In that instant, Han Kexin felt an overwhelming sense of danger. She realized that Lucas had locked onto her. To evade the attack and avoid involving others, she quickly casted blink, teleporting herself ten kilometers away.
Boom!
The sword energy struck the forest, carving out a massive ravine in the earth.
Lucas, having locked onto Han Kexin's aura, declared, "You can't escape!"
As he spoke, the holy sword transformed into a holy spear. Lucas raised the spear and hurled it toward Han Kexin. Whether a holy sword or spear, these were manifestations of the Heart of Holy Light, and no armor could withstand an attack from such a divine artifact. Even an epic-grade shield would shatter instantly upon being struck by this holy spear. In other words, a divine artifact's attack could ignore all defenses.
Despite Han Kexin's formidable strength, she lacked the resistances and powerful defenses needed to withstand a direct hit from the holy spear, which would spell certain doom. Her figure flickered constantly as she cast teleportation spells with impressive speed, barely requiring any cooldown. She reappeared in different locations each second, sometimes creating illusions or phantasms. But it was futile.
The holy spear, acting like a homing missile, persistently targeted her real self. Moreover, it began to split: one spear became two, two became four, and four became eight, until a dense shower of golden spears filled the sky. Han Kexin found herself with fewer and fewer places to dodge.
Lucas proclaimed, "No one can escape this attack. Stop wasting your efforts!"
Suddenly, Han Kexin halted in her tracks. Dozens of holy spears were mere inches away. In this critical moment, she summoned an item that instantly blocked all the beams of light. Although the residual energy still caused her considerable harm, she ultimately managed to block the attack.
"How is this possible? What the hell is that thing?"
"It can actually withstand the power of a divine artifact!"
The object that blocked the attack was a stone tome. Despite its unassuming appearance, it bore the full brunt of the Heart of Holy Light's power without sustaining a single scratch.
Lucas was taken aback. This was absolutely impossible. Not even a legendary-grade item could withstand the power of a divine artifact without any damage. The only plausible explanation for an item achieving such a feat was that it, too, was a divine artifact.
Lucas's eyes widened. "A divine artifact!"
Indeed, it was none other than the Tome of Demon King. The item Han Kexin had summoned was of the same divine quality as the Heart of Holy Light. While the Tome of Demon King was more auxiliary in nature, the Heart of Holy Light, forged from the faith of countless beings, held far more energy than any other equipment or even divine artifact.
"Vice City Lord, are you alright?" Nancilia instantly teleported to Han Kexin's side. With a wave of her hand, she cast a healing spell, quickly restoring Han Kexin's HP.
Simultaneously, Ophelia, Shui Lan, and a dozen other top-tier powerhouses of Darkness City also rushed to Han Kexin's side. Grasping the now-shrunken Tome of the Demon King, Han Kexin, empowered by its strength, had a power level comparable to that of a Level 7 legendary.
With a mere thought, Han Kexin activated her Soul Shepherding ability, releasing ten powerful soul puppets, including Will and Jason, to spread out in all directions.
Lucas's expression turned grim. The combined strength of the powerful individuals around Han Kexin was formidable enough to contend with him. Holding a divine-grade artifact like the Tome of Demon King, Han Kexin could withstand the direct attacks from the Heart of Holy Light, nullifying Lucas's greatest advantage.
Of course, Lucas had another option. He could unleash more of the Heart of Holy Light's power to summon a cataclysmic attack to completely suppress these opponents. However, the cost would be immense. To completely eliminate Han Kexin and the elites before him, Lucas would need to expend millennia's worth of faith, which was a significant expenditure even for the Heart of Holy Light.
Surveying the battlefield, Lucas noticed that Mandell and his Demon Flame Legion were entangled with the three Dragon Emperors, dozens of Dragon Kings, thousands of Dragon Elders, and numerous other dragons from Darkness City. For the moment, the fight was at a stalemate. Meanwhile, Wang Badao and his forces were also being held back by tens of thousands of ents, elves, giants, and orcs.
As the barrier began to recover, each World Tree emitted powerful energy. This not only significantly enhanced the recovery and stats of Darkness City's forces but also accelerated the repair of the barrier and summoned roots and ents to assist in the battle.
For the Demon Slayer Army, this meant they faced a situation where every tree could be an enemy. Seeing this, Lucas hesitated. Unleashing thousands of years' worth of the Heart of Holy Light's power would undoubtedly kill Han Kexin, but the cost to himself would be enormous. What if Han Kexin was just a decoy put forward by Zhang Nu? The possibility was very high. After all, Zhang Nu had not shown up at all. After much deliberation, Lucas decided to retreat.
He called out to the other two, "We've tested their strength enough. Let's pull back and regroup with the main force."
Wang Badao and Mandell agreed. They felt continuing the fight was pointless, so they led their troops out of the Chaos Forest.
"Vice City Lord! We held them off!" The members of the Chaos Federation were ecstatic. They had united to repel three demigods.
However, Han Kexin wasn't happy. This was just a small portion of the enemy's power. If it was this difficult to fend off this group, how much harder would it be when the full force attacked?
Just then, a celestial phenomenon appeared over Darkness City. A massive, indistinct creature materialized above the Darkness Valley. When Han Kexin saw it, she was stunned. It was unmistakably a dragon, but not a western dragon---an eastern divine dragon from her past world!
Its body was covered in dark gold scales, it had nine claws, and it exuded a majestic, awe-inspiring presence as if it were the embodiment of the divine and chaos.