One Tier 15 and two Tier 14 greater gods joined forces. They were naturally faster than Gu Nan at eroding enemies' laws.
If they didn't try to conquer the obstacle named God Emperor Heaven, Austin's group probably would've been much faster, not giving Gu Nan the time he needed at all.
In the current Sixteen Heavens, the only three intact astral worlds left were Jiu Po Heaven, Void Grotto Heaven, and Gu Nan's Divine Kingdom.
Even Lu Wen's Clockwork Heaven was massacred by the greater gods at the very last moment, and Lu Wen himself was forced to hide in an obscure small plane.
"We'll head back and drive away the Evil God first, then come back," Austin quickly decided. His expression no longer looked as grave as before, having returned to its original calmness.
Judging from the current situation, through sound strategic decisions, the World of Gods already gained the upper hand.
There was still one Eugene left among the normal greater gods, but all the normal Unified Dao cultivators of the Myriad Heavens had either been wiped out or were no longer a threat. As for the top-tier greater gods, the World of Gods had the advantage in this aspect from the beginning.
Although Boswell's injuries continuously worsened as he tried to stall for time on the frontlines, he had yet to completely lose his combat power.
On the contrary, here in the Myriad Heavens, Austin's initial decision to take out God Emperor Heaven no matter the cost was proving to be the correct choice.
Without God Emperor Heaven's Emperor Zhao, only Jiu Po, Gu Nan, and a half-crippled Yu Lian were left on the Myriad Heavens' side. How could they fight the World of Gods with just these people?
The only thing the greater gods found hard to accept was probably the fact that a large number of greater gods died at Gu Nan's hands.
...
"Austin can't save you guys." Gu Nan visited Kenneth again, a cold smile on his face.
He knew what was happening in the Myriad Heavens, but it was already too late for Austin's group of three to return at this time.
The Tyrannical Storms Divine Kingdom and the Styx Divine Kingdom had completely fallen already, and those two greater gods both fled.
Now, only the Ruler of Nightmares' Divine Kingdom was left. Because of its special nature, Gu Nan put it last.
But Kenneth just smiled calmly. He was one of the first greater gods to come into contact with Gu Nan, and he personally watched Gu Nan ascend to Unified Dao.
Kenneth had been prepared ever since the war started.
He was just trying to stall for as much time as possible while considering how to escape after his Divine Kingdom is destroyed.
The Beast God and Demon King's deaths sounded an alarm for Kenneth, letting him know that not even abandoning his Divine Kingdom and fleeing would ensure his safety.
But in the end, he didn't know how Gu Nan found those two. The normal thought process was that Gu Nan intercepted them during their escape.
As for the possibility that Gu Nan could track greater gods, that idea was too ridiculous to consider.
The Nightmare Divine Kingdom eventually still collapsed, and Kenneth sighed softly. He no longer had time to wait for Austin's group to return, so his figure instantly escaped into the Dream Realm.
For a greater god with a special divine authority like him, the Dream Realm was undoubtedly safer than anywhere else.
Gu Nan seemed to react as expected. Since he wasn't able to confirm Kenneth's whereabouts, he never showed up again.
However, just a moment later, the Ruler of Nightmares received two pieces of news one after another—the Ruler of Tyrannical Storms and the Ruler of Styx both died at Gu Nan's hands just now.
As of now, including Valen and Rolensia, as many as six greater gods had died at Gu Nan's hands.
It could be said that everyone lost something in this Great War; it was only a matter of who suffered fewer losses. Only Gu Nan profited a ton.
"You're the last one left," Gu Nan murmured, having already pinpointed Kenneth's location through Sylvia's blood.
The Evil Value's progress rate was similar to his expectations. He needed to kill roughly five greater gods to go from Tier 13 to Tier 14.
And Ruler of Nightmares Kenneth was now the fifth greater god!
Leveling up to Tier 12 and Tier 13 did not help Gu Nan as much as he expected, because the improvement to laws was mainly in terms of accumulation.
But Tier 14 was different.
If Tier 15 was a greater god's pinnacle and the incarnation of a law itself, then Tier 14 was taking the first step into that realm.
People like Dark Lady Daisy, Death God Baal, and the others were actually all Tier 14, and their every move could directly affect the laws themselves.
And once one reached Tier 15—Austin's realm—they themselves would represent the law's will.
"Evil… God… You won't succeed!" Sylvia glared at Gu Nan icily and struggled to say.
Perhaps because Gu Nan's back and forth trips to the three major Divine Kingdoms took too much of his focus, Sylvia actually got a chance to speak.
However, excessive blood loss turned Sylvia's face pale. Gods who lost their divine blood were weakened much more than mortals losing their blood.
Gu Nan smiled at her as a shadow blade instantly slashed Sylvia's neck. The Shadow Goddess who'd survived for tens of thousands of years finally died at the hands of the shadows themselves.
Gu Nan already collected enough divine blood, so Sylvia had no more value to him.
Austin, who was rushing back to the World of Gods, suddenly stiffened. As if he sensed something, cold murderous intent filled his eyes.
"Who did he kill now?" Daisy couldn't help asking after seeing his expression.
"Sylvia," Austin said coldly.
...
Dream Realm.
As a plane derived from the real world, there were some special creatures here.
The Ruler of Nightmares descended here with a greater god's power, so he could naturally control most dream creatures. This could practically be considered his home field.
Gu Nan knew this very well, so he left Kenneth for last to make sure nothing could go wrong.
A punch suddenly swung through the void, but unlike before, it was not an instant kill. Instead, it seemed to hit a nightmare and passed directly through Kenneth's body.
Kenneth was prepared.
Everyone knew he would hide in the Dream Realm, and Gu Nan certainly also knew that, so he didn't dare lower his guard for even a second.
Gu Nan was not dispirited. He was also mentally prepared. The Ruler of Nightmares was one of the hardest greater gods to kill with physical force alone, even if his fists already possessed some characteristics of laws.
Laws had always been the best way to deal with the Dream Realm.
Infinite shadows began to spread out from under Gu Nan's feet, quickly trapping Kenneth.
Though the Dream Realm provided Kenneth with the convenience of a home court, it was also like a cage, depriving him of the opportunity to move around.
In all the greater gods' impressions, Gu Nan was still merely that newly-ascended Evil God. His power lied in his outrageously strong physical body, while the law of shadows merely concealed his whereabouts.
Few people noticed that he was already Tier 13.
He was at the same level as Kenneth, but his laws were shadows, which shared the same origin as light. This in itself was an extremely formidable power.
So when Kenneth discovered the entire Dream Realm quickly being swallowed up by shadows, he realized that something was wrong.
The law of shadows should clearly have a secretive, arcane nature, but it was indescribably domineering in Gu Nan's hands. This wasn't like shadows at all. Rather, it seemed to resemble Daisy's "all-consuming darkness".
At this moment, a ray of holy light instantly cut into the Dream Realm and landed in front of Kenneth, trying to block the encroaching shadows.
"Too late." Gu Nan revealed a slight smile, and the entire Dream Realm instantly collapsed.