“The Allfather is on his final breath...” Shin squinted his eyes while he watched the Umbras gather by the millions. In his One with Water form, Shin was acutely aware of his surroundings, and that included the fact that the Allfather’s mana sources had been ripped to shreds.

All of his influences that were scattered all around the globe, the aether crystals that he controlled, the Spirit Beasts that were under his curse… They were all torn apart through Shin’s expert meddling. So, Shin was acutely aware of the Allfather’s current predicament. He was rushing his ascent… and that could only bode bad results.

“Still, we can’t risk it… If he really succeeds, that would be quite the bummer.” Shin glanced up at the opened portal, which was slowly getting bigger through the Tree of Darkness’ efforts.

“Shin! Heaven’s Gate! It’s opening!” Saint Longyu Tian flew next to Shin and screamed out in a fury. “That bastard Heigui... He’s blocking our move into the Tree of Darkness!”

“That’s not all...” Saint Geom floated to the other side of Shin, twirling his Samingeom in the process. “The Umbras that the Allfather summoned… They’re going to block our paths with a deadly vengeance. Our men wouldn’t be able to come close to the barrier, and even if they did… We won’t be able to do much damage to it.”

Those words instantly got Shin thinking. From the onset, Shin’s greatest attribute wasn’t his overwhelming powers, and neither was it his newfound power to overrule everything beneath his level. Shin's greatest attribute has always been one thing… his superhuman comprehension ability.

Within seconds, the man came up with a thousand plans, each one formulated from the data that he personally analysed within the millisecond. It was a race against time. Each second they wasted, was another second the Allfather had to open Heaven’s Gate and breach into the Immortal Realm. So… Shin came up with the fastest plan he could think of.

“Seniors, leave the Umbras to me. I’ll wipe out half of them, while the others will clear up the area. You Spirit Saints should gather all of your strengths to breakthrough Saint Heigui’s barrier. The Obsidian Xuanwu may be the most defensive-oriented Spirit in history, but it has a fatal weakness.”

There were a thousand questions the Spirit Saints wanted to ask from that one statement alone, but many of them held back. It was Saint Geom who broke through the pack and asked the next blaring question.

“What weakness does it have?” Saint Geom asked in earnest. Saint Longyu Tian and Saint Shenshe Zemin were somewhat reluctant to share national secrets with foreign nations. Still, neither of them had a say in the matter right now. Shin was calling the shots, and no one could object his decision.

“Just like any other material, the Obsidian Xuanwu’s barrier has a breaking point. The reason why it has such a high-defensive stance is due to its ability to shift mana from one part of the shell to the other. If the left side was compromised, the right would sacrifice a little of its defence to supplement the left. If the top of the shell was under attack, the bottom parts would provide energy to it, doubling or even tripling its defences.”

“Ah, a distribution of mana?” Saint Geom nodded. It was a simple concept, one that could be understood by a six-year-old. However, that simple concept was hard to replicate among barriers and other shields known to mankind. Thus, the Obsidian Xuanwu has always ranked supreme amongst all of its defensive peers.

“Yes, quite fundamental right? So… Instead of attacking it on one point, what happens if the entire turtle shell is pressured?”

Finally catching on, Saint Geom had his own eureka moment: “... There would be no distribution in mana! We can then use that as an opportunity to target a single point and make a total breakthrough!”

“Bingo,” Shin smiled. He glanced over his shoulder, pointing a thumbs up towards the nine Spirit Saints’ direction. “Seniors, that job will lie on your shoulders. I will even the mana supplied to each corner of the barrier. That will be the best time to strike and break Saint Heigui’s barrier. Don’t hold anything back! The barrier may be at its weakest point, but it’s still the world’s most impregnable defence ability. You’ll need all the mana that you’ll get. As for the Umbras...”

Shin raised his right hand and closed his right eye, leaving the eye inhabited by the Mind Titan fully open. The Divine Halo and Cosmic Wings which carried his entire body began to glow with a dazzling light, charging up all of the elemental energies that Shin could provide them with. At the same time, the Time Titan, the Koi of Time, encircled around all of the Alliance members, further deepening its hold on their feeble souls.

They were all preparing for the big one… The one Titan in Shin’s arsenal that had yet to be revealed...

“Come out… Aqua Slime!” Shin dropped his hand in a karate chop. Within minutes, a humongous blob of liquid dropped upon the barren lands like a meteor smashing onto the planet.

With nowhere to run, the Umbras were flattened by the Aqua Slime’s sudden appearance. While in most cases, the Umbras would simply reform itself over and over again until its mana source had been depleted, those touched by the Aqua Slime would disintegrate away into nothingness. It didn’t matter if they were at Tier 1 or 7, all Umbras were equal under the weight of the mighty Aqua Slime.

However, the Aqua Slime’s appearance was just the beginning of the Umbras’ nightmare. Once settled, the Titan of Water split itself up into a million smaller slimes, raining down hell upon the Umbras once more. Many of the enemies that blocked the path to the Tree of Darkness melted away as if acid was poured onto them and before the Alliance could blink twice, ten percent of all the Umbras had been exterminated.

With the path cleared, Shin moved on to the next phase of his plan. Raising his dominant arm, Shin willed half of the split slimes into the air and forced them to rain down upon the unbreaking barrier. In no time at all, the Aqua Slime had covered the entire surface area of the Heigui Clan’s ultimate technique and was steadily applying as much pressure as being at the bottom of the ocean. Saint Heigui, stuck inside of the Tree of Darkness, could only grit his teeth while he quietly endured the pain, praying for the Allfather to somehow make a breakthrough in the time he’d bought.

“Honestly… I’m not surprised anymore.” Saint Longyu Tian snorted in derision. She witnessed the rise of Shin’s power back in the Blue Payirci and still couldn’t believe her own eyes. “Once this is all over, I’ll be sure to dig up everything that happened to you in the interim! For now...”

Longyu Tian gestured to the rest of the Spirit Saints and whipped out her Rod of Eternity. Taking that signal, Saint Geom quickly followed suit. He bent his knees and assumed a charging stance, putting all of his mana into the Immortal-Grade Spirit Armament that was synonymous with his name.

“Isadore, now that I think about it… You’ve never seen me use One for All, All for One in battle before right?” The Himmel Ancestor turned to his beloved grandson, smiling as the Spirit of Himmel began charging up with all the mana left in his body.

“No...”

“Then, watch and learn. How the Himmel Empire’s Spear is supposed to be used!!!”

Saint Longyu Tian, Saint Shenshe, the Himmel Ancestor, Saint Firebird, Saint Geom, Saint Lyndis Virdove, Saint Thor, Saint Althea and Saint Atossa… These nine Spirit Saints gathered all of their ultimate piercing techniques and aimed for the big red dot that Shin had drawn upon the impregnable force field.

It didn’t take long for the remaining Umbras to notice that something was going amiss. Without even a second’s hesitation, they all came charging right towards the nine Spirit Saints with the intent to kill. They didn’t care about their safety or mana usage. They needed to protect the barrier, and that was that…

Alas…

“No, you don’t!!!”

The Alliance members intercepted all of their advances. Members of Guardian Sword, elites from the Lantis Republic, geniuses from the Kori Federation, powerhouses from the Himmel Empire. Friends, enemies, loves, rivals… They all gathered in a union… to protect the Spirit Saints as they prepared all of their abilities.

Umbras didn’t fear death because they knew nothing about it. If they were cut, they would simply reforge themselves with their mana source. However, the Alliance members didn’t have that luxury. Sure, Shin’s restoration skill would bring them back to the pink of health should they be injured, but if they were pierced through the brain… they would still instantly die.

No… The Alliance Members didn’t fear death not because they didn’t know it… They didn’t fear death because the alternative was far more terrifying. They couldn’t let the Allfather succeed, and they all knew it by heart. Therefore…

“Kill them all!!! Don’t let them go near the Spirit Saints!”

“Don’t stop even if you’re injured! The saviour’s restoration ability will heal us back!”

“It’s all or nothing! We will beat the Allfather today!!!”

All of the warriors here had lost someone or something that they cherished. Family members, friends, homes, towns… They came from all walks of life, but they all shared the same objective.

To defy… the Allfather.

The Alliance members unionised, turning the progressing Umbras into mush and giving the Spirit Saints much needed time to charge up their ultimate attacks. And well… it paid off.

All of the Spirit Saints held an immense amount of spiritual energy within their hands, be it in the form a Spirit Armament or their own two fists. The amount of mana that was within their hands was no way less than the power held by the Allfather himself. If it were all concentrated into one point… The damage would be catastrophic.

“HIT IT!!!”

“HIT IT!!!”

“HIT IT!!!”

The Spirit Saint unleashed their stored-up power, sending nine torrents of light crashing right at the target that Shin had drawn. No Umbras were standing in their way. No Black Masks, and no foes that could disrupt that final strike. The nine beams emulated a rainbow, colouring the path to victory as it continued to melt the air and ground on its path. And eventually…

KRRRRTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!! CLANKKKK!!!!!!!!!

The Heigui Barrier, the final line of defence that protected the Allfather from the Alliance… was shattered into pieces.