A strange mana field slowly formed around Mann and the Evil God’s Head.
The head’s expression grew even more ferocious, but now it was completely immobilized.
Around it, the black substance that had been there before was gathering, as if trying to envelop it once more.
Sensing something was wrong, the head let out a strange roar.
The roar reached straight into Mann’s brain, rattling him with dizziness and even causing blood to spurt from his nose.
“Just… just hold on a little longer!”
Though he gritted his teeth and persisted, the flow of mana was beginning to spiral out of control.
The current situation had devolved into a war of attrition.
If he could complete the spell before the “Regression” spiraled out of control, he would be the victor.
Unfortunately, with his mana being disrupted like this, that was no longer possible.
This meant that his last trump card was essentially useless. Not to mention his mana was nearly depleted.
His body was crying out in agony, and even with Sophien’s mana replenishment, it was useless.
Because this skill consumed his own fundamental mana.
“Ah… I’m so tired… my consciousness is… starting to fade…”
The next moment, the black substance enveloping the head stopped forming. Instead, the rapidly multiplying tentacles shattered it all.
This war of attrition ultimately ended with the Evil God’s Head as the victor.
Several tentacles grabbed Mann, lifting him up to the head’s face. It grinned with a mocking expression, as if showing off its trophy.
The next moment, the sound of tearing flesh rang out. A large hole was punched through Mann’s torso, nearly cutting him in half.
A torrent of blood dripped from the tips of his toes.
“It’s… over…”
Mann was thrown down, crashing headfirst into the ground with the crisp sound of breaking bones.
His vision grew hazy, and soon, darkness consumed his entire field of view.
In his final moments of consciousness, everything he had done since coming to this world drifted slowly before his eyes.
If… if I had died from the start… would this never have happened?
Lai La would have become the Holy Son… and not so many people would have died later… So what exactly have I… done?
“Yes… everything you’ve done is meaningless. Those who were meant to die will die sooner or later, and even those who should have lived will die because of you.”
From the darkness, the ancient, eerie language echoed once more.
“My existence… is meaningless…”
“Exactly. To this world, you are an anomaly. Now, hand your body over to me… I’ll clean up your mess! I’ll correct these mistakes!”
“Speak my name! Then you’ll still have a chance to make amends.”
Mann lay on the ground, his body twisted into a grotesque shape from the severe injuries.
The light had long since faded from his eyes, and only his lips moved faintly, almost imperceptibly.
“Te La Er…”
The abyss, formed by darkness, stared at Mann, looking as if it was laughing savagely.
Outside, a black mist swirled around Mann, its ominous aura even stronger than that of the head floating in the air.
“Lord… Lord Mann…”
Sophien struggled to get up, but before she could approach Mann, the mist around him sent her flying.
Even the head overhead deliberately kept its distance from Mann.
“…Te Ku Te Li!”
After Mann spoke the full name, his body twisted and stood up in an unnatural way.
His arms hung limply at his sides. It wasn’t so much that he stood up as it was that something seemed to grab him and force him upright.
The surrounding black mist also solidified into a ferocious face, countless razor-sharp teeth sprouting from it as it bit down ruthlessly on Mann.
In an instant, a torrent of blood oozed out between the gaps in the teeth.
The surrounding atmosphere also grew heavy. Even the floating head was dragged down and pinned to the ground, unable to move.
It stared with terror at the face before it, which was even more ferocious than its own. The next moment, the face was shattered by an unknown impact.
Man En Mathews stood there, a massive, hollow cavity in his chest glowing with a faint purple light.
His originally orange hair had turned pitch black, and irregular black patterns slowly surfaced on his body.
He slowly lifted his head, his eyes opening fully. His terrifyingly crimson pupils seemed to curse everything in the world.
He looked at his own hand and cracked his neck.
“Hahahaha… After thousands of years of keeping me locked up, I’m still back. How ironic!”
“AAAAHHHHH!”
In front of Te La Er, the suppressed head let out a piercing shriek, gathering countless tentacles to stab at the enemy before him.
However, with just a glance, the gathered tentacles scattered in all directions, turning to ash in an instant.
“Oh? What’s this? As a part of my body, are you going to rebel against me?”
When their gazes met, the suppressed head went berserk. Countless tentacles burst forth instantly. It exerted all its strength to break free from the suppression and charged forward.
The gathered tentacles formed a hammer large enough to cover the sky and earth, crashing down toward him.
But no matter how hard the head tried, the giant hammer hung in the air, unable to descend another inch.
“Looks like I’ll have to knock some sense into you first.”
The moment he finished speaking, Te La Er vanished from his spot.
Almost instantly, a horizontal kick slammed into the head.
The crisp sound of bones breaking rang out. Then, the head was driven deep into the ground.
He immediately pursued, and the entire ground began to tremble violently. Some parts even collapsed.
Soon, the head burst out of the ground first, but most of its skin and flesh had been stripped away, leaving only pitch-black bones. It looked utterly pathetic.
Te La Er emerged at the same time, looking thoroughly bored.
At this point, the head’s gaze had shifted from wariness to terror.
“You’re lucky. This body’s mana is nearly depleted.”
Te La Er sneered dismissively, reached out, and pulled Sophien out from under the rubble where she had been pinned.
“Pale Dragon God, this is the messenger you chose? Your judgment is as poor as ever.”
He didn’t even bother to look at Sophien. Her weak, futile punches against his arm went completely ignored.
“But then again, the mana I gave you is mine to take back. It’s only right, returning what’s yours.”
In an instant, Sophien felt a massive amount of mana surging out of her body. The sheer volume far exceeded her tolerance threshold.
She barely struggled before she completely lost consciousness.
“Hmph! Worthless!”
Te La Er carelessly tossed Sophien aside, as if discarding a rag.
He looked at the head in the air, and his gaze turned fierce. The head was instantly frozen in place, even its self-healing forced to stop.
Te La Er raised his hand and aimed at the head.
“Since you’re a part of my body, you should be able to withstand this, right?”
Before his palm, an immense amount of mana mixed with the Authority of Time grew larger and larger in mass. Even the surrounding space, along with light itself, was warped.
Until the sphere of mana turned pitch black, its mass was incalculable. Space itself was constantly collapsing.
The moment he finished compressing the mana, the incredibly dense mass slowly floated toward the head.
With every inch it closed in, another chunk of skin and flesh was torn from the head.
It advanced slowly. By the time the head had completely passed through the sphere of mana, only its blue-black bones remained.
With a snap of Te La Er’s fingers, the high-density mana sphere burst.
The pile of bones clattered to the ground.
Though, in the next instant, they began to slowly regenerate.
“Though it’s not exactly what I expected, I suppose my goal is mostly accomplished.”
Te La Er walked over slowly. He raised his hand and began absorbing the skull fragments.
But just as he had fully absorbed the skull, a strange sensation coursed through his body.
Inside the hollow cavity of his torso, a massive heart was trying to connect with this body.