The falling "star" did not disappear. Instead, it accelerated in the twisted space, undergoing a bizarre transformation, no longer spherical but morphing into a roaring magical giant dragon composed of countless runes and stardust. The dragon's head was ferocious, its eyes like two supernovae, possessing the power to annihilate everything, charging straight at the evil god!
The evil god fully activated the devouring vortex, intertwining golden light with a blood-red aura to form a force field capable of tearing space apart. The magical giant dragon slammed into the force field, letting out a deafening dragon roar as the two were at a stalemate. The space around them twisted and shattered madly, forming countless tiny black holes flashing with the light of destruction.
It kept devouring the surrounding matter and then instantly annihilated it.
However.
Because of the hole in the mind.
The evil god still found it somewhat difficult to display an invincible façade.
The moment the beam struck the evil god, there was no earth-shattering explosion, but rather a bizarre "silence." The evil god's perfect body, like a wax statue thrown into strong acid, quickly showed countless cobweb-like black cracks from the point of impact. The "Eye of the Ra" on his chest emitted a mournful wail.
Subsequently, the light rapidly dimmed, and the phantom of numerous souls seemed to be struggling and screaming.
In the midst of the storm, countless tiny light spots broke free—they were the sparks of inspiration from devoured artists, fragments of philosophers' reflections, warriors' souls of bravery, lovers' frenzied thoughts...
They flickered like fireflies in the summer night, shining weak yet stubborn light, scattering in all directions, some merging into the desert sands, others seeping into dried-up riverbeds.
"Why... my light... can't..."
The evil god's voice was full of incomprehensible confusion and fear. He looked down at his body beginning to crumble, his Apollo-like handsome face contorting, "Equality... harmony... could they... be wrong?"
"It's not the ideology that's wrong," Ian's voice, weary yet firm, resonated like a morning bell in the silent space, "The mistake lies in your method of achieving it. Pursuing equality through devouring and obliteration is the greatest injustice. True harmony is born from the dance of differences, not a homogeneous grave."
Ian's words remained a sharp blade.
Seemingly on the verge of unraveling the evil god's existential meaning.
Only.
"No no no no no! You're seducing me! You and I are no different! You are also... an evil god!" This evil god seemed to be staring into the essence of Ian's being.
His gaze became resolute once again.
The tattered light wings suddenly expanded to their limit, with countless light threads shooting from the wing tips, connecting to the kneeling populace on the ground. Those connected immediately let out screams.
Their bodies withered at a visible speed.
Meanwhile, the evil god's wounds began to heal rapidly.
"Stop!" Ian roared, firing a cutting curse at the light threads, but new threads kept generating incessantly. In mere seconds, hundreds of people were drained of life force, collapsing as desiccated corpses.
Even more terrifying was that the evil god began to transform. New lumps of flesh swelled on his back, quickly bursting open to sprout four new light wings; twisted horns emerged atop his head; a snake-like tail extended from below his waist. Now, Set-Apep had completely morphed into a sixteen-winged monster, exuding an oppressive might.
He seemed to be, under Ian's verbal onslaught,
starting to accept his true self.
Through "evolution" to patch his mental hole.
He began to exhibit his true form.
Which was the second phase of villains Ian didn't quite like.