Raiden Makoto's consciousness had grown hazy.
She only felt a gentle voice echoing beside her ear. She wanted to open her eyes, but she couldn't muster even a trace of strength.
Then, it seemed as if someone fed her something.
Soon after, warmth spread through her entire body. Strength gradually returned to her limbs.
When she opened her eyes, she saw the very person she had been longing for standing before her.
"Is this… a dream?"
"Or… a hallucination before death?"
Raiden Makoto murmured, as though unable to believe what she was seeing.
"You're awake?"
Jiang Yan looked at her opened eyes and said with a soft chuckle.
"This isn't a dream. If you don't believe me…"
He lifted his free hand and flicked her lightly on the forehead.
"Ah… that hurts!"
Raiden Makoto frowned slightly, but the sting on her forehead made her realize—
This wasn't a dream.
Jiang Yan had really come!
She was just about to move when she suddenly realized that Jiang Yan's hand was resting over her chest.
"You… you…"
She struggled faintly, in a way that seemed half-hearted—wanting to resist, yet not quite wanting to.
The warmth radiating from Jiang Yan's palm felt like soaking in a hot spring—comforting, almost addictive.
"Don't move. You were corroded by the Abyss. I'm removing it for you."
Jiang Yan's gentle voice reached her ears.
Raiden Makoto froze and looked toward his hand.
Sure enough, his palm was glowing with a soft white radiance, wisps of black mist rising from within the light.
At this moment, everyone finally saw the newcomer clearly.
Morax approached Jiang Yan, joy evident in his eyes.
"Jiang Yan, when did you awaken?"
"Not long ago. Sorry for making you all worry."
Jiang Yan smiled.
After five hundred years of slumber, he had probably caused Morax and the others no small amount of concern.
"It's good that you're alright."
Barbatos flew over as well, grinning.
Black Abyssal mist gathered in the sky as the Abyss Lord reappeared once more.
"Hehehe, Wood Spirit Immortal Lord!!"
"I truly didn't expect you to show up at a time like this!"
"Hmph. There are many things you didn't expect."
After completely purging the Abyssal corruption from Raiden Makoto's organs, Jiang Yan slowly stood up and sneered at the Abyss Lord.
"What's this? The mighty Abyss Lord personally joining the battlefield?"
"Do you not have any subordinates left?"
Then he suddenly slapped his forehead, looking annoyed.
"Oh dear, sorry, sorry—I forgot."
He flashed a bright grin.
"I think I already killed all your subordinates."
"You!"
Black energy swelled violently around the Abyss Lord. Clearly, Jiang Yan's words had successfully enraged him.
"Oh? What's wrong? Getting angry?"
Jiang Yan smirked mischievously and rose into the air, instantly appearing right in front of the Abyss Lord.
"If you've got the guts, kill me~"
With that infuriating grin plastered on his face, he was practically nose-to-nose with the Abyss Lord.
The surrounding gods lowered their heads, their shoulders shaking violently as they tried to suppress their laughter.
Even Phanes' lips curled slightly as he looked at the Abyss Lord's expression that screamed I really want to kill you.
"This brat…"
Morax didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Meanwhile, Raiden Ei helped the recovered Raiden Makoto to her feet.
Though Makoto had been restored to full health, the recent purge of Abyssal corruption left her mentally fatigued.
High in the sky, the Abyss Lord stared at Jiang Yan at point-blank range. The killing intent in his eyes intensified, and the surrounding black mist thickened.
"Heh… you brat. After all these years, you're still so…"
His hoarse voice dripped with venom.
"Unappreciative!"
As his words fell, the black mist condensed into countless pitch-black blades, stabbing toward Jiang Yan with lightning speed.
Jiang Yan didn't move at all.
If one looked closely, however, they would see a blue gem on his right hand suddenly light up.
Buzz—
In an instant, the surrounding space froze.
The Abyss Lord once again experienced the same helplessness from five hundred years ago, when Jiang Yan had beaten him one-sidedly.
"Tut tut. You really dare to attack when I tell you to."
Jiang Yan looked at the frozen blades and the Abyss Lord's ferocious expression, feigning surprise.
Phanes, meanwhile, glanced at one of his four shadows.
"Authority over space…"
"No. His authority over space is on an entirely different level than mine…"
He murmured thoughtfully. Compared to Jiang Yan's mastery, his own spatial authority was like that of a child before an adult.
Jiang Yan reached out and grabbed the Abyss Lord by the head.
"So, Abyss Lord…"
"You haven't felt this in a long time, have you?"
His smile remained as his fingers gradually tightened.
Crack. Crack!
The sound of bones fracturing rang out as the Abyss Lord's pupils shrank violently. One could imagine the agony of having one's skull crushed alive.
The surrounding Khaenri'ahn machines activated and launched attacks at Jiang Yan.
Boom!!
The Ruin Colossus's single eye flared with light, firing a beam straight at him, triggering a massive explosion.
Yet before the shockwave could spread—
It eerily contracted.
Jiang Yan raised his hand, gathering the energy of the explosion into his palm.
"Abyss Lord… you're really quite amusing."
His other hand still hadn't stopped crushing the Abyss Lord's skull. His tone carried faint pity.
"We've fought for so long, and you seem to have forgotten that I can control any form of energy."
"That really hurts my feelings."
As he spoke, the sphere of energy in his palm rapidly expanded.
"So, as punishment for forgetting…"
"You'll just have to take this attack for me."
Without waiting for the Abyss Lord's reaction, Jiang Yan abruptly lifted the hand gripping his head—
—and slammed the massive energy sphere down fiercely.
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