A flicker of light appeared in the sky, followed by a long spear piercing the Great Sage's body. The immense impact caused the earth to tremble.
However, due to the spear's characteristics, the effect was confined to the Great Sage's immediate vicinity, and the terrain remained largely unaffected.
After the second spear struck, the Great Sage's power circulation became noticeably slower, and his mind grew slightly clouded. Yet, he quickly deduced the origin of these spears.
It was likely that someone, using some device, had launched this spear from space, thereby achieving such terrifying speed and power.
This was indeed the case. The Night Knight's original weapon was a special metal weighing several tons. With rocket propulsion and the immense kinetic energy generated by freefall, it could accurately strike an enemy at speeds exceeding ten thousand meters per second.
The lethality of this weapon relied entirely on that formidable kinetic energy; even a Cataclysm-level expert could not ignore such damage.
When the spear was substituted, its power became even more terrifying, with both weight and speed multiplied several times over. By the time the Great Sage could perceive the spear's descent, it was already capable of striking him.
Moreover, with two spears already hitting, the Great Sage's reaction time had slowed compared to before, making it even more impossible to stop the incoming spears.
By the time the Great Sage understood what was happening, a third spear landed on him, followed by a fourth, and then a fifth.
Even after grasping the principle behind these spears, the Great Sage was powerless to prevent them. Their speed was too great, and with his strength being gradually sealed, he had no opportunity to react.
A faint light flashed in the Night Knight's eyes. Once all seven spears landed, the Great Sage could be temporarily sealed, leaving him as a lamb to the slaughter.
After being sealed, the Cicada Ancestor survived because he possessed a unique ability to conceal himself within an independent space.
The Great Sage lacked such an ability, and the Punishers would not hesitate to finish him off even if he were sealed.
*Boom…*
The sixth spear descended. The Great Sage now lay on the ground, appearing utterly defeated, his power circulation extremely sluggish.
While such a delay might be acceptable to other superhumans, for the Great Sage, even a slight slowdown meant he could no longer react appropriately to incoming attacks. This was fatal for him.
Everyone watched anxiously, awaiting the arrival of the final spear. The fate of the world rested on this last strike.
Propping himself up on the ground, which was countless times harder than diamond, the Great Sage trembled violently, his face ashen and veins bulging. He was clearly enraged.
"You ignorant fools, why must you resist? Can't you just die obediently?"
"Everything will eventually be destroyed. Humans, planets, the Primordial Earth, civilization, knowledge, power—all of it, to the universe, is merely a match lit in the darkness."
"The light of a match is insignificant and bound to extinguish. Only the silent darkness will endure eternally."
"I merely wish to bestow upon you eternity…"
"To bring about eternity ahead of time…"
As the Great Sage spoke, his gaze grew distant, and his body began to transform. Blood erupted from him, turning the surroundings into a sea of crimson.
"In the end, I must become this to fulfill my mission…"
The sea of blood receded, and the Great Sage's form floated upwards, the spears still embedded in him. But he had changed entirely.
His hair had fallen out, his features had vanished, leaving only a lipless mouth filled with sharp teeth.
His once fair skin had turned blue-purple, with occasional luminous spots resembling tentacles slowly moving across its surface.
Behind the Great Sage sprouted a pair of black and white wings, which, rather than wings, resembled two flat eyes. These eyes were larger than the Great Sage's body.
He had grown six arms, each composed of three segments. Every segment was longer than a normal person's entire arm. His legs had completely mutated, resembling eight massive blue-purple octopus tentacles.
When the Great Sage shed his gentle facade, this terrifying form was revealed. This was the Great Sage's true appearance after being corrupted by the Nameless King.
Not only was his appearance hideous, but he also carried a horrifying mental pollution. Any ordinary person who saw the Great Sage in his current state would instantly be twisted into a monster that desired to destroy everything.
Even the Punishers present were affected by the Great Sage's aura. They could only try their best to suppress their reactions and avoid observing the Great Sage's actions too deeply.
Even though the Great Sage had been twisted by the Nameless King, he still considered his current state to be ugly. If it weren't necessary, he wouldn't wish to reveal this appearance.
However, only in this form could he display his true strength. If he continued to hide, he might die here.
Everything that had just happened occurred in an instant. A flicker of light appeared in the sky; the seventh spear had arrived.
The Great Sage looked up at the sky. Then, the two eye-wings behind him floated up, forming a cylinder. When the seventh spear reached its destination, these wings would envelop it.
"Not good!"
The Night Knight launched a massive black energy blade at the two wings. However, this black blade was intercepted mid-air. To block this blade, the Great Sage only needed one hand.
Then, the final spear, just as the Great Sage had predicted, pierced into the cylinder formed by his wings.
The wing cylinder perfectly caught the spear. The immense impact caused blood to spurt from the wings, but ultimately, the spear did not penetrate the Great Sage's body.
Silence fell. The Night Knight sighed, realizing that these seven spears represented his strongest possible arrangement. With even this being caught by the Great Sage, he had no other options.
"Mm… Hmm… Hahaha."
The Great Sage first let out a few pleased hums, then burst into laughter. His laughter was exceedingly arrogant, standing in stark contrast to the grim expressions of the Punishers.
He tossed the spear onto the ground, spread his six mutated arms, gripped each spear, and slowly pulled them out, tossing them aside.
Blood flowed from the wounds caused by the spears, but within seconds, the wounds completely healed. The Great Sage then spread his wings, letting the eye patterns on them fixate on the Punishers.
"This should be your final gambit. I've grown a bit tired of playing, so it's time for my counterattack!"