Chapter 2000: Chapter 2000. The End of Rivalry
Master was having a difficult time understanding Jack's telepathic message. He thought perhaps the fool had lost his mind and was being delusional.
"You know, before this fight ends, I want to express my admiration," Master heard Jack's voice in his mind again. "Make no mistake, I still think you are an a*shole. You are a selfish, narcissistic dude who does not care for the suffering of others at the expense of your goal. The world will be a better place without a person like you. That said, you are also a very capable and determined individual."
"I care not for your praise," Master replied.
"It's not praise. I'm simply getting my opinion off my chest before our rivalry ends."
"You keep saying things will end. Stop trying this cheap rattling tactic. It's meaningless. You have run out of spells. You can only defend against my spells. By the time this time reversal ends, I will still be at an advantage. There is nothing you can do. If things are ending, they will end with your defeat!"
"Hehe, for all your intellect. You seem to be missing one fact," Jack chuckled.
"Hmph! I said stop trying the rattling tactic. You won't rattle me with nonsense. There is nothing I..."
Master's words stopped. He seemed to be realizing something. Their bodies continued to move back in time. At this period, the two of them battled for quite a while as they tested whether it was mana awakening or God Mode that was superior.
"You realize it now, don't you?" Jack asked.
"... How much farther can you turn back time?" Master asked. A hint of unease was in his telepathic voice.
"I don't know. This is the longest I have ever pushed this spell, but it will be farther than that point in time," Jack answered.
Master thought hard on a solution. He needed to stop this Time Reversal. He couldn't do anything here except cast spells that didn't require movements and didn't affect his physical self. Greater Dispel could stop this Time Reverse, but it was on cooldown. He needed to take out the Necronomicon to refresh its cooldown but couldn't do that within this time dimension.
The point of time Jack mentioned came soon. It was the point where Master activated God Mode. He reverted to the giant golem from the Earth Titan Suit. The elemental suits from the divine treasures went off one by one as he returned to the time when he was still using divine incarnations.
While Master could cast spells inside this time dimension, he couldn't use buff skills. Just like how they couldn't use skills that relied on body movements, they also couldn't use buff skills that altered the physical body. To activate God Mode, Master needed to merge all the second skills from the divine treasures. Something that he couldn't do when time was reversing. He had the divine incarnations that gave divine buffs, but those four divine incarnations were too strong for his Earth Titan Suit. They were not compatible.
Master was pondering hard to think of a solution, but he couldn't think of any in such a short time. He was so troubled he failed to notice Jack was casting a spell. By the time he noticed, Jack had completed the spell. It was a mega spell. Jack used up his spells but saved this one.
Out of the completed spell formation, seven gigantic eastern dragons embodying seven different elements emerged. The seven dragons rushed over with extreme speed.
The celestial shields Master conjured earlier were still floating around him. The five shields positioned themselves to protect Master. However, at this current time frame, Jack had the mana awakening while Master was without God Mode. The normal celestial shields, even when powered by Master's mana manipulation, were nowhere near enough to resist the Wrath of the Ancient Dragons powered by mana awakening.
The celestial shields shattered the instant the elemental dragons touched them. The seven dragons converged onto Master. In this time dimension, Master couldn't move as he liked. The seven dragons hit him without him being able to do anything. The dragons turned into an intense light of seven colors that shrouded his body. This light persisted as time continued to rewind.
Jack could reverse time further back, but he chose to stop the spell. Magic Clone should not have the same feature as his Double Clone, but he didn't know for sure if Master's Magic Clone was the normal version. He didn't want to take the chance. If Master's clone was like his, the clone could become the real body when the real Master was defeated. Hence, he stopped the Time Reverse at the point when Master's clone had just been defeated by Hope's Light.
As soon as time returned to normal, Jack heard a piercing scream from inside the colorful light shrouding Master's body. The colorful light erupted into a spectacular blast. Even when the divine incarnations reduced much damage, the mana awakening-empowered mega spell was still too much. The Wrath of the Ancient Dragons ravaged the target from the inside. Under Jack's control, they bypassed a large portion of the damage reduction.
When the blast subsided, a body fell to Sky Haven below. Those nearby turned and recognized the falling body to be Master. His HP bar was zero.
The zombies among Master's legion turned into dust. This proved Master had died a wilderness death. Neither Rebirth nor the immortal soul worked under Chris' world enchantment. A few things dropped beside Master's body. The Necronomicon and the Book of the Damned were not among those things. Since they didn't drop, those legendary artifacts vanished. The world system would transfer them to become the rewards for random SSS- difficulty quests.
The demons also stopped their aggression. Master had replaced Lucifer as their spiritual anchor. Losing such an anchor twice within a short period was a significant blow to their psyche. They had a mental breakdown and were at a loss about what to do.
Even a high-level demon like Xugguth froze mid-fight.
Honuren didn't waste the chance. He cast Soul Lightning and focused his mana manipulation to reshape the silver lightning into a drilling spear. The lightning spear pierced into Xugguth's head without resistance. The lightning took out the demon's head. Xugguth's headless body fell.
Xugguth's death was the last straw that broke the camel's back. The other demons turned around and fled. They fled in different directions without any sense of organization. The members of the Council of Elpo let them leave. The fleeing demons were, however, harassed by the eaglefolk who were on their way here. At this moment in time, this reinforcement was just about to arrive.
The ones left from Master's legion were just the players. These players soon turned around and fled as well. They were few, to start with. With most of their forces gone and their leaders defeated, staying would simply be suicide. This time, the Council of Elpo's members didn't remain idle. They attacked these players. Most failed to escape.
The battle ended. The players on Master's side, who had died, came back to life where their bodies were. Mistress and Sizhad were among them. Their level was 1. They also lost all their equipment. Aside from disabling all resurrection abilities, Chris' world enchantment also forced the dead to revive at the same spot. They didn't even have to go through the half-an- hour waiting period in limbo.
It was the same case with Master. He was now a level 1 ethereal. He lost all his equipment and tools, including the divine treasures. He stood there with a blank stare, unable to accept what
had happened.
Jack landed before him.
The two stared at one another for a long time. Master didn't utter a word. In the end, he slumped to the floor and remained like that. In a way, Jack pitied the guy. Jack decided not to
say anything, either.
Jack saw Sizhad, Mistress, and other revived players try to run. The Council of Elpo's members stopped them. They were easily apprehended. Some faction members came and took Master.
Master didn't resist.
Jack saw Master being taken away. Jack sighed at the sight.
"No need to feel sorry for him. His machination has caused too much suffering to the people of this world," Honuren told Jack. John and the others came with Honuren.
"What exactly happened?" Jeanny asked. "The way I saw it, the two of you weren't close to defeating one another. All of a sudden, Master was blanketed by dense multi-color light."
Jack chuckled. He told them what he did to defeat Master.
"God mode...?" The others were flabbergasted by what would have happened if Jack didn't
turn back time.
"Wow... That was a close one," Paytowin said. "If your idea didn't work, Master could have
been the victor here."
"That's true," Jack didn't disagree. He also thought this was a narrow win. He was glad
everything turned out well.
"What will happen to him?" Jack asked Honuren. He was talking about Master.
"We will detain him here. His sins are too heavy. He has not only wiped out many divine factions and is the reason for countless natives' deaths, but he is also the reason for our God's
demise."
"He is also the reason behind the other Gods' demise," John said. None of the Gods showed up when Master declared himself the only God in this world. They could only assume the other Gods had met their ends.
"I know you have a history with him, but I demand we are given his custody," Honuren told Jack. "I will ensure he never sees the light of day anymore."
Considering this faction boasted the strongest natives, Jack did not doubt Honuren's claim. No one sane enough would dare to come rescue Master from this faction. Not that anyone would. After losing everything, Master no longer had anything to offer.
Jack had the mind to tell Honuren that even without imprisoning Master, Master already suffered the worst punishment possible. He had to live with the fact that all his efforts and plans had failed. Seeing Master's expression when he was taken away, Jack believed Master preferred to have died a true death instead of coming back to life and had to live with this
reality.
Jack sighed again. Though he pitied the man, he also remembered the suffering Master's selfishness had caused everyone. Master reaped what he sowed.