Awakening：The Infinite Evolution of My Talent as a Low-Level Awakener

"Fools, facing death and yet still resisting?" The God of Painting and Swordsmanship looked coldly at the four deities standing against him, as well as the demigods, legends, and third-class warriors newly inspired by the Courage Law. His bloodlust surged as he slowly raised his hand and gave a command.

"Kill! Crush these invaders! Let their blood soak our lands, and let their resources feed our strength!"

Behind him, Ashen's forces, barely containing their eagerness, burst into action, faces lit with excitement. The situation was almost entirely in their favor—after all, they had one more deity than their opponents. For beings at the divine level, miracles were rare; this wasn't the realm of second-class soldiers who might miraculously shift the battle.

Victory was certain. Now was the perfect moment to rack up contributions. Once they breached Orichalcum's royal capital, they would reap unimaginable rewards, resources beyond their wildest dreams.

Greed is endless, and with the advancing world fusion, even gods had begun to experience a revival of their base desires. For third-class warriors and legends, this feeling was only magnified.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!" "Crush these filthy invaders!" "Ashen is invincible! Undefeated!" "The heretics shall be destroyed!"

The Ashen forces' morale surged, matching Orichalcum's troops, who had been bolstered by the Courage Law.

In perfect formation, Ashen's forces, charged with immense power, launched their assault on the staging ground.

In contrast, the Eastern War Preparedness Zone's troops were still reeling from the shock of the God of the Prairie's sudden death and the lightning-fast ambush. Though their spirits had been restored under the Courage Law, they hadn't had the time to regroup into a formation.

While the two armies were similar in average strength, having a military formation was a game-changer.

"With so many legends and third-class fighters, not to mention the demigods forming that army, they might even be able to kill a god," Sterl mused as he watched. Ashen's side alone had hundreds of legends! Thousands more were skilled third-class fighters, some of the best in their rank. Combined, this force presented a threat even Sterl would need to activate ascend to godhood to ignore.

For most gods, however, it would be an incredibly deadly threat.

In contrast, without a formation, Orichalcum's side looked like nothing more than a scattered field of powerless weeds. The ordinary third-class warriors posed no threat, and even their legends and demigods could only retreat from the relentless charge and onslaught of Ashen's army. Within moments of first contact, Orichalcum's forces had already lost dozens, and the casualties continued to rise rapidly!

"You despicable ambushers! You deserve to be eternally marked with shame!"

One of Orichalcum's demigods roared, seizing an opportunity to strike. Using his Law Power, he targeted a weaker area of the formation and launched a fierce attack.

However, a blood-red barrier suddenly materialized, enveloping Ashen's entire formation. This was a unique effect of their formation, a defense powered by the combined morale and vitality of the entire force. The higher their morale, the greater the numbers, and the stronger their average level, the more impenetrable this barrier became.

Under the combined power of Ashen's legends and demigods, this barrier had already reached a strength only a god could break—unless another formation clashed with it head-on.

The demigod's full-force strike only created a ripple across the barrier's surface. Then, with a slight tremor, the barrier rebounded his own energy back at him! The demigod shuddered, his expression darkening. Before he could even scream, his body disintegrated into countless points of light, gone in an instant.

"Damn it!"

Above, Orichalcum's four deities were seething with rage. Thunder crackled and surged around the God of Thunder and Courage, who was ready to unleash a deadly strike on Ashen's army below to shatter that damned formation. But the gods of Ashen weren't about to give them the chance—immediately, all five enemy deities engaged them in battle.

The God of Painting and Swordsmanship summoned a brilliant golden longsword with Divine Power and swung it down with full force at the double-divine authority deity in front of him!

The God of Thunder and Courage, forced to focus on this powerful enemy, invoked his Thunder Law and Divine Power to counter the attack.

After all, this was, at its heart, a war of gods. No matter how brutal the battle below might be, the true outcome depended on the clash of deities. Whoever emerged victorious among the gods would decide the fate of the battlefield below.

But with Orichalcum already down a deity, having lost the God of the Prairie, how could they prevail against such overwhelming odds?

Boom!!

Endless thunder and sword energy clashed in a violent storm of annihilation, Divine Power colliding and expanding, creating horrifying tornadoes that tore across the battlefield.

Ashen's forces, protected by their formation barrier, remained unaffected by the residual shockwaves. But the Orichalcum army wasn't so fortunate. Many third-class soldiers were flung back, injured or worse, while the legends and demigods who struggled to hold the line suffered heavily, with many getting picked off in the chaos.

Seeing this, the God of Thunder and Courage felt a surge of urgency and fury. He attempted to lead his opponent skyward to change the battleground, but the God of Painting and Swordsmanship activated his Painting Law, conjuring a prison-like structure around them that restricted his movements, forcing him to defend himself as a barrage of attacks rained down.

Frustrated, the God of Thunder and Courage resisted, but to his irritation, the God of Painting and Swordsmanship refused to engage directly. Instead, he used his Painting Law to continuously create obstacles and limitations, clearly aiming to stall for time.

Glancing at the other battlefronts, the God of Thunder and Courage realized that Ashen's forces had coordinated this assault in advance. While he was held off by the God of Painting and Swordsmanship, the other four deities focused their attacks on the remaining three Orichalcum gods.

With four against three, it was only a matter of time before Ashen's side leveraged their numbers to take down each Orichalcum deity one by one. Once that happened, the remaining four Ashen gods, along with the double-divine authority God of Painting and Swordsmanship, would turn their combined power on him. Even as a double-divine authority god, he knew he wouldn't stand a chance against that.

Understanding that time was running out, the God of Thunder and Courage made a swift decision and unleashed his ultimate attack.

"Holy Thunder Retribution!!"

Shattering the painted barriers around him, he let out a low roar. The Courage Law manifested as a crimson aura that enveloped him, spreading a powerful wave of Law energy toward both the Ashen gods and their forces below.

As a Law Power, the Courage Law not only enhanced his own attributes—battle spirit, morale, recovery, stamina, damage output, and defense—but could also act as a field skill, draining courage from his enemies, instilling them with fear.

If Orichalcum's army had managed to assemble into formation under this Law's influence, they could have become an unstoppable force, a fierce and invincible army. Unfortunately, due to the suddenness of the attack, they hadn't had time to form up.

However, even now, it was enough to rally the wavering spirits of Orichalcum's forces at the staging ground and slightly weaken Ashen's overwhelming momentum.

With that, the Thunder divine authority was unleashed at full power, Divine Power pouring out of the God of Thunder and Courage as if there were no limits.

In an instant, the heavens darkened.

Thunder rolled and crackled above, creating an oppressive atmosphere that weighed down on everyone, making it difficult even to breathe. Even the God of Painting and Swordsmanship, a fellow double-divine authority deity, felt the weight of this pressure.

The thunder above rapidly coalesced, forming a massive pillar of lightning, dozens of meters in diameter, that shot skyward!

The moment this column of divine thunder took shape, the air became saturated with thunderous energy, enough to paralyze and stiffen bodies to some extent. Even the gods found their movements subtly impaired.

Yet, facing this wrathful thunder, the God of Painting and Swordsmanship remained unfazed. Instead, a gleam of cold calculation flashed in his eyes as he unleashed his own power.

Using his Painting Law, he painted a longsword shimmering with rainbow-colored divine light. The sword radiated a fierce and concentrated intent, its energy clashing against the sky's thunderous assault.

"Something's off here..."

Watching the intense clash from outside the staging ground, Sterl's brows furrowed.

At first glance, it seemed like the two double-divine authority gods were about to unleash their ultimate moves, but beneath the surface, there was something far more lethal at play.

If he were on Ashen's side, aiming for a swift and decisive victory, he would either use overwhelming power to quickly defeat the opposing double-divine authority god or eliminate the remaining three Orichalcum gods as swiftly as possible, gaining a numerical advantage for the final showdown.

But double-divine authority deities were highly resilient and formidable in combat. With their powers matched, this battle could last for days or even weeks.

Thus, the only real opening lay with the other three Orichalcum gods.

Sterl's gaze sharpened as he looked toward the other battleground, where four Ashen gods were pressing against the three Orichalcum deities. With the numbers disadvantage, the Orichalcum gods were gradually pushed back. Yet, they seemed to be intentionally stalling for time rather than committing to an all-out fight.

After all, though they'd been ambushed, they were close to the royal capital. If they could buy enough time, reinforcements from the capital would surely arrive, potentially turning the tide and allowing them to counter Ashen's forces decisively.

However, Sterl could sense through his map module that a lethal intent was subtly but steadily targeting these three gods.

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