Chapter 197: Battle in the River of Time
The moment King's voice reached His ears, GOD felt a wave of unprecedented panic.
Even when He had been heavily injured and surrounded by a pack of hungry high-dimensional predators, He hadn't felt fear.
Even when His millennium-long plan was ruined, He hadn't felt fear—only the cold fury of a master whose chess board had been flipped by a common insect.
But now, the high-and-mighty deity was drowning in terror.
How is this possible... they are nothing but lower-dimensional lifeforms... how did they breach the High-Dimensional Realm?!
No! This must be an illusion! Which high-dimensional specialist in mental arts is targeting me?!
GOD would rather believe He was trapped in a hallucination than accept the reality that King and Saitama had ascended to His world.
However, the primal dread etched into His very soul made it impossible to deceive Himself. GOD's entire being began to tremble.
Such overwhelming power...
Sensing the Life Force radiating from King—power millions of times more concentrated than during their last duel—GOD felt His mind stall.
Are you kidding me?!
He knew King possessed the ability to adapt to all things, and that his rate of growth would be horrific.
But in the lower realms, there shouldn't have been anyone capable of matching King's strength, let alone an opponent who could provide the "sparring pressure" needed to reach this level!
Abruptly, the image of a certain shiny bald head flashed through GOD's mind.
It was HIM...
GOD finally lost His composure.
If He remembered correctly, that rule-breaking Baldy was also capable of infinite evolution. Doesn't that mean these two have been 'leap-frogging' each other's power to reach the heavens?!
King wasn't one for long-winded speeches. After a token greeting, His iron fist, condensed with berserk Aura, smashed toward the deity.
In a heartbeat, GOD's very Essence began to shiver, as if encountering a predator it could never hope to rival.
Damn it... I can't dodge this!
Realizing His presence was locked, GOD was horrified. With no other choice, He unleashed every ounce of His power, funneled His Essence into a chaotic, multi-colored glow, and threw a counter-punch.
Their fists collided in the crimson and chaotic void. A violent energy shockwave erupted, sweeping outward from the point of impact and blanketing the dimension for hundreds of thousands of miles.
Saitama raised a hand to casually swat away the shockwave heading his way. He smoothed down his non-existent hair.
"Almost messed up my hairstyle. Oh, wait, I don't have one."
Sensing that King's aura alone was enough to suppress the deity, Saitama stayed back, content to let his friend take the lead.
The struggle lasted for only a microsecond. King's crimson Aura pulverized the chaotic colors with crushing force and continued forward without a single hitch.
GOD didn't even have time to scream. The entire arm He used to attack was vaporized the moment it touched King's Aura. Along with the arm, more than half of His physical vessel was disintegrated.
Realizing that a full ten percent of His Divine Essence had been deleted by that single punch, GOD was paralyzed with fright.
I can't fight him head-on! I have to move!
Sensing that both invaders possessed power far exceeding His own current state, the "God" who had always looked down on the universe turned and fled without a shred of dignity.
His form transformed into a streak of chaotic light. With a massive jump, He dove headfirst into the River of Time, racing frantically toward a past coordinate.
In the High-Dimensional World, there are no limits of space—it is effectively infinite. The only stable anchor is the timeline. Countless timelines weave and entwine, eventually forming the great River of Time.
The River of Time is the beginning and end of all matter, the logic upon which the Myriad Worlds operate.
Sensing GOD's signature vanish, King and Saitama exchanged a quick glance. Neither hesitated. They followed Him, diving into the shimmering currents of history.
Time shifted and flowed. Every timeline of every world in existence was reflected in the waters.
And within this river, invisible to the inhabitants of the worlds below, three silhouettes chased each other. Every collision sent waves through the timeline, causing tremors across the multiverse.
A certain prehistoric world.
"ROAR!"
A small dinosaur let out a terrified cry, cornered by a massive predator. Before it could even turn to run, a gaping maw of sharp teeth clamped down on its neck.
The large dinosaur didn't care about the small creature's pain; it was merely following its primal urge to feed.
As it prepared to swallow the meat, the predator suddenly paused. Something had flickered across the sky.
In the next second, three "meteors" tore through the atmosphere. A purple radiance instantly blanketed the world, as chaotic colors spilled out and saturated every inch of reality.
The living creatures of this world didn't even have time to react. They were swallowed by the chaos and converted into pure life energy.
In a heartbeat, the vibrant world turned into a gray, lifeless wasteland. Absolute silence and total destruction descended upon all things.
GOD felt His strength begin to replenish, and He let out a cold snort.
Such a small amount of Essence recovered... what a bunch of useless, primitive trash...
The three streaks of light—GOD, King, and Saitama—continued their chase.
During His flight through time, GOD had chosen to drop into this world to harvest its life force, hoping to repair the damage King had dealt to His Essence so He could flee faster.
Seeing the life signatures below snuffed out in an instant, Saitama's expression grew cold. His gloved fists tightened, and his gaze became as sharp as a blade.
His face had become fully angular and serious as he looked down at the dead world.
"Finish this guy quickly. I can't stand it anymore. He's still slaughtering innocent lives."
Suddenly, King and Saitama's speed accelerated. They began closing the distance to GOD at a visible rate.
Seeing this, GOD didn't hesitate to dive back into the River of Time to continue the game.
But King and Saitama were now fueled by pure, white-hot fury. They weren't going to give Him another window to escape.
The moment GOD prepared to exit the world, two demonic silhouettes arrived.
OH NO!!
GOD's heart skipped a beat. A second before He could jump, two massive fists, wreathed in horrific pressure, arrived at His face!!