Chapter 107: Breaking Through the Earth

As the words left her lips, the ice wall Qu Yizhi had erected dissolved into a wave of blue light that swept outward, freezing every Sari it touched solid within the frost.

Looking around, the entire underground sewer was blanketed in ice and snow, save for one thing: the corpse lying at the center.

"What a pity. You awoke too late; I have already succeeded!" Sari’s laughter emanated from the corpse. The once-motionless body slowly stood up, turning to face Steve and his companions.

If Tony were here, he would be shocked to discover that the face of this corpse was none other than the divine emissary who had caused the fall of Washington D.C.—a figure who should have been reduced to ashes.

"Say goodbye!" The emissary’s face rippled and shifted, molding into the likeness of Sari. Using a secret art, he had effortlessly refined this body into a divine artifact; from this day forth, he would be the master of the world.

Sari raised his right hand slightly, and an invisible barrier blocked the attacks from Steve and the others. Neither bullets, arrows, nor ice shards could pierce through.

Suddenly, the frozen Sari clones broke free from their icy shackles, transforming into streams of blood that flowed into the central figure. His aura surged, becoming so oppressive that Steve and his team were forced to retreat step by step.

"What do we do? Our attacks are useless against him." Natasha lowered her gun. She had tried firing from every possible angle, but nothing could break through that invisible barrier. It seemed their mission had failed.

"We must leave here," Qu Yizhi murmured, biting her lip. She had been preoccupied with the mystery of that strange corpse and had been caught off guard, but it was precisely this encounter that revealed the truth about the body and the city itself.

Though hard to believe, combining Tony’s clues with the current information, Qu Yizhi could confirm that the so-called Source of Corruption summoned by the Dark Emissary was the Breath of the Evil God.

According to her recovered memories, the Breath of the Evil God was a wisp of essence from an Evil God. Since true gods were bound by the laws of the universe and could not easily interfere in the physical realm, summoning such a breath required a sacrifice of equal value—such as another wisp of the Breath of the Evil God.

Once summoned, the Breath of the Evil God was uncontrollable. Even members of the cult could not command it; it acted purely on instinct.

Therefore, almost no one would perform such a meaningless sacrifice. As existing relics, these breaths were usually the holy treasures of cults. To obtain an uncontrolled one meant destroying a controlled relic—a highly unprofitable trade.

As for the cult's holy relics, they were remnants from ancient times, most of which had already been destroyed by Kamar-Taj and the Spirit Order.

Yes, Qu Yizhi had finally recovered parts of her identity and realized that the organization she belonged to was called the Spirit Order. But now was not the time for reflection; the solution to the Breath of the Evil God was both simple and complex.

The best way to deal with the Breath of the Evil God wandering the human world was to banish it back into the void. Since the laws of the universe forbade true gods from appearing in reality, and the Breath was saturated with divine power, one only needed to draw the attention of the cosmic laws to this illegal traveler.

The simplest way to expose the intruder was to tear apart its "fake passport"—the invisible boundary currently shrouding Washington D.C. After arriving in this world, the Breath had begun weaving this "passport," which explained why Tony had been able to escape the city initially.

Now, they only needed to pierce this layer, and the Breath would be instantly banished. This was another reason why no one summoned it—who would trade a holy relic just to bring this thing out?

However, they were clearly in a crisis. The cultist had obtained a vessel for the Breath, and it seemed he knew a thing or two. The Breath, having consumed the flesh and blood of an entire city, was more than Qu Yizhi could handle.

After failing in her attempt to stop him upon waking, she decided to flee.

"Trying to run? Stay a while; my coronation ceremony needs a few guests." Sari’s smile widened. Although he was grateful to this group for helping him obtain the artifact, he clearly had no intention of letting them go.

"What is happening?! No, this is impossible!" Sari intended to stop the consumption of flesh and use his newfound power to annihilate Steve and the others. Instead, he found that the process was not only continuing but accelerating. He could feel all his clones being pulled in, including those he had left at the borders of Washington D.C.

"No!!!" Sari realized something was wrong, but it was too late. All his clones were sucked into the corpse. The vessel returned to a state of death, save for the face that now bore Sari’s features.

"It’s bad—we have to go!" Qu Yizhi’s recovered memories contained records of this situation. Once the divine breath gained enough power and flesh, it would attempt to open the gates of hell. Endless minions of the Evil God would pour out to destroy the planet, and the Breath would return to its master after devouring all life on earth.

The situation was clear: the Breath had been short of power after consuming the city's monsters, which explained why the city had gone so silent. Now, it had absorbed the power and flesh of this high-ranking cultist to finish the job.

Though Steve and the others didn't know exactly what was happening, Qu Yizhi understood all too well. There was no time for explanations. The group sprinted toward the way they had come, toward a tunnel leading to the surface.

As for the corpse, it ignored the puny ants running away. Sari’s flesh, due to its unique power, provided the equivalent of over one hundred thousand lives—the final step the Breath needed to transcend.

Countless thick, writhing tentacles burst from the corpse, spreading rapidly to fill the underground space. They surged toward the surface, effortlessly piercing through the barriers of the earth.

This made the journey miserable for the group on the stairs. It felt like a massive earthquake; they could barely stand as rubble rained down and the sturdy staircase crumbled. They scrambled out of the stairwell, witnessing the terrifying sight of the tentacles erupting from the ground.