System: You are dead.
Apophis's heart pounded. His hands shook. He fell to the ground, the last of his blood spilling from his body, as the God-Emperor withdrew his sword and began to walk away.
It was as though Apophis was a ghost. He hovered over his own body, watching his lifeless eyes stare at the corpse of Antanria and her father on the ground next to him. Their pools of blood merged.
What would happen now? This wasn't a simple character death which one could return from. The quest had made that clear. This would definitely be permanent, like dying in IronMan mode in a Dungeon.
System: Your Passive Skill [ Mark of a God ] has activated.
A beam of light illuminated the throne room, and a familiar face appeared.
It was the goddess Varda Elentári, who had appeared mysteriously in front of his party in Gravedigger's Tower!
Varda Elentári waved her hand and cast a spell.
Apophis's body began glowing with a brilliant, golden light.
System: [Goddess Varda Elentári] offers to resurrect you. Do you accept?
With new hope in his heart, Apophis selected "Yes."
And, just like that, he was alive once more. He got up from the floor, seeing out of his own eyes again, and realized that the hole in his chest had been healed.
Varda Elentári turned to the man surrounded by swirling dark energy who had attacked Apophis. She pointed an elegant finger at him in judgment. "How dare you interfere in the affairs of mortals?!"
The God-Emperor smirked. "I have no more lessons to receive from you! All the mortals of the universe have submitted to me. Soon the gods will do the same. You will do the same!"
Varda Elentári turned back to Apophis, her expression urgent. "Flee as far as possible! I will hold him back. Cortana will soon intervene and restore your dimension. Run now!"
Apophis didn't say a word, but turned and fled as quickly as possible towards the palace entrance. Being as high a level as he was, his top speed far surpassed that of even any Olympic-level sprinter.
Behind him, the goddess then drew a magnificent, two-meter long sword and deployed a pair of beautiful white wings.
The God-Emperor had been surrounded by a cloak of dark energy until now, but he now absorbed it all! Thousands of dark beams entered his body, magnifying his terrifying aura so that it became unbearable! The intricate stone walls shattered around him, and thousands of hours of master craftsmanship obliterated in a single moment.
With one stroke of his sword, the God-Emperor sent a beam of pure black energy towards Varda Elentári.
The goddess parried the blow with difficulty, cutting it in two—
But it was too late! The God-Emperor teleported in front of her and swung his sword in an attack that was impossible to parry!
Varda Elentári was immediately hurled through the palace walls, flying over three kilometers before crashing at Apophis's feet on the highway. The goddess was in critical condition, consumed by black flames that were burning her alive.
The God-Emperor appeared next to her and contemptuously sent another sword blow downward.
Apophis immediately activated ~Susanoo~, blocking the blow! But the spiritual skeleton's arm disintegrated, making it useless for further defense.
The goddess took the opportunity to pull herself together. She raised her sword to the sky and chanted an incantation in a language Apophis couldn't understand.
Four laser beams lanced down from space to surround the God-Emperor, forming a restrictive shield around him!
"That should contain him!" Varda Elentári said. "Keep running!"
The God-Emperor held out his hand, and black flames condensed within it. After about thirty seconds, a black, incandescent sun had manifested in the hollow of his hand.
Varda Elentári knew that this was the end, so she knelt and said a last, defiant prayer.
When the black sun collided with Varda's shield, a huge, subsonic explosion emanated from it, razing everything in its path.
The goddess, who was only a few meters away from the point of impact, disintegrated.
Apophis, thanks to his stats, was already ten kilometers away when he saw the huge wave of black fire coming towards him...
Far more quickly than he could run.
But at the last moment, an unexpected notification popped up.
System: Server reboot completed.
The naked, glowing pink form of Cortana appeared and snapped her fingers, freezing time.