Chapter 25: It’s Been a Long Time

"Ordinary Abyss hatchlings wouldn't be able to do something like this."

A familiar voice suddenly rang out. Cynthia turned her head sharply to see the Abyss youth who called himself Loki standing on the surface of the sea not far away. He still wore that cynical smile, but his brown eyes were filled with mockery.

Cynthia narrowed her eyes, studying Loki closely. "Who exactly are you?" Her tone carried an unquestionable majesty.

Loki chuckled and strolled closer across the waves. Azathoth immediately eyed him with vigilance, his twin crescent blades circling around him under his mental control, ready to strike Loki down at the slightest movement.

"Don't be nervous, I'm just passing through," Loki said, raising his hands in a gesture of surrender, though his gaze remained fixed on Cynthia. "I never expected that even in this state, you would be able to handle that giant octopus, and you even dealt with the Abyssal Crown fragment within the Blade of Time. Your strength once again leaves me in awe, and it only strengthens my resolve to commit regicide."

Loki's words exploded in Cynthia's ears like a thunderclap.

"Loka." A murderous intent instantly flooded Cynthia’s red eyes.

"Long time no see, my King." Loka bowed to Cynthia, the disguise on his body fading away completely to reveal his true form.

"Traitor!" An unprecedentedly powerful Abyssal energy erupted from Azathoth. His black armor shattered instantly, and the unique horns of the Abyss race surged in size.

"Roar—!" With a bestial cry, Azathoth revealed his true form: a giant, black-iron serpent with horns on its head and wings on its back. The mountain-like serpent blotted out the sky, causing the very world to change color.

"Azathoth, you’re as blind as ever!" Loka shouted, revealing his own true form. He was a massive fox, pitch-black all over, with golden patterns on his ears and tail. The two beasts stood facing each other for a heartbeat before they clashed in a fierce struggle. The Sea of Clarity instantly became a battlefield, the churning waves echoing with the sounds of their roars.

The fin-tailed youth watched in a daze. Although he had heard that the Abyss race were mostly lunatics, seeing them reveal their true forms and start a fight at the drop of a hat left him speechless.

[Ding! Moe King cultivation task 3 issued: A true Moe King must rule their subordinates with the power of cuteness. Host, please end this war in the style of a Moe King within five minutes.]
[Task reward: Moe-style weapon x1. Failure penalty: Forced into a 24-hour state of being a pathetic little crybaby.]

Cynthia looked at the two giant beasts fighting until the world turned upside down, then glanced at the preposterous task on her system panel, a sense of resentment growing within her. She had sworn to wash away the disgrace of the Abyss race with Loka’s blood; she would never compromise with the system again.

Sensing Cynthia’s intentions, the Moe King Cultivation System retracted the countdown and instead popped up countless pink panels.
[Host, please execute the task immediately!]
[Host, please execute the task immediately!]

Cynthia remained unmoved.
[Moe-ification program initiated, preparing to force execution of the ta—]

Feeling the power attempting to forcibly take over her body, Cynthia resisted it while trembling, raised the Blade of Time in her hand, and plunged it deep into her own abdomen. A stabbing pain surged through her. Cynthia gritted her teeth and stood straight, forcing herself to endure. She could feel the power trying to seize her body weakening, and even the Moe King Cultivation System seemed to have crashed.

Cynthia was ecstatic. She was a King; she could not fall. She would wash away the shame of the Abyss race with Loka’s blood with her own hands!

"??!!" The fin-tailed youth was stunned. What kind of madmen were these Abyssals? First, two maniacs revealed their true forms to fight, and now a little maniac had stabbed herself with the Blade of Time. The world had truly become a place he could no longer understand.

Meanwhile, the live broadcast room for the Path to Godhood trial was filled with question marks.
"?"
"What kind of bizarre move is that?"
"??? Azathoth, stop fighting! Look back at Cynthia!"
"Isn't she a candidate for the Moe-type?"
"Moe? That's not Moe, that's fierce! Too fierce!"

The fin-tailed youth could no longer watch. He cleared his throat and began to chant an obscure and ancient mermaid song. Under his voice, the Sea of Clarity seemed to gain a soul, and countless chains made of seawater shackled Loka and Azathoth. The chains, reinforced by the mermaid song, were exceptionally sturdy; no matter how much the two beasts struggled, the seemingly fragile chains remained unmoved.

"Roar! Traitor! I will tear you to pieces!"
"Useless trash!"

The two beasts roared at each other. Suddenly, a strange light erupted from Loka’s body, and two beams of black and white light intertwined as they shot into the sky, shattering the chains reinforced by the mermaid song. Loka flicked his tail elegantly, the golden patterns shimmering in the dim daylight. "Thank you for your help, your Majesties. I shall now offer you as a sacrifice."

Before the words had even faded, the black and white beams transformed into blades and pierced straight toward Azathoth’s heart, moving with such speed that there was no time to react.

"Puchi!" The sound of blades piercing flesh was bone-chilling.

But they did not pierce Azathoth. At the critical moment, Cynthia had teleported to block the path of the giant serpent, and the black and white beams that should have pierced Azathoth’s heart struck Cynthia’s chest instead.

"You’re already at the end of your tether, yet you still protect this watchdog!" Loka roared in fury, launching another attack.

Azathoth swung his only mobile tail to gently push Cynthia away.

"Azathoth!" Cynthia screamed, but she could only watch helplessly as Azathoth was riddled with holes by the beams imbued with the power of the Twin Star Gods of Light and Darkness.

"Azathoth, hold on! I will save you!" Cynthia waved her star magic wand, tirelessly chanting the incantation she had once despised above all else. Unfortunately, with the system crashed, the healing magic had lost its effect as well.

A sense of powerlessness overwhelmed Cynthia.

"Little girl, I have a teleportation item. I’ll give it to you now—hurry and run for your lives!" The fin-tailed youth said, throwing a conch at Cynthia. Cynthia caught it, moved to Azathoth’s side, and crushed the conch by instinct. A blinding white light flashed.

In an instant, the figures of Cynthia and Azathoth were gone.

Loka stared at the spot where Cynthia had vanished. His half-closed fox eyes snapped wide open. He turned his head mechanically toward the fin-tailed youth and demanded with a gloomy, sinister expression, "Speak! Where did you send my King?"

The fin-tailed youth shook his head. "Only the creator knows the destination of the teleportation item."

"You deserve to die!" The gloom in Loka’s eyes deepened.

The fin-tailed youth replied, "That’s a bold statement. The Sea of Clarity is the territory of the Deep Sea race. If you want to kill me, you’ll have to see if you have the skill!"

Having said that, the fin-tailed youth turned into bubbles and vanished. Loka vented his rage on the empty sea for a while. Once his emotions settled, he adjusted his posture and returned to being the cynical youth with half-closed eyes.