The battlefield was a scene of chaos. The Eternal Ice Demon, burning his divine spark in a last desperate act, managed to add some final violent beauty to the carnage. The sheer intensity of the battle seemed capable of splitting the heavens and cracking the earth apart. Goblin blood and flesh were splattered so thickly across the landscape that it looked like it had been permanently stamped into the very fabric of space itself.
"You damnable wretch! You shameless monster!" the Eternal Ice Demon howled from within mountains of corpses and rivers of spilled blood. Even after personally slaughtering trillions of goblins with his bare hands - his nightmarish, blood-drenched appearance alone enough to kill ordinary men through sheer terror - he could feel nothing but complete and utter despair when facing Lin Tian.
Gradually, his strength began failing him. His mouth went dry, his limbs grew weak and heavy. He had exhausted every last trick and technique in his arsenal. And then - a sea of ravenous, snapping jaws descended upon him, countless goblins eager to tear him apart and devour him alive.
"Halt." Lin Tian's voice cut through the chaos like a blade.
Instantly, the entire goblin horde froze in place as if turned to stone. The display of absolute control was staggering to behold. Lin Tian descended gracefully to the blood-soaked ground and walked calmly toward the dying Eternal Ice Demon. Regardless of anything else, the flesh of a third-tier Dominator was valuable - far better to let Goblin King and the others consume it than let it go to waste.
The Eternal Ice Demon, now hovering at the very edge of death, managed a weak, rattling chuckle. "Hah... even in death... I've taken half your forces with me. Five trillion lives as my funeral procession... not a bad trade, wouldn't you agree?"
"Five trillion?" Lin Tian's lips curled in disdain. "A drop in the ocean." He raised a single finger and pointed it directly at the demon's forehead.
A horrific, high-frequency shriek tore through the air - Spatial Annihilation. The Eternal Ice Demon's head simply ceased to exist, erased from reality in an instant. Lin Tian glanced around at the apocalyptic battlefield and issued his orders: "Gather all the flesh and blood. I'll reclaim it later."
Without ceremony, he plunged his hand into the demon's chest and tore out his divine spark. A third-tier Dominator's spark was more complex than before - no longer just a swirling nebula-like mass, it now featured a distinct ring structure circling it, reminiscent of Saturn's rings.
A dimensional rift tore open with a sound like ripping fabric. Lin Tian stepped through, dragging the headless corpse behind him, and emerged directly in the throne room of the Goblin Empire's central palace.
The assembled leaders and warriors all froze in shock. Xi, the Black Goat Mother Goddess, the Silver Chief and the others had only just arrived themselves, still recovering from their frostbite injuries. Even minor wounds inflicted by a third-tier Dominator required tremendous effort to heal properly.
Alice, One-Eyed Owl and the rest came rushing in when they heard the news, only to be stunned speechless by Lin Tian's sudden appearance. He seemed to step out of nowhere, drenched in palpable killing intent, like some ancient demon freshly emerged from the deepest pits of hell.
"This... this is...!" Xi gasped out, staring in shock at the headless corpse.
The Black Goat Mother Goddess had expected Lin Tian to emerge victorious, but never this quickly. And without so much as a scratch on him!
"The gap between third-tier Dominators... can really be this vast? He slaughtered our greatest nightmare so easily..." the Grand Sage murmured, equal parts awed and terrified.
The Ice Queen's gaze when she looked at Lin Tian had undergone a complete transformation. Before, she had served him reluctantly, resentful of her forced position. Now? Her eyes burned with admiration, respect... and something far more primal. The look she gave him could have melted glaciers.
Lin Tian casually dismissed their shock. "The gap? It's far wider than you can possibly imagine." He flexed his fingers slightly. "I barely even lifted a finger."
Technically speaking, it had been the endless goblin horde that killed the Eternal Ice Demon. Lin Tian himself had hardly participated in the actual battle at all.
A collective hiss of indrawn breath came from everyone present.
"Your Majesty..." Alice stepped forward, ignoring everything else as her eyes urgently scanned Lin Tian for any sign of injury. One-Eyed Owl, Goblin Moon and the others immediately followed suit, their concern evident.
Lin Tian hadn't permitted them to join this battle - a third-tier Dominator was simply too dangerous for them to face. And going forward? He wouldn't need them to fight at all. The endless goblin horde would be more than sufficient to drown all opposition in sheer numbers, conquering realm after realm until they reached the level of eighth-tier Dominators.
By that point, they would have consumed countless worlds - and somewhere among the infinite dimensions, they would finally locate Earth. Though given Earth's pathetically weak level of power, finding that specific needle in the cosmic haystack might prove time-consuming. But once they did? Nothing in existence would be capable of stopping the coming tide.