Vol 6. Chapter 165.1: The Five Divine Spirits (1)

Isha and the other Dragon Kings quickly arrived at the Trial Palace.

Although it was located behind the Silver Dragon Sanctuary in a remote area, the golden splendor of the grand structure made it impossible to overlook.

“Big sis, you’re here.”

Isha hurried forward. She glanced at Aurora and Safina, then looked at Rosvisser and asked urgently,

“Little Ross, your husband said this place needed our help more urgently. What’s going on?”

Rosvisser briefly ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) explained Safina’s plan to the assembled Dragon Kings.

After listening, Odin shook his head and said gravely,

“You want to use someone from the Void Realm as the power source for Samael’s original god?

I don’t know if that girl Safina can really pull it off, but what I do know is—the last time someone tried something similar, Sky City was nearly obliterated in a single strike.”

He was clearly referring to the incident involving the theft of divine dragon power.

The implication behind his words was simple—he didn’t trust Safina.

And aside from Rosvisser’s family, none of those present fully trusted someone from the Void.

Safina could see the distrust in their eyes, but she didn’t explain much. She only said coolly,

“I know you don’t trust me. I don’t need to prove anything. But what you do need to know is this—today, I’m here helping Aurora entirely because of the man currently on the front lines fighting alongside my brother, buying time against Atos. If you can’t trust me, then... can’t you at least trust Leon Casmod?”

That name alone—Leon—represented absolute credibility and honor in the eyes of the Dragon Kings.

The moment Safina said it, Odin and the others looked at one another in hesitation.

After a brief silence, the Tower Master asked,

“What do you need us to do?”

Their suspicion and misgivings hadn’t disappeared, but none of them could afford to waste any more time.

What Safina had said wasn’t just to make them realize she had earned Leon’s trust long ago. It was a reminder to every Dragon King present:

We don’t have much time left.

Atos was battling just a few dozen li away. At any moment, he could break through and reach the Palace of Time.

So would they keep debating whether Safina was trustworthy, or would they help her save Aurora—and Samael?

The answer was obvious.

“Just channel your magic into me,” Safina said. “I’ll convert your Samaelian magic into Void energy to activate Mirror Abyss Eyes and mimic the form of the next God of Time.”

“Understood.”

Once the plan was agreed on, the Dragon Kings lined up behind Safina in a row.

Safina then turned to Aurora.

“You can begin, Aurora.”

“As long as you’re here... I’m not afraid.”

Her words were short. Very short.

But they brought reassurance.

Aside from her parents and big sister, this was the first time someone had made Aurora feel this safe with just a single sentence.

She pressed her lips together, then nodded firmly. “Okay.”

She turned and stood atop the massive hourglass that had nearly reached capacity, looking across to the opposite end where Chronoz stood.

“I... I’m ready.”

Chronoz looked at the array of people facing him. Even as a god, he couldn’t help but sigh internally.

“What strange, strange people this continent and the Void have birthed...”

Safina’s plan had clearly backed this once-sovereign god into a thoroughly awkward position.

At first, he had insisted that Aurora must become a god.

Fine. Safina was going to let him have it his way.

But the moment he passed the power of time to Aurora, she would immediately copy it.

And if he refused now, then he would disgrace the name of the “God of Time.”

These complicated thoughts wouldn’t change Chronoz’s ultimate decision.

As the god who governed time... he had no power to resist.

“The seventeenth-layer spirit construct, is it... Then let me take a good look before I leave this world.”

As he spoke, Chronoz lightly waved his right hand.

Golden energy slowly rose from the hourglass beneath their feet, curling around Aurora like dancing spirits.

Even Safina, someone from the Void, could feel the holiness and reverence of this power.

The sacred golden light shimmered in everyone’s eyes.

“So this is... the power of time...” Rosvisser murmured in awe.

Odin refocused, shifting his gaze from the golden aura to Chronoz himself.

After a moment, the Thunder Dragon King spoke solemnly,

“My friends, we are witnessing history—a moment that will outlive us all. The passing of an original god... And the birth of a new one. This is a moment many generations might never get the chance to see, even in a lifetime. Let’s just... take it in.”

As Odin said those words, the others began to sense it too.

Underneath that golden aura, they could see the silhouette of a worn, aging man.

He was using the last of his strength to tell the story of his life—his memories and his glory.

Behind him, countless strands of the Time Web shimmered, displaying scenes of his journey alongside the other original gods in forging this world.

The crowd watched in reverent silence, stunned.

The end of an original god was unfolding before their eyes.

His growth, his confusion, his lows, and his triumphs...

All of it... Eventually turned into the grains of sand beneath Aurora’s feet, flowing toward a reborn future.

“Aurora,” Chronoz said, “I don’t know who will ultimately sit on the throne of time. Whether it’s you, or not. But the only one I recognize as the ‘new god’... is you. So, as a god, I want you to understand something. The responsibility on your shoulders... is far heavier than you can imagine. And that has nothing to do with whether you actually sit upon the throne.”

Chronoz exhaled softly as he closed his eyes.

It was only in that moment that he truly let go of his divine burden, releasing the emotions of an ordinary person.

“Old friends... thank you for waiting—”

As his voice faded, Chronoz’s figure began to dissolve, dispersing into countless flickering specks of light that drifted into the interwoven strands of time.

The fall of a god was silent.

Just like they had always silently watched over Samael.

Aurora lowered her gaze to her hands.

She could feel a new power surging within her.

It wasn’t overwhelming or majestic like she had imagined—just a faint, quiet strength.

But she could clearly sense it: this tiny force would grow inside her like a seed, and one day, it would become a towering tree.

She took a breath, steadied herself, and looked up at Safina.

“Teacher, I’m ready.”

“Alright, then let’s—”

Boom!—

Before Safina could finish her sentence, the entire Palace of Time trembled violently.

A deep explosion echoed from the distance.

Everyone in the palace turned toward the sound.

They saw the already darkened sky lit up by a bizarre violet glow—like a twisted purgatory.

And then, an even more shocking scene followed:

The entire Silver Dragon Sanctuary was cleaved in half by a colossal blade of energy!

Tiles shattered, stone crumbled, thick dust rose into the air.

From within the smoke, several dragons shot out.

Among them were Vida and Cecilia.

On the backs of the injured dragons lay the heavily wounded Noa, Moon and Muse, just barely conscious.

Rosvisser’s pupils narrowed into slits.

“Atos has broken through the line. Everyone, we need to hurry!”

With her words, the Dragon Kings immediately began channeling magic into Safina.

Safina activated the Mirror Abyss Eyes at once.

Her violet irises reflected Aurora’s figure. Dots of light shimmered on the surface of her pupils, like a rose blooming in reverse.

Void Technique · Mirror Abyss Eyes · Mimicry!

At that moment, two sharp sounds of something piercing through the air came from beyond the palace.

Whoosh!—Whoosh!—

Thunderblade and Nightbane slammed into the ground outside the palace gate at the same time, burying themselves in the stone.

The next second, a dark shadow descended from the sky.

It landed hard, kicking up a cloud of dust.

When the dust settled—

Atos stood there, one foot crushing Kaiser, one hand gripping Leon by the collar.

Kaiser’s face was covered in blood—he’d clearly taken a brutal beating.

Even Leon was badly wounded.

Everyone in the palace was struck with a wave of dread unlike anything they had ever felt.

“Leon!!”

“Kaiser! Kaiser!!”

“Even the Prince couldn’t stop him...”

Atos’s crimson eyes slowly scanned across the palace, locking finally onto Aurora and Safina.

He kicked Kaiser aside, flung Leon away, then dragged his demon sword behind him as he approached the palace.

“Now, I just need to kill the other traitor... and this little pink-haired girl.”

Odin’s brow furrowed deeply.

“Prepare for battle!”

With his command, Mevis and the other Dragon Kings rushed to the palace entrance, ready to block Atos.

But Atos only let out a cold snort.

“Hmph... even Leon Casmod was no match for me.

What can the rest of you do?”

He swung his sword.

The raw pressure from the slash alone was enough to paralyze the Dragon Kings with fear.

Morgan’s eye twitched.

“This is insane... Leon was fighting this kind of monster just now? And he managed to hold him off this long...”

The Tower Master clenched his jaw. “Every one of us here is at least Dragon King level... and yet the sheer pressure from him alone makes us hesitate... It’s just... too terrifying. To be able to surpass even the usual boundaries of Dragon King class, Divine Master class, Super Dragon King class... Even Leon couldn’t do that in his prime.”

But Atos had done it.

And that was after a battle against both Leon and Kaiser together.

Which meant—for him, that fight just now was nothing more than... a warm-up.

Inside the palace, Aurora stared at the scene unfolding before her.

She looked at the teacher shielding her, her aunt, Mevis, and the other Dragon Kings, then at her teacher, injured and lying in Atos’s grasp...

...

After a long moment of silence, she spoke.

“Teacher Safina... thank you for trying to help me, I—Teacher Safina?!”

She was about to tell Safina there was no time, that she had to take the throne now and end this...

But then she noticed... Safina had already begun reconstructing the form of the God of Time using her own power, without the aid of the Dragon Kings' magic.

But how could a divine form possibly be something a Void Technique could imitate so easily?

The moment she started the mimicry, Safina’s eyes were seared with a burning pain.

“Ahh!!—”

“Teacher Safina!”

Aurora rushed to catch her, but just then, the entire Palace of Time trembled again.

She stumbled and fell to the floor, glancing back toward the entrance.

Her mother and the others had already been swept away by Atos in a single blow.

They hadn’t even had the chance to fight back.

Thud!

Atos stepped easily into the palace.

The twisted, murderous aura emanating from his body seeped through every corner of the space.

Aurora knew, if she didn’t move, everyone... would die.

“Run... Aurora... run!!”

Rosvisser coughed blood at the corners of her lips, but still forced herself to shout, urging her daughter to flee.

“Mom... no—!”

In the brief moment of panic and clarity, Aurora scrambled to her feet and... Without looking back, sprinted toward the throne at the far end of the hourglass.

This was the only solution.

Only if she took the throne could everything be saved.

She ran with everything she had, the moisture beneath her feet dissolving into the webs of time with every step.

The throne of time was right in front of her. So close... One more step, and she’d reach it... But the moment her foot landed, she felt an icy chill from behind.

Her collar was yanked up, and her whole body was lifted into the air.

Aurora turned, eyes blazing with fury, staring straight at Atos—and hurled a blast of dragonfire at him.

But to Atos, that level of attack didn’t even qualify as an itch.