Chapter 777: Demigod Hero and Fated Protagonist

Xia De in the sky slowly descended and finally stood on the silent water surface flickering with dots of starlight.

Behind him, the four-ring sorcerer's brass Fate Ring was gradually calming its frantic rotation. Apart from the core spiritual rune, twelve spiritual runes on the surface of the Fate Ring were overflowing with spiritual light that seemed about to liquefy, flowing across the four surfaces of the Fate Ring.

Divinity had cleansed Xia De's soul, and he had taken another crucial step on the path of twelve-fold divine sublimation. At this moment, the dissipated divine power still existed, and he finally had the qualifications to face the Chosen One of Death in death head-on.

His feet touched the water surface. The moment he opened his eyes, the silver moonlight that had stained his body slowly faded, and the light in his pure golden eyes gradually converged.

Joey Barton completely stopped his pursuit toward the deepest part of death, turned around, and walked against the flow of countless white shadows toward the direction of the shallows. Xia De, carrying the 【Night Watcher】, also walked forward on the water surface. His shoes left the water surface and then fell back down, ripples constantly spreading outward.

"It has begun."

On the shallows, the three people by the bonfire watched this scene. Priest Ao Gu Si crossed his arms over his chest, Sister Daifulin sat on a stone and turned her head slightly, only Yin Yi Yi Lu Na was very nervous:

"This time, I actually can't do anything..."

"Mr. Watson, I am surprised that we would end up fighting in this way."

The two stood on the water surface, gazing at each other from afar. Joey Barton did not speak, but his voice could reach Xia De's ears directly.

He shook his head:

"There is nothing left to say, Mr. Barton. This is the death zone that we living people with special powers can penetrate the deepest. Once you cross the Underworld Moon and see the Wall of the Faithless, there is truly no possibility of turning back. This time, I will not try to persuade you again. Countless people have sacrificed themselves because of you, and lost their lives because of your actions. You need to pay the price for this."

Joey Barton nodded expressionlessly:

"If viewed from the perspective of a story, I am indeed the villain. I know I did wrong, but I must still do this."

People like this are actually the most terrifying.

"Mr. Watson, standing here, no one is stronger than me. Are you sure you want to start?"

"Yes... Also, my name is Xia De Suren Hamilton!"

Joey Barton tapped his toes, and his entire body rose into the high sky. In the darkness that even the Underworld Moon could not illuminate, that massive figure wearing a black cloak appeared behind him.

The scythe swung down toward Xia De below. That scythe was silent; clearly so heavy, yet above this stretch of water, it appeared so light. Death struck. Compared to the death scythe in the real world, the silent black scythe at this moment truly signified that fated death.

But this time Xia De did not dodge. He pointed the 【Night Watcher】 toward the water surface below with his right hand, infusing the silver moon light into the sword body, causing the sword to be coated in brilliant moonlight. He closed his eyes, held his breath, focused his mind, and visualized the bright Underworld Moon in his heart.

This was simple, because that silver moon had always been in Xia De's heart. Facing the scythe, facing the thousands of departing souls, he opened his eyes to look upward and shouted the greatest wish in his heart at this moment:

"Moonlight — Slash!"

He drew his sword and swung it upward. A massive arc-shaped sword mark also flew out silently. After colliding with the scythe, both shattered into silver light fragments.

This was Xia De utilizing the characteristics of the 【Night Watcher】 to release the 【Moonlight Slash】. Unfortunately, only in this state could he complete that strike just now; the light blade in the ordinary ring sorcerer form would only be of normal size.

After the scythe shattered, the massive figure in the black robe leaned down and grabbed toward Xia De. Xia De retreated backward, tapped his toes, and transformed into a large swarm of red butterflies that flew into the high sky, slipping through the gaps between the giant fingers. The butterfly swarm flew toward Joey Barton in the sky, who extended his fingers, causing black light rain to fall, but it only passed through the center of the butterfly swarm.

The red butterflies danced in the darkness and recombined into Xia De in the air.

"Moonlight Slash!"

His feet kicked out two light marks in the air, but he did not fall again, because the light of the red butterflies adhered to the fifty-four Luo De cards, forming a staircase in the air.

Two streaks of moonlight were casually shattered by Joey Barton, but the 【Night Watcher】 that followed immediately forced him to fly backward.

Xia De had already reached the end of the Luo De card paper bridge. He crossed space to follow, holding the sword with both hands and thrusting toward Barton's chest.

The latter dodged in the air as lightly as a sheet of paper, his figure suddenly blurring. Three identical Bartons split from the main body, surrounding Xia De from the front, back, left, and right.

Xia De was falling, and the Luo De cards fluttered over, building a platform beneath his feet, allowing him to borrow force to jump upward.

The four Bartons extended their hands solemnly, and two cross-shaped black lights intersected, sealing off the top of Xia De's head, then pressed downward.

"Power of the Red Dragon - Moonlight Slash - Blade of Chaotic Time!"

He swung his sword upward, the expanding physical strength causing the flickering sword light to almost connect into a single line, forcibly shattering the black light above his head. At the same time, Xia De again utilized the Luo De cards to borrow force and jump upward, thrusting his sword toward Joey Barton, who had the massive black-robed figure behind him.

The latter's clones completely vanished, and his deformed body floated lightly backward toward the massive black-robed figure, then completely merged into it.

Silent, but Xia De understood that the giant-like black-robed figure already possessed intelligence. Pale hands held the scythe together, raised the weapon high, and then slashed downward again.

This was the strongest strike Joey Barton had ever unleashed. This strike could not be dodged, nor was it possible to dodge. Xia De stepped on the Luo De cards for the final jump upward, bringing himself level with the head that could not be glimpsed beneath the hood of that massive figure.

He held the 【Night Watcher】 with both hands, and the Fate Ring appeared silently behind him, the core spiritual rune 【Silver Moon】 flickering with brilliant radiance. The light on the sword body reached its extreme, and Xia De saw the Underworld Moon before him.

The Underworld Moon was merely detached from the water surface, hanging in the darkness. And bathed in that moonlight, the strongest strike learned from Miss Oulannode was finally mastered by Xia De:

"Moonlight Greatsword!"

The 【Night Watcher】 swept out. To the three people by the bonfire, the longsword, which was originally just a bright point, suddenly expanded to about the same size as that scythe.

The giant moonlight greatsword collided with the scythe. The holy silver greatsword slowly shattered the scythe, then slashed the black-robed figure wearing the hood in half at the waist.

"The battles of top-tier supernatural beings in the Mythological Era were probably like this too."

Yin Yi Yi Lu Na propped up her face and said softly, watching Xia De, who was wrapped in moonlight, float lightly down to the water surface:

"In the church epic stories I've heard, there are indeed battle scenes like this; it's truly amazing."

Although the near-silent battle just now looked intense, the white shadows on the water surface were completely unaffected. This was death, and these souls were the masters here. They still gazed at the Underworld Moon, letting the two living people fight fiercely on the water surface.

Yin Yi Yi Lu Na could not distinguish which side had the advantage, but in any case, Xia De, who held the 【Night Watcher】 and occasionally swept the water surface with the giant greatsword, was definitely not at a disadvantage.

"The Mythological Era, huh..."

Priest Ao Gu Si took out his pipe at some point and was trying to light a match with the bonfire in front of him. Sister Daifulin manipulated the flames to help. The priest thanked her softly, used the long match to light the surface of the tobacco in the packed pipe, and after the tobacco surface began to burn, used a tamper to gently press the burning tobacco flat, then used the match to light the tobacco again, only then taking a beautiful puff:

"It's a pity that Xia De's current state clearly cannot be maintained for long, otherwise many things in the future could be easily solved."

Puffing on his pipe, he turned to look at the water domain illuminated by the Underworld Moon. Amidst those countless white shadows, Xia De was in the air, holding a giant "Moonlight Greatsword" and sweeping toward the bottom. Joey Barton rolled to dodge, but then Xia De's left hand threw out one yellow moonlight greatsword after another, which were still buzzing and trembling after being nailed to the water surface.

"Looking at it this way, Xia De actually seems stronger."

Yin Yi Yi Lu Na said softly, her eyes blinking without pause as she watched this scene:

"It's truly amazing..."

There was an indescribable melancholy in her tone.

"To be able to manifest such power is indeed near-miraculous."

Sister Daifulin's silver eye mask shone in the bonfire:

"In more ancient eras, above the mortal supernatural levels and below the high-dimensional gods, there existed so-called demigod heroes. It's just that as eras changed, mortal beings capable of reaching that height became fewer and fewer. In the Fifth Era, there were only a few dozen witches who could be considered demigods, such as Miss Mana Feilianna. Mr. Hamilton's current state is already close to that of a demigod."

"You all know so much?"

Yin Yi Yi Lu Na muttered softly, and the old priest comforted her:

"I'm just old, that's why I know more things. Miss Beiyasi, you are still very young; I remember you aren't even eighteen yet. The road ahead of you is still very long, there's no need to envy us."

"But Xia De is also only in his twenties, and he hasn't even been a ring sorcerer for half a year."

Yin Yi Yi Lu Na continued.

Sister Daifulin, who was sitting on a stone with her hands folded on her knees, also chimed in:

"The Chosen One of Balance, the gift of fate requires a price to be paid. Every gain is accompanied by a loss. Do not compare yourself with Xia De Hamilton; you are completely different from him. You are a fated hero, destined to become an epic; he is a spectator outside of fate, a bystander beneath the stage..."

She glanced at Xia De, who was fighting fiercely with Joey Barton. At this moment, Barton came into mid-air again, and black light beams in his hands rushed toward Xia De. Xia De held his sword with both hands and thrust forward, the warm yellow sunlight rays connecting with that light beam. Both of their clothes were fluttering backward, and the expressions on their faces were incomparably ferocious, yet this scene was also silent.

"Your trajectory is different from his."

"Actually, I hope his fate trajectory is consistent with mine, so that I could..."

Her face flushed slightly, and realizing she had said something she shouldn't have, Yin Yi Yi Lu Na stopped her words in time. Old Priest Rat Ao Gu Si smiled and shook his head, tapped his pipe against the ground, placed it by the bonfire, and then stood up facing the direction of the Underworld Moon:

"I should help."

Xia De believed that he had the upper hand, or at least he thought so himself. On the water domain of death, this was originally Joey Barton's home field, but bathed in the radiance of the Underworld Moon, Xia De also felt that his state was incredibly good.

The Night Watcher slashed open the light bullets in front of him again, and he himself scattered into a swarm of red butterflies to dodge the light rain falling from the sky. Returning to human form in the air, while the Night Watcher was diffusing moonlight, he again utilized the giant sword transformed from the 【Moonlight Greatsword】 to sweep across the front.

This strike naturally did not take effect, but Xia De did not care. Under the effect of "Lagley's Leap," his body shifted ten meters to the left in the air:

"Blade of Chaotic Time!"

Two massive moonlight greatswords clamped Joey Barton from the left and right. The latter endured the instinct to dodge, slammed his hands onto the water surface beneath his feet, and black light curtains blocked both sides of his body. While blood spilled from the corners of the soul body's mouth, he blocked this fatal attack:

"What?"

He looked up in surprise, and after Xia De descended, the winged angel looked down at him from the high sky where his body had originally been. The wings behind were scorched black, and white feathers sprinkled onto the water surface. Faceless, formless, shadowless, yet standing naturally above death:

"Angel?"

The knowledge of the Chosen One seemed to be reminding him what this was, but Barton could not get an answer immediately. The angel above Xia De's head extended his right hand, making no sound, but both people on the water surface knew what this was:

"Finger of Death!"

A straight black light beam pierced through Joey Barton's skull. He flew backward with his feet off the ground, rolled on the water surface, and lay motionless.

Priest Ao Gu Si at the edge of the shallows curled his lips into a smile, shook his head, turned around and returned to the bonfire, picked up his pipe and took another beautiful puff. ===== CHAPTER 778 =====