Chapter 365: The Final Battle
A series of heavy attacks caused Nyastora's health to plummet rapidly, yet it quickly regained composure. Reaching toward its own body, it tore out countless transparent threads and hurled them toward the Giant God Soldier, toward Zhou Ning, and toward everyone around.
Stuart Crow hastily swung his staff, and an angel with wings unfurled appeared in midair, slashing its greatsword at the threads. But those threads were purely spiritual in nature; in an instant, many were ensnared, clutching their heads and howling in agony.
A sharp pain suddenly struck Zhou Ning's mind—it felt as though something had slammed heavily into his skull, nearly forcing a scream from him. The Giant God Soldier, however, remained completely unfazed.
This was pain itself! It was the evil god's unique ability—Nyastora had stripped away its own pain and weaponized it, reflecting it back at its foes.
Then, once again, Nyastora spread its hands. Countless masses of flesh surged outward, and with a loud splat, a huge lump of it clung to the Giant God Soldier's body, slightly slowing its movement. The flesh quickly morphed into hands covered in black scales and sharp claws, climbing up its shoulder—reaching for Zhou Ning.
It seemed Nyastora had vaguely realized that Zhou Ning was the one controlling both the Giant God Soldier and the Sky Dragon.
Because of Nyastora's superior divine rank, Zhou Ning's Observation Haki couldn't foresee its moves—but his reflexes made up for it. Without hesitation, he used Moon Step to flash into the air, keeping his distance. In his hands, the black ebony and white ivory pistols appeared with a sharp swish. Two ripple-infused, blazing bullets spun out, aimed straight at the two clawed hands on the Giant God Soldier's shoulders.
Bang! Bang! The shots hit precisely, striking both outstretched hands. Though the bullets caused little damage, the recoil sent Zhou Ning flying backward—landing neatly atop the back of the Slifer the Sky Dragon.
Taking advantage of this opening, the Giant God Soldier once again activated Divine Fist: Critical Strike, slamming Nyastora violently into the ground.
"-1,691,767!"
Nyastora's HP instantly dropped to half!
Players erupted into cheers—but the next moment, something happened that none of them had anticipated.
Nyastora rose slowly, wiped the corner of its mouth, and took a deep breath. In that instant, countless streams of blood ascended and flowed into its body. As the flesh writhed, charred wounds silently regenerated—and the half of its HP that had just been lost instantly returned to full.
As expected of an evil god!
Seeing this, Zhou Ning's pupils dilated sharply. This land filled with blood and resentment was undoubtedly Nyastora's domain. The worst possibility was that Nyastora could infinitely regenerate using the surrounding blood—then how was he supposed to win?
Even as he kept the Giant God Soldier and Sky Dragon pressing the assault, Zhou Ning's mind raced for a way to break the deadlock.
After summoning the Sky Dragon, the remaining 17 minutes of summoning duration had suddenly been halved. If the fight dragged on, things would only worsen. To win, he had to end it in one decisive strike.
There was no other choice but to burn all bridges—he would attempt another materialization and see if he could summon The Winged Dragon of the Sun God while conserving as much Focus as possible. Only with the combined might of the Three Divine Beasts could he hope to defeat Nyastora in one blow.
And if he failed—he still had a hidden trump card. Zhou Ning hadn't forgotten the Oceanographer Possession Card and the ultimate Choose-Your-Descent Card. And that final card… could summon the true One Punch Man.
Feeling his Focus gauge draining, Zhou Ning no longer hesitated—because at this point, hesitation meant defeat!
Another card appeared in his hand. Without even looking at it, he materialized it directly!
It was a Light-attribute Level 4 card—Disciple of the Sun God.
A dark-skinned man clad in golden armor, with a golden falcon-headed helmet, appeared beside Zhou Ning—standing upon the Sky Dragon's back.
Its effect activated immediately—when summoned or special summoned, it could call forth up to two more Disciples of the Sun God from the deck or hand.
Two beams of light flashed, and two more Disciples materialized beside Zhou Ning.
"The spirits sing, the eternal power governs all! Their life, their soul, their bones alike! When heaven and earth converge, the ritual of summoning the Sun God begins—descend now, The Winged Dragon of the Sun God!"
Zhou Ning's Focus dropped sharply again—he now had less than three minutes of summoning time remaining.
The ground quaked violently. Crimson meteors trailing flames appeared in the air. Amid the ethereal chant of the spirits, a golden sphere formed in the heavens. Moments later, it unfurled—revealing a colossal golden bird spreading its radiant wings in splendor.
This was the God among Gods—The Winged Dragon of the Sun God!
Magnificent indeed—but Zhou Ning's ultimate goal wasn't this. The Winged Dragon of the Sun God was powerful, yet even the Three Divine Beasts combined couldn't instantly annihilate Nyastora.
"In the name of the King, let the Three Divine Beasts become one! I summon the Creator God of Light, Horakhty! As offerings for this summoning, the darkness shall vanish!"
At once, Zhou Ning felt an overwhelming strain upon his spirit. Even with his immense mental strength, manifesting this card from nothing was excruciating. Pressing his index and middle fingers together, he drew a seven-colored card from the void and slammed it down. Blinding prismatic light erupted—forcing everyone nearby to avert their eyes. His Focus was now on the brink of depletion.
A sudden hurricane of pure light swept away the surrounding blood and darkness. In that instant, The Winged Dragon of the Sun God, Obelisk the Tormentor, and Slifer the Sky Dragon shattered simultaneously. Within the searing brilliance, a beautiful female deity clad in golden armor opened her eyes. Golden wings unfurled from her back as she cradled an immense sphere of radiant light in her arms.
On the other side, the onlookers were utterly dumbfounded.
In their minds, if anyone could defeat Nyastora, it would have to be the two major churches or an official demigod working together. No one had imagined that this man—Wayne Sturwell—would be the one to do it.
Though the battle's outcome wasn't yet decided, anyone could see that the divine woman he had summoned far surpassed Nyastora in power. Some even whispered that she might rival one of the elder true gods of the opposing faction.
Until now, the Grand Pontiff of the Ascetic Church, Stuart Crow, had been publicly recognized as one of the strongest. Wayne Sturwell's past feats were legendary, yes—but he was still young. Few had believed he possessed such strength.
But seeing this—could it be said that Wayne Sturwell's current power had already reached, perhaps even surpassed, the demigod level?
Compared to the NPCs' solemn awe, the players' reactions were far more straightforward:
"Holy crap! Is this the legendary Savior?!"
"Babe, get out here—God's on screen!"
"Wake up, bro! You don't have a babe!"
Though the Three Divine Beasts were now gone, the Creator God of Light, Horakhty was a deity whose might exceeded their combined power. Zhou Ning could faintly sense that he could only maintain the materialization for less than thirty seconds—perhaps only a few seconds more—but that was enough.
In theory, Horakhty's attack was truly infinite!