Chaotic scorched earth, where the Fighting Demon passed.

"Travelers from another world, eh..." The leader of the demons looked at the five players before him and murmured, "You dare to come before this king; you've got guts..."

"Alright, stop pretending." Uncle Waste sighed and continued, "We can see how badly you're hurt. We can also see... what our strength is." He paused. "Putting on a show at this moment will only make you look worse."

"Indeed..." Honghu adjusted his glasses and chimed in, "Though I risk cursing myself in the process, I still have to say, Demon Leader, you're a tiger fallen on the plains. Why don't you... drop the pretense and have a good chat with us?"

The leader of the demons laughed coldly upon hearing this. "Hmph... what is there to talk about with a demon of defeat like me?"

"Heh... Demon Leader... aren't you being a little too pessimistic?" Honghu replied. "A temporary setback doesn't mean you'll never have a chance to turn things around. You can learn far more from failure than from success."

"I don't need you to teach me life philosophies," the demon leader said coldly. "Just tell me, what do you want from me?"

"Good, since you brought it up..." Honghu didn't stand on ceremony. "Let's... make a deal."

...

The temporal domain, atop the Millennium Disk.

After beating up Sasaki and resting briefly, the members of Sengoku prepared to explore this space.

However, at that moment, a low, sonorous voice suddenly rang out...

"Some unknown substance has indeed infiltrated the river of time..." The voice came from all directions simultaneously, echoing around the players. "Even my inviolable space has been trespassed upon by you ants from another world."

As the voice faded, a shimmering silver light suddenly appeared in mid-air, like mist and rain, slowly descending.

Upon closer inspection, the descending substance was sand.

Seconds passed, and the sand solidified, taking the form of a towering giant, transforming from illusion to reality, finally revealing its true form.

It was a bizarre creature about fifteen meters tall. Its main body... was a giant hourglass, with silver Sands of Time flowing through it. Its head was a silver, perfect sphere floating above the hourglass, with no physical connection to its "torso" (the hourglass being the torso). On either side of its "body" were metal, silver arms that were also suspended in mid-air, with no contact with the hourglass.

"The Lord of Time, eh..." Akechi Nobunaga raised his head, looked at the tall NPC before him, and murmured, "Come to think of it... we should be the first players to see the Lord of Time's true face, right?"

"Perhaps," Takeda Zhi replied. "There are quite a few rumors about his appearance, but most of them feel like nonsense..."

"The Lord of Time, hiding in the temporal domain, never showing himself, the most mysterious of the Four Pillar Gods..." Uesugi Jin looked at the Lord of Time and muttered, "...so that's what he looks like."

"In every sense of the word..." Sasaki Ming's face was full of bitterness, "The pressure he's giving off is huge..."

The Lord of Time clearly felt displeased by the otherworld travelers' comments. "Ants..." His voice emanated from his head, giving a sense of majesty and wisdom. "Trespassing into my domain without permission is a capital crime..." He paused. "If you are reverent, I might consider..."

Chi—

He didn't finish his sentence.

Because a flash of light from a katana interrupted him.

Although the narrow blade energy didn't cause any real damage to the Lord of Time, it did trigger a defensive field around him. In that instant, a layer of cyan light rippled like waves on the water, automatically blocking the attack.

"Hey~ hey... why'd you do that?" Sasaki Ming drew a long face, raised his hands above his head, and shouted at Oda Ai, the one who had made the cut.

"Ah... it's nothing..." Oda Ai replied in a listless tone. "I felt a little annoyed when I heard the word 'ants'..." As she spoke, she raised her katana and rested the back of the blade on her right shoulder. "After hearing a couple more sentences, I decided to chop this guy." She tilted her head. "But... come to think of it, he is one of the Four Pillar Gods after all; it's a bit unexpected that my slash was completely ineffective."

"Your attitude of 'I'll just try slashing to test the god's defenses' is a bit too arrogant!" Sasaki Ming could only express his feelings through complaints.

"Hmph..." Akechi Nobunaga chuckled to himself. "Since it's come to this... very well."

Takeda Zhi also added, "Anyway, we don't know how to act 'reverent,' do we?"

"Slaughtering a god..." Even Uesugi Jin, who was usually serious, revealed a hint of a smile. "...sounds pretty interesting."

...

On the other hand, in the Court of Truth.

"The above is all the indictment against Devouring Sky Ghost Brave."

After an incredibly lengthy, vivid, and exaggerated statement, the brown-skinned creature... the prosecutor, finally finished his speech.

Basically, anyone who seriously listened to this speech for about a third of the way through would definitely have concluded that Ghost Brave was guilty. Because his "criminal facts" and process were just too high-profile... Unlike Feng Bujue, who would sneakily eliminate a few unique data points, Ghost Brave was a typical upright type; no matter what he had done in the main universe, he had no intention of concealing it.

However, even so, Ghost Brave still had a chance to defend himself.

The rules of the Court of Truth could not be changed by anyone, not even the judge. Therefore...

"Then... next..." Although the black-robed judge's face was in shadow, Ghost Brave could feel that this NPC was looking at him. "Devouring Sky Ghost Brave, do you plead guilty to the crimes stated by the prosecutor...?"

"Hmph..." Ghost Brave responded to the question with a cold laugh. "Does it make any difference whether I plead guilty or not...?"

"Hehe..." The judge actually laughed, a laugh that was chilling. "If you plead guilty, both sides can make closing statements, and then we wait for the jury to come to a conclusion... which I will announce." He paused for two seconds. "If you plead not guilty... we will enter the trial process, and you can defend yourself, or... have a lawyer defend you. If you need one but can't find one, the court will appoint one for you..."

"Alright... I understand." Ghost Brave shook his head, interrupting the other party. "Don't waste time, I admit..."

Bang—

Just as he was about to say the word "guilty," the door of the courtroom was kicked open from the outside.

The light from outside cast a figure's shadow on the high wall behind the judge.

"Objection!" As a sharp shout rang out, the figure stood sideways and pointed with an arm.

The most heaven-defying trial in the history of the Court of Truth... had begun.