The center of the Blood Sea was originally an absolute domain of deathly silence.

  But now, it looked like it had just undergone an underwater nuclear test. Green BFG energy residue still crackled on the surface, and massive whirlpools churned up corpses that had settled for eons.

  Slayer stood on a relatively stable floating corpse (the spine of some ancient behemoth), reloading his Heavy Cannon.

  Click.

  Precision Bolt module calibrated.

  Just then, the entire Blood Sea stopped flowing.

  Surging waves froze in mid-air, boiling bubbles solidified on the surface. The world seemed to have hit the pause button.

  An ancient, magnificent will, filled with extreme rage, awoke from the deepest part of the Blood Sea.

  Thump—

  A dull heartbeat.

  This sound resonated directly within Slayer's bones. On his visor, all environmental parameters instantly turned into garbled code.

  [Warning: Dimensional-Class Energy Fluctuation Detected.]

  [Source: Omni-directional.]

  RUMBLE————!

  The surface of the Blood Sea in front of Slayer began to rise. A dark red "mountain peak" slowly emerged. As viscous blood water slid off, it revealed the hideous true face beneath.

  It was a giant human face.

  A face composed of countless painful, twisted faces pieced together, blotting out the sky. Its eyes were two bottomless black vortexes, and magma-like filthy blood flowed from its mouth.

  Blood Sea Ancestor (Ancestor Minghe).

  The incarnation of this Blood Sea, the Innate Demon God known as "As long as the Blood Sea doesn't dry, Minghe doesn't die." He had slept for too long, so long that only legends remained in the Underworld's archives.

  But today, someone threw a BFG onto his "bed."

  "Mor... tal..."

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  The Ancestor spoke. His voice rolled like thunder across the sky, cracking the bone island beneath Slayer's feet.

  "Why... disturb... my... slumber?"

  Every word spat out was accompanied by a storm of blood. Massive sound waves lifted a hundred-meter-high blood tsunami, crashing toward Slayer.

  Slayer stood in the shadow beneath the crest of the wave.

  He didn't even look up to see the full view of the Ancestor.

  He simply raised his left arm.

  Shoulder launcher activated. Ice Bomb.

  Pfft.

  A tiny blue bomb shot toward the wall of blood crashing down.

  Hiss—!

  Although it couldn't freeze the entire tsunami, it was enough to freeze a large hole in the middle of the wave wall.

  Slayer stood still. The massive blood wave crashed down, roaring past him on both sides. Standing in the gap of the ice hole, his armor didn't even get wet.

  The Ancestor's giant vortex eyes turned, seeming to finally see the tiny "bug" beneath his feet clearly.

  "Ant..."

  The Ancestor was enraged.

  This dismissive attitude offended him even more than the shot just now.

  "Here... I am... Sky!"

  The Ancestor extended a finger.

  That finger was like a pillar of heaven, carrying earth-shattering pressure, slowly pressing down on Slayer.

  This finger locked space and sealed off retreat. The surrounding blood water instantly solidified into an iron plate, firmly pinning Slayer in place.

  This was a strike on the Rule Level.

  [Causality Law: Within the Blood Sea, all beings are my nourishment.]

  Singularity on the cliff saw this and closed his eyes in despair.

  "It's over. This is a Dimensional Strike. This isn't something guns can fight..."

  Slayer's body instantly stiffened. The servo motors of his Praetor Suit screamed under the heavy pressure, and shield values jumped frantically.

  If it were an ordinary person, they would have knelt by now.

  But Slayer's knees didn't even bend.

  Those eyes hidden behind the faceplate stared dead at the falling giant finger.

  Hum—!

  Crimson light suddenly erupted from the armor seams all over Slayer's body.

  That wasn't ordinary energy; it was the primordial power originating from the Divinity Machine, homologous with the Creator.

  This power surged within him like an awakened beast, frantically impacting the surrounding shackles of rules.

  Crack!

  A crisp sound.

  The solidified space around him shattered like glass.

  Slayer forcibly raised his arm.

  He didn't use a gun.

  Because at this distance, only one weapon could express his attitude.

  Hum————!

  Crucible Blade activated instantly.

  The blazing red energy blade carved a dazzling trail of light in the dark Blood Sea.

  The finger fell.

  The blade met it.

  He wasn't crushed into meat paste as imagined.

  Zzzzzzzzzzzzt!!!

  That finger, massive as a mountain, actually stopped upon touching that tiny light sword.

  Red sword light cut through the Ancestor's protective blood qi, cut through the indestructible skin of the Ancient God, and pierced deep into the flesh.

  "Awakening vs Challenge."

  In front of that sky-blotting Titan, the green figure was as tiny as a grain of sand.

  But this grain of sand was now holding a burning sword, firmly propping up the collapsing sky.

  Slayer's wrist exerted force, the flames on the blade surging, as if saying to this Ancient God:

  "Got big morning grumpiness? I'll help you cool down."

  [BGM: The Only Thing They Fear Is You - (Drop)]

  In the next second.

  Slayer slashed upward violently.

  He wasn't just blocking.

  He was going to... Chop off the hand.