Chapter 203: Chapter203-The Backbone of Humanity, Divine Wrath Descends from the Heavens

Before long, he saw two human experts.

A man and a woman.

Their features bore a faint resemblance to each other. They seemed to be father and daughter.

Daniel did not disturb them. He merely hid in the distance and watched with curiosity.

"Bella, I still remember when you were little. You mischievously lifted a short sword, pointed it straight at me, and asked..."

He paused. A bitter smile surfaced at the corner of his mouth, as though half a lifetime of guilt had been hidden within that smile.

"Everyone else has a mother. Why don’t I?"

"Now, I will tell you the answer. I dedicated my entire life to the altar of Strength, lost myself in the pursuit of that illusory peak."

"Your mother could not endure a man who would forever turn his back on his family. So after you were born, she turned and left, never looking back again."

Bella remained silent.

Her eyes reddened, tears surging in them.

Her father continued speaking, his voice calm as still water.

"Do you know, my child?"

"I once thought that climbing to the peak of Strength was the most difficult trial in this world."

"But I was wrong."

"It turns out there are things far more difficult than that."

He laughed softly. In that smile, there was only the relief of a man who had weathered endless hardship.

"When you were hungry, I did not know. When you were cold, I did not know. When you fell ill, I still did not know."

"In order to let you live a little better, I lowered my head and sought advice from the women I had never once looked at properly before. I learned how to hold you, how to feed you, how to mend your clothes."

"And in the blink of an eye, you have already reached the peak of legendary-grade."

He looked at his daughter, his eyes filled with pride.

That pride was like an old blacksmith gazing upon a sword he had exhausted his entire life’s effort to forge.

"I, your father, have clung to life for many long years. Those of my generation were reduced to dust and scattered souls beneath Divine Wrath long ago. Even their names were never remembered."

"Even those who came after us, those younger than me, challenged Divine Wrath one after another—yet all of them died."

The man suddenly rose to his feet. In those cloudy eyes, a scorching light suddenly ignited.

"I once thought only fools would attempt to break through the threshold of supreme-grade."

"Supreme-grade... what is there to yearn for?"

He looked at Bella with reluctance, a bitter smile etched across his face.

"But now, it is your turn."

"I have lived a cowardly life. Whether toward you or toward the human race, I have never made the slightest contribution."

He straightened his back.

"Today, your father will block the edge of Divine Wrath for you."

"And help you fulfill your dream."

Bella’s entire body trembled. Her tears finally burst from her eyes.

She shook her head desperately, but she was choking too hard to utter a single word.

"My child."

Her father smiled brilliantly, his smile like the final ray of sunlight in the dusk.

"When you were young, you complained that everyone else’s father was a hero, and only I was the exception..."

"Now... please give me one chance to be a hero. Even if I am only your hero!"

Bella could no longer hold herself back. She cried out hoarsely.

"No!"

"I don’t want to advance to supreme-grade anymore!"

"Father, I only want you to live!"

But the man shook his head firmly, his gaze as hard as iron.

"You must become supreme-grade."

"Your dream is to become the first supreme-grade of the human race." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"You said you wanted to follow Queen Kelly’s example and light a torch for humanity."

"You said you wanted to protect this race, to protect those who are still struggling in the darkness."

His voice echoed in the wind.

Boom—!

His aura suddenly surged upward like a flood bursting through a broken dam, pouring forth without restraint.

Buzz, buzz, buzz—!

The wind and clouds changed color.

That was the sign of breaking through to supreme-grade.

That was the horn of mortals declaring war against gods.

"Father!!!"

Bella roared hoarsely. In that voice, there was despair, and also love and pain beyond words.

The man turned around and looked up at the firmament.

"My child, you protect the human race."

"And I..."

He stretched out his hand. His thin, withered fingers were like the tip of a spear thrusting toward a divine throne.

"Only need to protect you!"

"Divine Wrath, come!"

At this moment, Bella’s aura also climbed to its peak.

Tears blurred her vision, but she saw it.

The father she had once thought was never tall enough was, at this moment, taller than mountains and brighter than stars.

Boom!

Boom!

Rumble...!

The sky exploded apart.

A long sword glowing with golden light pierced through the heavens.

That sword tore through space, dragging countless spatial fragments behind it. It was like a falling sun suddenly descending!

Every hair on Daniel’s body stood on end.

An indescribable pressure made his heart pound violently.

That aura was stronger than supreme-grade.

It was...

The aura of a Divine-grade expert!

That sword was actually the Strength of Divine-grade!

Was this the truth of Divine Wrath?

Were those human experts who dared to break through to supreme-grade challenging this kind of Strength?

The sword light was like a blade of judgment, sweeping straight toward the father and daughter.

The father straightened his hunched spine, gripped his weapon tightly, and glared furiously at the golden radiance descending from the sky.

"Shatter for me—!"

Shatter!

Boom!!

Crack—!!!

He ignited every Immortal Singularity within his body, as if he had pressed an entire star into his chest.

Flames burst out from the gaps between his bones, transforming his entire body into a meteor burning with golden fire.

He shot into the sky.

The sword light pierced through his body without the slightest hesitation.

There was no collision. No stalemate.

Only a dull sound of penetration, like the echo of an ancient bell being struck upon a desolate plain.

Golden blood exploded from his wound, blooming into one fleeting flower after another in the void.

The sword light did not stop.

It passed through the father, then swept mercilessly over Bella.

"Father..."

A bleak smile appeared on Bella’s face.

There was no fear in that smile, only an indescribable sense of release.

Her voice was very soft.

Her gaze followed her father’s figure.

That figure was disintegrating within the sword light, turning into countless tiny points of radiance that drifted away.

And her own body also began to vanish at that very moment.

Starting from her fingertips, bit by bit, she turned into nothingness.

The two of them were slain one after the other.

It took no more than a single breath.

That sword was like judgment itself, appearing and vanishing in an instant.

Divine Wrath dissipated.

The human race still had no supreme-grade!

Daniel stood frozen in place, staring blankly at that empty stretch of sky.

Wind blew from afar, passing through the void that had been plowed open by the sword light, as though seeing off the father and daughter who had vanished.

He suddenly understood.

What the God realm had locked away was not merely humanity’s path to supreme-grade.

What they had locked away was all of humanity’s hope, dignity, and future!

They...

They had actually stooped to such despicable depths!

They had treated a group of exiles, who sought nothing more than a place to survive, in such a way!

Daniel’s eyes were cold as ice.

He slowly clenched his fists. His knuckles let out crisp cracking sounds.

At this moment, he said nothing.

But within those eyes, an oath had already been written.

That golden colossal sword descending from the firmament hung mercilessly above the throat of humanity’s fate, cold and ruthless.

Whenever a human expert sought to rise to supreme-grade, Divine Wrath would descend, severing all hope with a single strike.

That sword was a sacred artifact.

Slaying human experts was all too simple for it, without the slightest trace of mercy.

Yet the flames in Daniel’s chest burned ever fiercer.

He did not stop. He continued flying in the direction of Luminara City.

...