The liquid gold continuously bubbles, and since falling into the Golden Pool, the King of Gold has vanished without a trace.

Nose bridge broken.

The King of Gold can no longer remember how long it's been since he last felt pain. Yet, more perplexing than the injury from the direct hit was Ethan's method that hit him.

He heard the roaring emergence of lightning elements, and immediately activated his powers. Logically, this should have been just another attack dodged with ease like before, but this time, the powers of space-time did not keep him from harm.

This is some type of magic unknown to him, something even Merlin could never accomplish in his lifetime.

The powers of space-time stem from the Goddess; logically, under her protection, nothing in this world should be able to harm them!

"You—you actually hit him! Phew—!"

Cynthia's eyes widened in disbelief; she gasped deeply.

She had waited so long for this moment, almost believing it would never happen. She was still immersed in shock as the King of Gold fell into the Golden Pool.

For the first time, she felt that perhaps "deities" were not so far away. Although the King of Gold and other guild leaders never claimed to be deities, to the beings of their ruled dimension, they were akin to divine existences. Every word they uttered was deemed destiny, no matter the struggle or weeping, fated trajectories could not be changed.

And now, that lofty ruler controlling everything has been toppled from the throne.

The tides have turned; they stood at a height overlooking the Golden Pool.

After a brief silence, disturbances rose again from the Golden Pool underneath, even more tremendous energies once more filled the entire space, as a massive form formed from liquid gold and energy surged from the Golden Pool.

"So that's what Yoda meant."

After locking eyes with that face twisted seemingly in anger for a while, Ethan suddenly understood.

As the King of Gold's longest following subject, deep within, Yoda seemed to regard the King of Gold as a coward, saying he always evaded risks of conflict with similarly ranked opponents, even in the war against Merlin, he waited until victory was certain to appear.

"What did you discover?"

Cynthia hurriedly asked Ethan.

Actually, she didn't know what just happened or why the King of Gold's time manipulation suddenly failed, but she was certain that anyone she knew, even the Knight Lord or the Goddess of Life, would have been overwhelmed in an instant by the King of Gold's energy.

Though the King of Gold repeated his old trick, she still couldn't see any flaw within.

"Seems like he has only this one skill."

Ethan whispered quietly.

He even severely doubted if this could count as a skill, for it seemed the King of Gold was merely recklessly unleashing his immense energy, but due to his ability and mechanism being too powerful, most people were helpless against such nearly F2A-style assault.

Yet since it's an old trick repeated, it inevitably leads to the same outcome.

The aggressive energy was once again blocked by crimson ice, and as the powers were deadlocked, thunder entered the battlefield once more, but this time the thunder's might was far stronger than before, no longer probing, as flashing lightning transformed into a beam piercing through the temple.

"Be careful, he's about to escape again!"

Cynthia noticed the Golden Giant's gradually vanishing form, precisely because of such extreme mystery making the assassination of the King of Gold akin to an impossible task.

No matter what attack method was used, no matter how meticulously prepared beforehand, under the Goddess's blessing, not a single touch could be made on the King of Gold.

Time leapt at this moment, her mind turned momentarily blank, and in the next moment, a heart-wrenching shriek pulled Cynthia back to reality, the scene unfolding before her was almost beyond belief—on the Golden Giant's chest, a huge penetrating wound was clearly visible, blasted open by lightning.

Liquid gold gushed like blood, and that massive body lost its energy supply, plunging into the Golden Pool once more.

Undoubtedly, the Goddess's power had activated.

Time had jumped; the Golden Giant's body slipped into the void, yet why did Ethan's magic work once more?

Could it be...

Has Ethan already deciphered the Goddess's blessing?

Yet he clearly mentioned the King of Gold is a "mechanism freak," and the Goddess's blessing essentially granted the King of Gold an invincible damage immunity mechanism.

"The principle's simple, the void state is a visual effect created by him temporarily hiding in a different time."

Ethan explained his idea.

This also explains why no attack is effective, as when powers are activated, the plane they're on becomes misaligned with that of the attackers, magic seeming to pass through him merely strikes air.

"You mean you have a similar ability, hence can let attacks enter his alternate 'time'?"

"No, I don't possess powers as strong as theirs."

Ethan shook his head, he isn't some marine biologist always wearing a hat, unable to just cheekily steal others' powers in a confrontation by simply asserting "'looks like this is similar to my ability type'."