Chapter 569: Clash

"If you have spare strength, try to help Anthony pin down a few more demigods."

Li Mochen was still aiming, still calculating. His target was a being with combat power close to that of a medium god; he had to go all out and be cautious.

Last time he sniped Ron Edmond, he had Anthony to help calculate the trajectory, but now that billionaire was temporarily occupied, and he had to rely on his own strength.

"Understood! I'll do my best. The alliance between Light Magic Industries and the Braden family is indeed very important to you, Boss."

Moses Remore's expression shifted slightly: "Boss, your target is the God of Processing, Ivan Kott?"

Before Li Mochen could answer, his brow furrowed deeply: "Those gods have a reason for entering the battlefield at this time, Boss."

The deterrent power of 'Dragon's Might' was unquestionable. With Ron Edmond as a precedent, even a medium god like Thomas Milan had to be wary.

But the God of Processing appeared on the battlefield at the start, seemingly unconcerned about being sniped by 'Dragon's Might'.

Two others on this battlefield did the same: the 'Magic Knight' Lancelot Rode and the 'Lady of Pain' Kathleen Britner.

The Goddess of Stars, Isadora McCas, dared to appear on the battlefield at the first moment because the Goddess of Magic had determined that his Boss would not rashly make an enemy of her.

So what were the reasons for these three? Did they think the owner of 'Dragon's Might' would not choose them as targets?

"I know—they are confident they can defend against my bullets!"

Li Mochen remained fully focused, his eyes cold, and a hint of sarcasm curled at the corner of his mouth: "And I roughly guessed where their confidence comes from. But I think they are overconfident, or rather, they underestimate me. By the way, try to grab those mythic artifacts on him later—"

In his mind, he was visualizing the 'Divine Fortune Purple Gold Pagoda'.

In the battle over a month ago, the multicolored spiritual light on his pagoda had dwindled to just over nineteen thousand strands.

Killing and wounding many strong beings, including Ron Edmond, cost Li Mochen a huge amount of merit. The subsequent deaths and injuries of tens of thousands of civilians in Atlanta also brought him considerable negative karma.

But a month later, the multicolored light on the pagoda had recovered to thirty thousand strands.

The forced surrender of the Blood Clan's Camarilla, and another round of operations against the Bloody Highlands initiated by Michael Wood half a month ago, both benefited him greatly.

And the 'Divine Right of Fate' that Li Mochen himself possessed gave him full confidence to reduce the cost of 'Wish' by at least half.

The multicolored light on the 'Divine Fortune Purple Gold Pagoda' was sufficient for today's battle.

This shot would grant the God of Processing, Ivan Kott, death—the moment he made this wish, Li Mochen pulled the trigger.

With a 'bang', the magic bullet, also crafted by Anthony Braden, left the chamber with a flash of gunfire. Li Mochen immediately stood up and walked toward the teleportation gate that Moses Remore had prepared for him.

He didn't need to see the result, because the 'Divine Fortune Purple Gold Pagoda' had already responded; the strands of merit wrapped around it had dissipated by over four thousand.

Just as Li Mochen stepped through the teleportation gate and left his 'Fate's Domain' magic tower, the magic bullet was only five hundred meters away from Ivan Kott. The latter, startled and alert, immediately placed a crimson-gold shield in front of him. The shield's radiance was dazzling, enveloping Ivan Kott like a golden eggshell.

"Divine Right Protection?"

Watching this, Moses Remore's eyes flashed with surprise.

He hadn't expected that besides his own mythic armor, this god also possessed such a powerful mythic artifact. But was this the reason Ivan Kott was completely unafraid of 'Dragon's Might'? It still seemed insufficient!

The power of his Boss, who had shattered dozens of protective arrays inside and outside the 'Energy Conservation' magic tower with one shot and severely wounded Ron Edmond, could not be defended against by just one or two powerful mythic equipment.

The next moment, a dark blue ray shot across the sky toward the bullet. Wherever it shone, time and space were forcibly slowed, even frozen!

Moses Remore's heart tightened!

This was a slowing ray amplified by divine right—was it the Lady of Time, Mithra?

But just as Moses Remore sensed trouble, a burst of temporal power erupted from within the magic bullet. Its speed suddenly slowed, narrowly missing the slowing ray. Then, within the less than five hundred meters, it changed speed erratically, tracing a spiral trajectory like a precision-guided missile, perfectly avoiding the pursuing slowing ray.

Until, in a hundredth of a second, the 7.62mm magic bullet, almost miraculously, struck Ivan Kott from the left, who had used magic to change position twice in succession.

The shield with the 'Protection' divine right couldn't hold for even a ten-thousandth of an instant before the bullet pierced through.

Ivan Kott's face was ashen, but his eyes remained calm and confident. Though the crimson-gold shield was pierced, it wasn't destroyed, and the 'Protection' divine right still functioned. Layers of divine power shields appeared around the god, and his divine armor radiated divine power to the maximum.

The divine right of this mythic artifact was 'Barrier'!

The Lady of Time Mithra's slowing ray followed, needing only a thousandth of a second to freeze the bullet completely.

But at that moment, a black gleam appeared at the tip of the seemingly cornered bullet. Seeing this from afar, Moses Remore raised his white eyebrows and drew in a cold breath.

That was the forbidden spell 'Matter Annihilation'! And the 'Destruction' divine right!

Boom!

The instant burst of light was as dazzling as the sun, engulfing the area including the 'God of Processing' Ivan Kott. The devastating shockwave and blast flung over a dozen nearby demigods in the midst of battle. The resulting magical tide was vast, disrupting all magic within ten kilometers. Even the demiplane, partitioned by the Manhattan magic tower array, trembled violently, nearly returning to the material plane due to the chaotic magical array.

As the light gradually faded and the shockwave pushed outward,

Moses Remore saw that the area was empty. The ground looked as if a giant creature had taken a bite, with a large swath of land and hills gone, including the 'God of Processing' Ivan Kott!

"Wow!"

In the 'Emerald City' villa, the Death's Enemy, Thompson Beor, who was also fortunate enough to witness this scene, swallowed his saliva and murmured with a shocked and bewildered expression.

"By the Light God! Mr. Little Willenstone, you're making me afraid to take contracts from your enemies. Poor Ivan Kott, pitiful Thomas Milan, you both underestimated him!"

At that moment, his mind stirred, and he looked toward a certain position in the south. Near the 'Magic Knight' Lancelot Rode's magic tower 'Source Power Home', Thompson Beor spotted a silver glint speeding through the air.

It was a magic bullet! Less than fifty meters from Lancelot Rode's magic tower!

Li Mochen had clearly fired at the time of the explosion. The tremendous noise and magical tide masked all sounds of his shot.

The 'Magic Knight' Lancelot Rode barely put up a struggle. In a thousandth of a second, the top of the 'Source Power Home' magic tower also burst into a sun-like radiance, even more dazzling, illuminating the night sky of the demiplane in every detail.

Another massive shockwave covered the ten-kilometer-square area. All demigods here had to move to the edges of the demiplane to avoid the devastating shockwave and the intense radiation from the explosion center.

At this moment, Li Mochen's figure once again passed through the teleportation gate provided by Moses Remore, arriving at another direction of the demiplane. There, his loyal subordinates had prepared another sniper position, also a demiplane, but only about fifty square meters in size, located in the interlayer between the current 'Emerald City' villa and the material plane.

But this time, as soon as he stepped out of the teleportation gate, he saw a young girl opposite him. She wore a black evening gown, a conspicuous ruby necklace on her chest, and held a thick magic tome. Her features were exceptionally beautiful, with an unforgettable temperament and charm, but her crimson-gold pupils were filled with anger and cold killing intent.

Li Mochen raised an eyebrow and asked without surprise: "Lady Mithra?"

The black-clad girl ignored his question entirely. She stamped her scepter on the ground, causing the time of this micro-demiplane to disconnect from the surrounding world.

It was like a drop of water flowing in the river of time, splashing out of the great river, temporarily leaving its original temporal trajectory. Or like a segment cut from a scroll, with no future and no past.

Thus, this micro-demiplane was completely isolated.

This was the divine domain spell 'Temporal Extraction', a temporal spell even more powerful than 'Time Freeze'. But the Lady of Time Mithra's divine right and power could firmly maintain this small temporal fault.

This completely prevented Li Mochen from continuing to shoot outward. He could no longer see the outside world; the surrounding void was only chaos. Even his 'Titan's Eye' and 'True Dragon's Vision' could not penetrate it.

Li Mochen didn't mind much. He had done his best to help Anthony eliminate the 'God of Processing' Ivan Kott and the 'Magic Knight' Lancelot Rode, and had pinned down the Lady of Time, whose strength far exceeded that of a weak god. If this billionaire still couldn't repel Thomas Milan and break through to legendary status, then it was fate, beyond human power to change.

Compared to the external situation, the opponent before him required his full concentration.

This was undoubtedly a dangerous enemy, even more dangerous than the 'Energy Monarch' Ron Edmond. It was also the strongest opponent Li Mochen had faced since entering this world.

"Poor Mr. Lancelot Rode. I guess you must have assured them of their safety beforehand, right?"

Li Mochen said as he put the 'Dragon's Might' sniper rifle into his void ring and took out the Sakura Blood Sword.

"But you failed, and didn't even try to help him."

The time goddess before him had indeed sacrificed the 'Magic Knight' Lancelot Rode to accurately lock onto his position and pull him into this temporal fault.

But the girl named Mithra still ignored his words. She scrutinized Li Mochen: "I sense a strong temporal power on you."

Then her pupils contracted slightly: "Crimson Dragon Armor, you are Andrew Li Willenstone?"

Her magical vision had pierced through Li Mochen's disguise and seen the truth of the 'Crimson Dragon Armor'.

This surprised the girl named Mithra greatly. As a mage who became a god through magic, she naturally knew the history of the 'Crimson Dragon Armor'.

This was a mythic artifact that could only be wielded by pure bloodlines from the Hohenstaufen! This knowledge immediately led her to deduce the identity of the sniper opposite her—the one who had severely wounded the 'Energy Monarch' Ron Edmond and sniped the 'God of Processing' Ivan Kott and the 'Magic Knight' Lancelot Rode—it was Andrew Li Willenstone himself! Or his clone—

At this moment, a smile appeared on Li Mochen's lips.

"You guessed right, Lady of Time. You are very clever, but today you made a wrong choice."

His Sakura Blood Sword then swung out a cold gleam. The conceptual divine right of 'Inevitable Severance', infused with his power, broke through the layers of temporal barriers before Mithra.

This goddess's power was formidable, but the divine domain spell 'Temporal Extraction' had consumed too much of her strength, so Li Mochen's first slash left a deep gash on the girl's face!

At this moment, temporal forces clashed fiercely between them—time acceleration, time delay, time freeze, light-speed movement, ice divine right—all changing in an instant.

Li Mochen was far inferior in temporal power, but his innate abilities could still disturb time and space, interfering with Mithra's control of time through constant changes.

His forbidden spell 'Annihilation' and fire divine right continuously created annihilating explosions or used extreme temperatures to expand the surrounding spacetime; while his ice divine right, already at a high level, could freeze time to a degree, removing it from the Lady of Time's interference.

Then, amidst the constantly changing and twisting time, Li Mochen, like an experienced hunter, patiently sought opportunities to strike.

He could only strike once every ten seconds or so. But each of his slashes inflicted wounds on the Lady of Time Mithra.

The 'War' divine right of the Crimson Dragon Armor drew power from all ongoing battles near Li Mochen's main and secondary bodies, which even 'Temporal Extraction' could not block.

The 'Duel' divine right provided him with the might of three powerful demigods. This made Li Mochen's power and source energy completely superior to his opponent's, allowing him to easily cut through or penetrate the layers of defensive magic cast by the opponent, inflicting wounds on the Lady of Time Mithra. And the power of death and plague from the Blue Swamp Demon Vine spread within Mithra's divine body.

Initially, the goddess showed no panic. The mythic artifact in the form of a magic book in her hand continuously purified the foreign power in her body and restored her wounds.

But as time passed, pallor inevitably appeared on the goddess's face. Besides gravity, a hint of hesitation flickered in her eyes.

Her divine power was being consumed rapidly. In less than a quarter-hour of intense battle, the myriad means and divine rights of the opponent had consumed a full one-twentieth of the power she had accumulated over a century. Yet the opponent's mana showed no sign of depletion after such intense combat; he continued to attack unabated, with increasing force.

Mithra could sense that the opponent's efficiency in using mana and source energy far exceeded hers. Moreover, in combat strategy, the young man always made her expend vast amounts of divine power in controlling time with minimal cost to himself.

And the high-level divine right of life and death—Li Mochen was draining her life force, continuously restoring his own power.

All this made his mana seem inexhaustible, as deep and unfathomable as an abyss!

This made Mithra feel extremely troublesome, and a trace of regret arose in her heart. As a god of law, divine power was the foundation of her existence, and also the cornerstone of the various powerful temporal spells she now cast!

It was at this moment that Li Mochen again asked with a smile in his eyes: "I am actually very curious, regarding your chivalrous intervention today for Thomas Milan, the god of alchemy, machinery, and crafts, does your main deity, Lady Mithra, know about it?"

At this moment, the face of the Lady of Time, Mithra, finally changed dramatically.

Thus the smile at the corner of Li Mochen's lips became even more pronounced: "If the Night Goddess learns that you have expended the power you now possess for the sake of Thomas Milan's affairs, disrupting her predetermined plans, what would she think, Lady Mithra? You have betrayed her trust!"

After sensing Mithra's emotional shift, his heart relaxed. Not because the battle was destined to be won by him, but because Mithra's involvement in this conflict was not at the behest of the Triple Goddess.

Li Mochen even had the leisure to observe Mithra's manipulation of temporal forces.

Their attainments on this path were likely evenly matched, with himself perhaps having a slight edge. Yet stones from other hills can polish jade; some of the temporal secrets Mithra grasped were gaps in his own knowledge.

Li Mochen had only watched for a moment and already felt greatly benefited.

As for the battle itself—his divine authority of 'Fate' was already weaving the destinies of the two of them, beyond the perception of this deity. Everything was within his script!

…

At the same time, on a highway about 220 kilometers from Atlanta, inside an armored command vehicle, John Adams hung up his mobile phone with a grave expression.

Then he found his superior, Salas Onassis, the supreme commander of the National Progress Association's allied forces, also entering the vehicle with a somber face.

"You already know about the situation in Manhattan, John?"

"Of course!"

John Adams shook the phone in his hand toward the other: "That guy has been temporarily sealed by the Lady of Time Mithra's spell 'Temporal Extraction,' but before that, 'Processing God' Ivan Kott and 'Magic Knight' Lancelot Rhodes were sniped by this marksman despite being well-prepared. This is beyond our imagination, Salas! To be honest, I'm already feeling scared. Can the Lady of Time Mithra really kill that guy? I'm not sure. That foolish George Mattiola has not only brought a powerful enemy upon our National Progress Association but also started a war against him at the wrong time."

"So I came to ask for your opinion."

The young man named Salas Onassis sat down imposingly in the armored command vehicle: "Should this operation continue or be terminated? I anticipate that regardless of the war's outcome, the Wiltonshire family's retaliation will be extremely fierce afterward. Especially the holder of 'Dragon's Might'—if Mithra can't eliminate him, then any of us targeted by him probably won't be able to withstand a single shot from him."

John Adams gave a bitter smile: "Do we have a choice, Salas? If we back down now, the National Progress Association will directly disintegrate, and our enemies will rally under that grandfather and grandson to toll the death knell for your family and mine. They are indeed very powerful now, especially in high-end forces. Our only feasible strategy now is to cut off their foundation and then find a way to hold out until the mythical armament that counters the Sky Scepter is completed."

He hesitated slightly: "From the current situation, Mithra can indeed restrain, or at least tie down, that sniper. I think we should give her a bit more trust. Also, the god of alchemy, machinery, and crafts, Thomas Milan—he managed to eliminate Howard Braden a few years ago, and he can also deal with Anthony Braden. We've already provided him with all the help we could at the Manhattan Magic Tower Committee—"

"Then it's decided!"

Salas nodded slightly, then picked up the microphone on the radio: "I am Supreme Commander Salas Onassis, your commander-in-chief. I now order all units to launch an offensive toward Atlanta according to the planned schedule! Start the tanks now, crush everything in front of you! We have only 24 hours—within 24 hours, send our enemies to hell!"

At that moment, across the forty-kilometer radius around the armored command vehicle, tens of thousands of tanks and armored vehicles simultaneously started their engines, switched on their headlights, and drove forward like steel beasts.

Above them, thousands of variable fighters, each carrying heavy loads of various missiles, rose into the air one after another.