was nothing for it; his opponent’s energy was stronger, his physical power and speed superior. The Zeperion Beam was neutralized by the enemy’s own energy, and the Leo Flying Kick was easily dodged thanks to the other’s overwhelming speed.

“How can you give up, Long?”

A young woman’s voice rang directly in Longze Yue’s mind.

“Huh?” The voice sounded familiar, as though he had heard it somewhere before.

“Tiga back then wasn’t like you at all!” the woman urged, her tone growing more anxious.

“You’re… Camilla! But didn’t you…?”

Longze Yue was baffled. He had witnessed Camilla dissolve into countless particles of light before his eyes, merging into his Dark Divine Light Rod.

“Don’t you dare disgrace Tiga!”

Before Longze Yue could respond, a golden radiance blossomed within his heart, showering him with a rain of golden light.

At the same moment, the Third Generation Kiriarudo sensed Longze Yue’s aura surging higher and higher.

On Longze Yue’s chest, the black armor was suddenly etched with golden patterns, and the previously flickering red light instantly transformed into a vivid blue!

This was… Camilla’s power!

“I will never disgrace Tiga!” Longze Yue roared, golden brilliance erupting from him like a small sun, his fists blazing with gold.

Bang!

This time, when their fists clashed head-on, they were evenly matched.

The Third Generation Kiriarudo’s fist collided with Longze Yue’s, glowing with scorching golden light.

Cold, unyielding.

That was the sensation Longze Yue’s punch gave the Third Generation Kiriarudo.

The shock of the impact left both their arms tingling with numbness.

Shaking out his arm, Longze Yue was startled to realize his power was still rising—then, in an instant, it soared past his foe, and abruptly halted.

“Impossible!” The Third Generation Kiriarudo’s face twisted in terror and disbelief.

“I said I’d make you pay for those innocent lives!”

The memory of the slaughter made rage surge within Longze Yue.

“Unforgivable!”

Just as Longze Yue prepared to attack again, the Third Generation Kiriarudo spread a pair of jet-black wings from his back and, at lightning speed, shot into the sky to flee.

“You won’t escape!”

Longze Yue took off in hot pursuit, engines at full throttle, chasing after his foe.

Beneath the sunset, two figures raced across the sky.

They soared over wasteland after wasteland, over tribe after tribe, until at last they reached a rare oasis on this planet—the place where Longze Yue overtook his enemy.

In the shade of lush trees, beside a murmuring brook, horses drank at the water’s edge and birds sang from the branches. Startled by their arrival, the animals scattered, sending a flurry of leaves drifting down.

“What a beautiful forest,” Longze Yue couldn’t help but admire inwardly.

He was reluctant to let the aftermath of their battle destroy such a paradise, unaware that this was a forbidden ground on the planet—an area where space itself was dangerously unstable. Animals were often whisked away into alternate dimensions, only to reappear mysteriously after some time—a place akin to Earth’s Bermuda Triangle.

“You wouldn’t want our battle to ruin this beautiful oasis, would you?” The Third Generation Kiriarudo clasped his hands behind his back, his gaze sinister, his intentions clear.

Before Longze Yue could respond, the Third Generation Kiriarudo continued, “We of the Kiriarudo race are actually quite fond of nature. I’d hate to destroy this place. It’s simply too lovely.”

“Oh?” Longze Yue watched him with amusement, wary for any trickery. He didn’t believe a word of it.

“So, what are you getting at?”

“So—go to hell!”

With a thunderous crack, a colossal energy orb, brimming with destructive power, shot from the hands the Third Generation Kiriarudo had kept behind his back.

It was clear now: knowing he could not win in a fair fight, the Third Generation Kiriarudo had been stalling for time, gathering energy for this devastating attack.

“Damn it!”

Though Longze Yue had been on guard, he hadn’t expected the energy sphere to be so powerful. If he dodged, not only would this oasis be destroyed, but the surrounding tribes would suffer as well.

In desperation, Longze Yue quickly gathered his strength and unleashed the Dark Zeperion Beam to block the attack.

The massive energy clash tore apart the already-unstable fabric of space, and at the point where their beams met, a pitch-black wormhole abruptly appeared. Its immense suction drew both combatants in…

Once again, the world spun wildly around him. Longze Yue felt his head reel, his senses overwhelmed.

“Damn it…”

Those were the last words to flash through Longze Yue’s mind, echoing his true feelings—

—and then, his consciousness faded into blackness. There was nothing more.