The pressure intensified!
Zoran summoned an endless tide of Demon Chi, pressing down once more against the massive lotus pedestal on the lunar surface.
Shendu's situation was far worse. Lü Dongbin wielded his sword with lethal precision, systematically harvesting the dragon's power. With every strike of the blade, one-twelfth of Shendu's strength vanished. His essence transformed into streaks of light, scattering into the vacuum of space.
Shendu's aura was steadily fading. This was a power that transcended standard laws; even the Horse Talisman, capable of expelling all outside forces, was severed by Lü Dongbin's next stroke.
Zoran raised a hand, shifting gravity to support Shendu. Lü Dongbin's divine might was even greater than he had imagined. Within his sleeves, Zoran's hands tightly gripped the Pan'ku Box and the golden chains, his mind racing through countless calculations.
This was the "gift" he had prepared for the two Immortal Deities.
This war was a balance scale, with Demons and Immortals standing on opposite ends. At this very moment, the Noble Chi and Demon Chi were nearly equal. Any tilt in either direction would trigger a counter-reaction. He had to find a precise moment, a window where he could give them no chance to react, to slam his side of the scale down to the very bottom.
And that moment had to be created by his own hand.
With his twelve powers scattered, Shendu was at his wit's end. His expression was bitter, but the hatred in his eyes remained undiminished.
"You have delivered yourself into the net; there is no escape!" He Xiangu shouted. The lotus pedestal suddenly erupted through the Demon Chi, soaring upward to crush Zoran.
The Demon Portal was right behind him! If he were sealed again now, there would never be another chance for freedom.
In that heartbeat, Zoran withdrew his Demon Chi and stood perfectly still. His gaze was as calm as still water, fixed on the rapidly ascending lotus pedestal. He could feel the abyssal atmosphere of the Netherworld beginning to seep from the vortex behind him.
There, his brothers and sisters waited. He had never hesitated, nor did he need to question his own heart.
The lotus pedestal surged forward, reaching Zoran in an instant; without the interference of Demon Chi, its path was unimpeded. He Xiangu extended a jade hand wreathed in flowing light, pressing it against Zoran's chest. With irresistible force, she pushed him toward the portal.
It was the ultimate end prepared for him.
His body receded rapidly through the air, locked down by divine radiance. He had lost the power to resist. The Immortal Deities truly possessed an unstoppable, majestic might. When Zoran returned and Shendu reached his peak, the Immortals had manifested with the exact power necessary to seal everything once more.
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again. That was the logic of this world.
But...
Just because it has always been this way, does that make it right? Must that despair, like the blood-red sky of the Netherworld, forever weigh upon the heads of his siblings? Is there truly no way to resist?
"I don't think so." At that thought, Zoran, hurling toward the portal, suddenly smiled.
His body shot toward the void of the Netherworld, the portal's massive suction hungering for his very essence.
"Shendu," Zoran called out softly. He reached out toward the dragon, using gravity to seize his massive body and pull him violently toward himself.
"I AM HERE!!!" Shendu roared in response, using the gravitational pull to hurtle toward Zoran.
Glancing at the two Immortal Deities, Zoran gave a low, mocking laugh. "Delivered myself into the net? Heh. Even the gentlest elder has a moment when his fury boils over."
He Xiangu frowned, her face clouded with confusion. "What do you mean?"
Subconsciously, she sensed something was wrong. An inexplicable feeling of dread washed over her, yet she could not identify its source. Both Demons were a single step away from being sealed. This was an absolute victory.
So, where did this sense of crisis come from?
As he tumbled backward, Zoran looked at his hands just as Shendu reached him. His eyes flickered. Despite being at the brink of doom, there was no panic on Zoran's face. Instead, looking like a man who already held the winning hand, he clasped his four hands together.
He said composedly, "My brother, accept your elder's gift."
In the next second, just as the Demon Portal was about to swallow him, Zoran's Demon Chi exploded like a volcanic eruption.
With his power scattering into the heavens, Zoran had dared to self-detonate!
In that exact moment, Shendu plunged into the exploding aura. His claws clamped shut, as if catching something vital. Though his own original powers were lost, two concentrated spheres of Demon Chi now converged in his palms.
One black, one purple.
This was the sum total of Zoran's essence, condensed after his self-destruction. This was the step Zoran had calculated long ago!
Shendu's expression was solemn. He opened his hands, and between his palms, the Demon Chi instantly took shape. It looked like a moon split by the form of a Taiji diagram, transforming within Shendu's grip into two Talismans shaped like Yin-Yang fish.
Within them resided the full authority of the Moon Demon.
Shendu closed his right hand; the "Dark Moon" Talisman, representing Attraction, emitted a purple glow. He then closed his left hand; the "New Moon" Talisman, representing Repulsion, radiated black energy.
Shendu lifted his head. His face was no longer contorted with rage; instead, it showed a strange, almost holy devotion. He extended his right arm, and the twelve powers previously severed by Lü Dongbin were instantly re-snared by the "Dark Moon's" infinite attraction and pulled back into his body.
"Is that all?" He Xiangu chuckled.
Lü Dongbin raised his sword to strike again. To them, it only meant a few more swings of the blade. It stood to reason that demons, whose spirits had been ground down for eons in the Netherworld, couldn't possibly possess a truly brilliant strategy.
In an instant, Shendu's strength returned. Facing Lü Dongbin, he neither dodged nor retreated, standing proud in the vacuum.
He slammed his palms together.
The purple and black energies intertwined like twin dragons. A majestic force was born! It shoved the charging Immortal Deities back.
Shendu roared, "My brother! This responsibility you gave me… I have received it!"
As his voice fell, the two Talismans fused into one between his palms. Suddenly, a moon thousands of feet wide expanded outward, standing tall in the cosmos. It appeared out of nowhere like a dark moon, obscure and profound.
Within this "Dark Moon," the aura of Tso Lan faintly permeated. A spectral image of Zoran's true demon form emerged from the darkness. Dressed in his purple-red Taoist robes, he sat cross-legged, his five centers facing the sky, eyes closed in deep meditation as if he were merely resting. The phantom's expression was as steady as always, as if he had anticipated everything.
"You couldn't beat us just now; do you think you can beat us now?" He Xiangu scoffed. As long as the power of Zoran and Shendu remained at this level, these two demons stood absolutely no chance! Resealing them was only a matter of time.
Shendu said nothing. He simply lowered his body into a crouch. At this moment, he shed his arrogance and wildness. Silently, he began to burn his essence to the absolute limit.
Every ounce of his authority was channeled into the power of Super Speed.
Before him sat a true Dark Moon, a reconstructed vessel carrying everything that was the Moon Demon, Tso Lan.
"Stop him!"
A flash of sword light struck toward Shendu, accompanied by emerald radiance. The Dark Moon shuddered, repelling both forces. Having discarded his physical body, Zoran was now paradoxically unrestrained. For a moment, the two Immortal Deities could do nothing to stop it.
Shendu's monstrous dragon form crouched low. His speed was pushed to the ultimate peak, and in the next heartbeat, he moved!
He did not strike at the Immortal Deities. He did not flee toward the azure planet below.
Instead...
He began to run.
He began to race around the Dark Moon. The star's attraction tried to pull him in, while its repulsion pushed him away. Between the two, a delicate balance was struck, tethering Shendu's body to the very edge of the moon's orbit.
In his state of super speed, Shendu's eyes were fixed. He remained silent, focused solely on circling the Dark Moon. His elder brother had calculated everything; he only needed to carry the burden. He was like a traveler dying of thirst in a desert, with a true oasis just ahead. It was hope, so he ran with everything he had.
His speed was so great that one dragon-shaped afterimage after another was etched into the space around the Dark Moon. It was the silhouette of his infinite sprint. No two afterimages were the same, and they soon blurred into a continuous line.
Shendu was flying through the twin authorities of attraction and repulsion.
It was like a Uroboros circle. The tail-snake was hungrily chasing the head-snake without pause.
And Shendu was attempting to catch up with his past self.
His face remained unchanged, filled with grim determination as memories flooded his mind. He remembered, not long ago...
In a corner of the street, at the comic book shop. He had turned a book over, pointing at a page, and asked Zoran:
"What is this thing called... bond?"
————
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to my p-atre-on: p-atre-on.c-om/Overgod [Just remove the hyphen to access normally]