Chapter 444: Closing Fate

Frightening energies converged, as Emperor Da Huanxi and Subaru clashed fiercely. Their terrifying aura quickly engulfed the surrounding ordinary deities.

"It's no use."

Emperor Da Huanxi hid within a mirror in the void, appearing completely unharmed.

"So, I can't hurt you?" Subaru looked at him, his voice hoarse. "With your terrifying computational power, you can manifest near-Tier Nine magical phenomena... No one can break through this level, but do you think you're the only one with the computational power of destiny?!"

"I! Have! It! Too!!"

Subaru's roar shook the entire sky and land. His body burst into flames, undergoing a terrifying zombie-like transformation. Golden fire engulfed him, every cell burning as his life rapidly drained away. "Life acceleration, a deeper awakening, truly accelerating cellular aging at the cost of burning life!"

Time seemed to rush wildly past him. In just a few seconds, this mid-level deity burned through a thousand years of his lifespan. A deity's lifespan, after all, was only eight thousand years.

"A thousand years of life, or three thousand, or even all eight thousand years of my existence—it doesn't matter!"

His entire body was breaking apart. Every cell rapidly burned under perfectly controlled computational power, aging continuously. He transformed into the purest, most dazzling golden light.

"My life is irrelevant! I, Subaru, will strike you down!"

Boom!

Subaru transformed into a golden light, imbued with a thousand years of his lifespan, and charged towards Emperor Da Huanxi. "Triple!"

Boom boom boom!!!!

"Quintuple!""Tenfold!"

In an instant, Subaru unleashed tens of thousands of punches, transforming into heavy, pearly-white meteors. He fought like a madman, shattering the entire space. As he collided with Emperor Da Huanxi, the terrifying energy nearly tore the space apart, and Emperor Da Huanxi's large mirror surface instantly shattered.

"We're going to win! The mirror shattered instantly, we can hit him now!""Lord Subaru, victory is certain!"

Countless deities roared, but in the next second, behind the shattered mirror, another layer of mirror-void appeared. Everyone's expression changed instantly.

Bang bang bang!

The next layer of mirror shattered instantly, covered in dense cracks. Yet, below it, there was another layer, then a third, a fourth. Space after space fractured, but still, no attack reached Emperor Da Huanxi.

"He's actually carrying multiple spaces as a combat method!""This method is too..."

It was hard to imagine what terrifying computational power was required to perfectly stack so many formidable layers of space. And just how many pre-prepared small spaces did Emperor Da Huanxi carry as combat tools?

"But Emperor Da Huanxi is only so powerful!""His defense is terrifying, but if we keep fighting, he can be killed!""It's working!"

Countless beings cried out, wailed, and roared.

Meanwhile, Balloonfish was taking screenshots and providing constant commentary. The atmosphere among online viewers outside was extremely tense and fraught.

"Destiny has sided with me. From the moment this future began, I became invincible." Emperor Da Huanxi extended a hand, and terrifying pearly-white light poured forth.

"Mirror Reversal!"

Horrifying attacks streamed out from the space.

This was a portion of the combined attack from the twenty deities earlier, which he had surprisingly collected. He had also absorbed some of the energy from Subaru's recent unleashed punches. Now, in an instant, all of it was unleashed back upon them.

The overwhelming energy was too terrifying.

In an instant, Subaru was engulfed, as if being scoured by a steel brush, his body becoming riddled with wounds. He did not possess Emperor Da Huanxi's terrifying defensive capabilities.

"You are going to die," Emperor Da Huanxi stated.

"I... I will not die!!" A pearly-white skeleton, steaming and emitting a terrifying white mist, stood firm. He had died over ten thousand times; he was arguably the most 'resolute' being in this world, throughout history!

As long as he did not wish to die, and his will remained, it would be extremely difficult for him to perish.

"As expected of those chosen by destiny, both you and I are alike..." Emperor Da Huanxi raised an eyebrow, looking at Subaru, who stood before him with extreme resilience. "You clearly have the worst aptitude, yet you are incredibly troublesome."

In the distance.

Xu Zhi quietly observed it all. "Controlling space is indeed a terrifying and enigmatic path."

With such power, it was indeed almost impossible to defeat him.

The Daughter of Sheng Lin fell silent for a moment, her mind reeling. From the Pillar God, she saw the future—a hazy vision. "Subaru will die..."

"I'll go help!"

Du Xue took a deep breath. "Emperor Da Huanxi is terrifying because he hides within space, evading attacks, and uses space to store some of the opponent's attack energy. But if I can tie him down, I can launch a sneak attack!"

"It's no use," the Daughter of Sheng Lin said bitterly. "Since you are human, you cannot escape... No matter what methods you possess, Emperor Da Huanxi has already prepared. He has seen the immediate future..."

The Daughter of Sheng Lin's face was grim. "Ancient God, can you give us an answer? We are willing to pay any price, anything!"

"Any price?" Xu Zhi shook his head, looking at her curiously. "You have no price you can afford. If I want something, I will take it myself. There is no concept of giving or requesting."

Du Xue fell silent.

The Daughter of Sheng Lin stopped speaking. She calmly looked at the sky. As the Ancient God's words fell, she saw a new future: Emperor Da Huanxi would completely defeat them; it was already a dead end.

The Daughter of Sheng Lin remained silent, slowly sitting down. She gazed at the distant trees and scenery, ignoring the terrifying battle. She made no attempt to struggle, held no thoughts, as if fulfilling a prophetic vision. She knew her life was, at this moment, slowly approaching its final end.

She recalled her childhood.

A glorious life, where everything seemed predetermined.

There was never any unknown. When she encountered a terrifying serendipity, she felt no surprise. When faced with a desperate situation, she felt no panic.

She knew she would always overcome danger. In fact, she even envied Subaru, fighting in the sky. Everyone's destiny progressed differently. Although Subaru's fate was predetermined, for him, it was a different kind of unknown, spurring him to fight. Even though it was fated, Subaru did not know... This gave him surprise and unexpected turns, which, though an illusion, could still be considered happiness.

Xu Zhi suddenly smiled, looking at the calm Daughter of Sheng Lin. "Unlike Subaru, you have been placid from beginning to end. He cannot see, believing he's loading a save file and going back in time, while you have seen the future, and thus you believe in destiny... What if I were to turn off destiny?"

The Daughter of Sheng Lin's eyes widened in surprise. "Turn off destiny?"

How could destiny be turned off? That would be equivalent to blocking the Pillar Gods, shutting them down, and transforming them completely into individual beings...

"Do you wish to experience the feeling of the unknown?" Xu Zhi quietly looked towards the sky.

"We... cannot see..." The Daughter of Sheng Lin trembled all over. "This is impossible!!"

"Nothing is impossible," Xu Zhi said, looking at her, suddenly feeling sorrow for her life. "For you now, it is a desperate situation. Even after turning off destiny, it will still be a desperate situation. The tide of battle cannot be easily changed, but it will be full of unknowns, possibly with variables... Because you will no longer see what the Pillar Gods have calculated for you, you might make mistakes."

The Daughter of Sheng Lin was silent.

"How about making this fated battle full of unknowns?" Xu Zhi asked. "I will not help you, but I am very curious... If I turn it off, will you try to resist an unknown future?"

"Yes," the Daughter of Sheng Lin hesitated for a moment.

Du Xue, nearby, was startled.

Xu Zhi raised his arm high, pointing towards the sky.

Boom!

It was as if a terrifying presence had descended, an inexplicable aura.

The earth trembled as a colossal, tens of thousands of feet tall, terrifying black giant, covering the sky, trampled mountains and forests. Like an ancient demon god at the apex of the food chain, it slowly approached.